Attention

“Attention” marks Doja Cat’s first single of 2023, which was released on the 16th June 2023 through Kemosabe and RCA Records.

“Attention” marks Doja Cat’s return to hip-hop & R&B, and sees her address many criticisms and controversies surrounding her and her image, such as her weight loss, shaving her head, her social media presence and her many comparisons to Nicki Minaj. The song is a 1990s-inspired hip hop track with a boom bap beat, and is far different from her previous pop releases.

Prior to the release of “Attention”, Doja Car tweeted in April 2023 that most of her rap verses in previous pop centred albums “Hot Pink” (2019) and “Planet Her” (2021) were “mid and corny”, and that she would no longer be making pop music. In May 2023, she also tweeted that the aforementioned albums were “cash-grabs” and “mediocre pop”.

The song sees Doja Cat be empowered with herself, dismissing concerns people had about her mental health when she shaved her head and eyebrows on an Instagram live in August 2022. She states in the song that she has the best therapist, and hates how some fans no longer like her as she no longer is deemed conventionally attractive, and finds it annoying how some men thought they had a chance at being with her. She also references how she dropped out of being an opening act of The Weeknd’s leg of the North American 2022 “After Hours til Dawn Tour”, due to tonsil surgery.

The music video for the track was released alongside the single via Doja Cat’s YouTube channel on the 16th June 2023. Directed by Tanu Munio, the video had a total of 9.4 million views as of the end of June 2023.

Read the lyrics to “Attention” here.

*All information accurate at the time of publishing (30th June 2023).