Doechii made sure to enter the new year with guns blazing. On Thursday (Jan. 2), the Floridian talent unveiled a Carlos Acosta and James Mackel-directed video for “DENIAL IS A RIVER,” which brought viewers into a zany television show. Throughout, peers like Zack Fox and Teezo Touchdown popped up for random appearances as Doechii worked through various situations on wax, such as a toxic relationship.
“Remember old dude from 2019? Nice clean n**ga, did me dirtier than laundry, took a scroll through his IG just to get a DM from his wifey,” she rapped before revealing, “I open up the messages and had to hit the zoom, turns out the girl was really a dude?!” The clip took an even wilder turn after Doechii broke the fourth wall, with nosebleeds, explosions, and more bringing the story to its abrupt end.
The conceptual body of work quickly received praise on social media, including from one of the TDE rapper’s high-profile labelmates. “Yea, Doechii is my favorite artist [right now], hands down,” tweeted SZA. “F**k the genre.”
The visual was preceded by humorous advertisements for the faux sitcom, complete with additional cameos from ScHoolboy Q, Earl Sweatshirt (as “Brad Pitt”), Rickey Thompson, Baby Tate, and more. On Wednesday (Jan. 1), she and DJ Miss Milan channeled an iconic Wendy Williams moment as the final pre-release teaser.
“DENIAL IS A RIVER” was taken from Doechii’s August 2024 drop, Alligator Bites Never Heal. She spoke on the deeper meaning behind the project and its title in an Instagram post. “The alligator performs a spinning maneuver known as the ‘death roll’ to submerge and dismember its prey underwater,” she explained before admitting personal struggles throughout the year. “This mixtape embodies my resurgence [and] my reclaiming of power. It’s a testament to my unyielding spirit and limitless creativity.”
She continued, “In my research about alligator attacks, I found that a common thread in each survivor was that the main reason they survived is BECAUSE they fought back. This mixtape is my fight back. I am nobody’s prey; I was born to be the predator.”