If there’s one thing Doechii’s going to do, it’s give us a full-on story with her music! On Jan. 2, the rapper released the music video for her song “Denial Is A River,” and it didn’t miss a beat with everything from the celeb cameos to Doechii’s different looks as she recounts the tumultuous last few years of her life and career. The song is a standout single from her breakout mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal, and the meaning behind the track is just too good not to love.
The music video follows Doechii as she stars in her own autobiographical sitcom — reminiscent of the 1990s TV show Family Matters. While she tells her story, plenty of celebs make cameos, including actor Zack Fox, influencer Rickey Thompson, and musical artists ScHoolboy Q, SiR, Teezo Touchdown, Earl Sweatshirt, Baby Tate, and DJ Miss Milan.
The video comes just a few short months after Doechii released her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal on Aug. 30. Since then, the mixtape has reached No. 82 on the Billboard 200 and even landed on the Billboard staff’s year-end lists. In other words, it’s a fan-favorite project that has skyrocketed the rapper’s career to new heights.
“Denial Is A River” is a total bop, and while the music video is hella quirky, it has a deeper meaning that’s super empowering.
What is “Denial Is A River” by Doechii about?
In case you didn’t know, “denial is a river” is a saying made popular by famous talk show host Wendy Williams. During an episode of The Wendy Williams Experience, Williams coined the phrase “Denial is a river in Egypt, your husband is GAY!,” likely alluding to the popular idiom “Denial is not just a river in Egypt,” or variations of that line. Doechii and DJ Miss Milan even channeled the Williams’s iconic moment as the MV’s final pre-release teaser.
But the rapper’s song has a different meaning than Willams’s phrase. The track breaks down the different experiences she’s had in her personal and professional life over the years.
“Remember old dude from 2019? Nice clean n*gga, did me dirtier than laundry/ Took a scroll through his IG just to get a DM from his wifey,” she raps. “I open up the messages and had to hit the zoom/ Turns out the girl was really a dude?!”
Doechii goes on to rap about the early days of her career. She raps, “N*gga think he slicked back ’til I slipped back/
Got my lick back, turned a n*gga to a knick-knack (to a knick-knack)/ I moved on, dropped a couple of songs/ And then I went and got signed, now it’s 2021.” She continued, “Platinum record this, viral record that/ I’m makin’ so much money, I’m all over the net/ I’m movin’ so fast, no time to process/ And, no, I’m not in a gang, but I’m always on set (yeah)/ Wristwatch, drip drop, labels want the TikToks/ Now I’m makin’ TikTok music, what the f*ck?/ I need a cleanse, need a detox/ But we ain’t got time to stop, the charts need us (and they do).”
So what’s the meaning behind “Denial Is A River”? Doechii revealed in an August 2024 Instagram post that the music off of Alligator Bites Never Heal “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.”
Though the music video for “Denial Is A River” showed Doechii’s quirky side, it illustrates her evolution over the years and how the experiences she’s had have pushed her personally and artistically.
With this video, it doesn’t seem far off to say that Doechii is the next big thing and when her music dominates upcoming awards shows, just remember that I told you so.