Doechii's Wonderfully Popping Hip Hop Musical
Doechii debuts the music video for "Denial is a River" and Lil Baby drops his long-awaited album 'WHAM.'
THE BEAT DROP
A pulse of the culture
If you’re reading this, it’s another Saturday at the crib and I am just over here thinking about Doechii’s “Denial is a River” music video, Lil Baby giving us a Young Thug verse and the meaning of Drake’s “Fighting Irish Freestyle.”
THIS WEEK’S TRACKLIST
The most important news items of the week.
Doechii debuted the music video for her Alligator Bites Never Heal number “Denial is a River,” garnering shout outs from Billie Eilish, her brother Finneas and Paramore’s Hayley Williams.
Lil Baby dropped his long-awaited album WHAM with a fresh verse from Young Thug and another to follow.
Drake lamented over the loss of old friends on his surprise “Fighting Irish Freestyle” and everyone is looking at LeBron James.
Joey Badass dropped off a freestyle dissing Kendrick Lamar.
Nicki Minaj is being sued by her ex-manager for allegedly striking them in the face during her tour. Nicki’s lawyer is calling the case “frivolous.”
JAY-Z’s legal team was granted permission to move forward with their motion for dismissal.
Kanye West returned to Twitter selling $20 YEEZY.
Lil Durk’s court date got postponed to October 2025.
Travis Hunter signed to Lil Wayne’s sports agency.
Vybez Kartel made his first return to the stage since his release from prison.
BARS OF THE WEEK
Notable quotes or lyrics that made waves.
“I might swerve, bend that corner, whoaooooa!” — LiAngelo Ball on “Tweaker”
"I’m staring at my daddy while ya’ll tell me that I wasn’t that n*gga. That’s f*ckin crazy.” — Drake on “Fighting Irish Freestyle."
"Kendrick is gonna sweep that sh*t.” — Eminem on his prediction for the 2025 Grammys.
“Too much West Coast d*ck lickin; I'm hearin n*ggas throwin rocks, really ain't sh*t stickin; Cause if we talkin bar-for-bar, really it's slim pickings.” — Joey Badass taking aim at the West on “The Ruler’s Back.”
"She snorted off the key, got her screamin R.I.P. to Keed.” — Young Thug memorializing Lil Keed on “Dum, Dumb and Dumber.”
“This what it is for Black men in America if you get caught without them cameras around!” — Meek Mill on the fatal beating of Robert Brooks.
“Julie Greenwald askin if I'm on schedule, label ready for the next record, I'll let you know.” — Jack Harlow on the status of new music on his “Tranquility” freestyle.
“Soon come.” — 21 Savage on the possibility of new music.
CHART TOPPERS
Notable top-performing rap and R&B tracks on streaming platforms and charts.
SZA’s SOS Deluxe: Lana landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making its return to the chart with 15 additional songs two years after the release of SOS.
Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal is reported to have sold more than 100,000 units, so far. Meanwhile its leading track, “Denial is a River,” has entered the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at No. 17.
SOUND WATCH
Upcoming releases and recent drops worth noting.
Doechii delivered a phenomenal performance of her song “Denial is a River” in its music video, featuring guest appearances from Zack Fox, Baby Tate, ScHoolboy Q, SiR and others. It’s a masterful visual journey detailing her humble beginnings to what we see now.
Joey Badass delivered a message to Kendrick Lamar and the West Coast with “The Ruler’s Back.” Spectre even did a mashup of it to JAY-Z’s “The Ruler’s Back.”
LiAngelo Ball dropped real possible song of the year contender “Tweaker” on WorldStarHipHop. Just like the olden days.
DDG and PlaqueBoyMax’s “Pink Dreads” music video dropped, and the song knocked Kendrick Lamar out the No. 1 spot on iTunes.
Benji Blue Bills dropped the music video for “Aye Rage” with YourRage and BNYX.
Smiley promised that a new slapper with Drake is on the way.
Meanwhile, Drake had Twitter shook with his Conductor Williams-produced “Fighting Irish Freestyle.”
Gunna shared the music video for “Got Damn.”
And Lil Baby dropped his album WHAM.
Dom Kennedy and Casey Veggies linked up for the “Road Runnin” music video and it’s feeling like the blog era.
The Alchemist shared his song “Floppy Disks” ahead of his Yasiin Bey collab.
BEHIND THE MUSIC
Industry news.
Beyoncé’s official website is currently the domain destination for blackbettytour.com, adding to suspicions that Act III is rock (“Black Betty” is the title of a folksong by Lead Belly that was reconstructed into a rock song) and adding to the rumor that the announcement set for January 14th is likely to be for a tour.
STEAK REPORT
Feuds, diss tracks and social media spats.
Joey Badass dissed Kendrick Lamar with “The Ruler’s Back” over Conductor Williams production and memories reignited of when Kenny shook the rap nest with his “Control” verse in 2013.
THE BLUEPRINT
A deep dive of trending topics, artist profiles and music analysis.
With the release of Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal, let’s quickly consider the brilliance of “Denial is a River.”
The concept as a whole has some feeling like perhaps she’s an industry plant (whatever that means) because she’s way too polished and they can’t relate. Well, first of all, before social media the public wouldn’t meet an artist until they were polished. We’re just in a privileged time where we get to see artists from the start.
Secondly, as I’m immersed into Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal experience and watching the music video for “Denial is a River,” I am reminded of a conversation I had with her following her Coachella performance in 2023.
“I went to a performing arts high school, so a lot of my background came from just my experience and my training there,” Doechii told me. “So a lot of that kind of prepared me for Coachella right now. I had a dope high school experience. It was like High School Musical. I was in chorus, and I also did the jazz musical tech. I learned how to write music and music theory.”
That’s what I thought of as she began to share all of those Family Matters-esque and Novella-inspired clips leading up to the official video release. I was in real-life tears, CRYING, at the “Can I Hit THat?” episode with ScHoolboy Q and Zack Fox. Every time Doechii said “He’s so funny” or some variant of the sort, the tears came even harder. This is what the music industry had been missing all along: genius storytelling and musical dramatics. I hope she never stops sharing her gift with the world.
In other words: it was popping.
FREESTYLE
Memes and viral moments.
IYKYK
RAP HILL
Legal matters affecting the music industry.
The Copyright Royalty Board’s cost of living adjustment for songwriters went into effect on January 1, going from 12 cents to a generous 12.40 cents.
OUTSIDE
Sightings and appearances.
Rihanna was seen out having a ball and singing some of her own songs for karaoke out in NYC.
Wheezy and ATL Jacob were spotted at the studio and it looks like they might be working on Super Slimey 2.
LeBron James lip synced a performance to JAY-Z and Kendrick Lamar songs at his birthday party.
Pooh Shiesty posted a photo from jail looking pretty healthy. He is expected to be released in 2026.
Coi Leray and Trippie Redd announced their pregnancy.
BIRTHDAYS
Celebrating artists and industry figures born this week.
Ice Spice, Bryson Tiller, Rae Sremmurd’s Jxmmi
OUTRO
A final thought.
It’s the first week of 2025 and it barely feels like it. So much has happened within the time span of three days that began in the middle of the most awkward part of the week: Wednesday. And, who would have thought that LiAngelo Ball would be the one to drop a club banger in the midst of it all? Nevertheless, Lil Baby gifting us with the first verse from Young Thug since his release was a nice touch. Out of everything that happened this week though, one thing is very clear, and that is two women from TDE, SZA and Doechii, are dominating the conversation across pop culture lines in 2025 and the tour hasn’t even started.
7 QTNA
Is LeBron learning all the lyrics to “Fighting Irish Freestyle” right now?
Are industry plant accusations just the new illuminati accusations?
Was 2024 the end of the rap grift?
Is lasagna the realest G to ever exist?
“Pink Dreads” or “Aye Rage”?
Why does the drill music era feel like a fever dream?
Has anyone ever seen Beyoncé and Miss Frizzle in the same room together?