On Friday, May 9th, a remix to Playboi Carti & The Weeknd’s smash hit “Timeless” was released onto streaming services, this time featuring Tampa rapper, singer & songwriter Doechii. Doechii, the winner of the Grammy for Best Rap Album this past year with her critically acclaimed project Alligator Bites Never Heal, has been catching accusations online of being an “industry plant”, someone who had an unnatural growth to stardom, mostly through the pushings of a big record label, after her song “Anxiety” released.
“Anxiety” samples Gotye’s “Somebody I Used To Know,” an iconic song in its own right. This led to people expecting to hear the original song being underwhelmed with the parody, leading to the song being both overplayed and hated by listeners. “Anxiety,” at the time of writing, is peaking at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts in its eighth week.
Now, here we are. The “Timeless” remix is out, and while Doechii is a questionable addition to the song, listeners are still willing to give it a chance.
It didn’t work. But, why? A couple of reasons.
- It’s Unnecessary
There isn’t any connection between Doechii, The Weeknd, and Playboi Carti. While The Weeknd and Carti have three collaborations together (Popular, Timeless, RATHER LIE), Doechii doesn’t have a single collaboration with any of these artists. The closest connection Doechii has had to any of these artists is Tyler, The Creator, when Carti featured on his 2019 project, IGOR, on the song “EARFQUAKE.” Doechii’s verse almost feels disruptive of the chemistry The Weeknd and Playboi Carti show on the original track, throwing off the remix’s balance and overall listening experience.
- The Contrast in Styles and Genres
While The Weeknd and Carti reside in a more spacey, relaxed sort of genre and sound, Doechii blends boom-bap Hip-Hop, Pop, and hints of R&B in a way that, again, doesn’t complement the sound of Carti and The Weeknd. It feels as if the Doechii verse was taken off of another song that may have sounded somewhat similar to the “Timeless” instrumental, and then thrown onto there without a second thought, or trying to realize what value the verse could bring or deduct to the song. While all three artists can be grouped into the space of “Rap, Hip-Hop”, it doesn’t mean that all three do the same thing. Doechii focuses on lyrical value and simple instrumentation, Carti focuses on more raucous instrumentals and overall basic lyricism value, and The Weeknd focuses on creating other-worldly dimensions with his instrumental picks and sings his heart out over them. The styles don’t match, and it clouds the experience of listening to the song.
- Factory-Made Feel
What I mean by this is that it feels like the remix was more manufactured by label interests and monetary value more than the artists appreciation for each other’s work. A feature artist who could’ve worked on this song could’ve been Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, or Don Toliver. Doechii’s collaborations usually feel pure and complement the original artist, with an example being a song that dropped just a week ago, where she featured on the remix of Westside Gunn’s track “EGYPT.” Another example could be her feature on Tyler, The Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA on the song “Balloon.” These songs feel like Doechii was the perfect fit as a featured artist instead of just slotting in a buzzing name in the rap game, even if the artist is on a completely different side of the genre, such as Doechii and Playboi Carti.
Overall, the song just doesn’t make sense when you look at it, and it only gets more confusing when you listen to it. Don’t get me wrong, I like when artists venture into new genres that they haven’t explored before, or have briefly touched on in the past. I loved Lil Yachty’s Let’s Start Here, a psychedelic-rock album from an Atlanta trap star which blew people out of the water. Another project that comes to mind, one of my favorites ever: Quadeca’s I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You, a mix of Rock, R&B, Rap, Pop, Folk, Indie, and all sorts of other sounds, genres, and styles from a fully fledged artist that was labeled as just a basic “YouTube, Lyrical Miracle rapper” just two years prior. However, Doechii brings the same approach she does on her older works into this song instead of trying to fully embrace herself into the new space, and it just doesn’t work out. I really liked Alligator Bites Never Heal, and hope she continues that sound into the future. However, this song just isn’t the way to go if she wants to further her career into superstar status.
