After a week of teasers that played on classic television, fast-rising rapper Doechii has dropped “Denial is A River Show,” a music video for the Alligator Bites Never Heal track “Denial is a River.” The teasers outlined a cast including Zack Fox, ScHoolboy Q, Teezo Touchdown, and many more, some of whom appear in the video out today.
After an introductory scene resembling the title sequence of the Nineties sitcom Family Matters, the video follows the storyline of the track itself, with Doechii uncovering her supposedly straight boyfriend, played by Zack Fox, cuddled up with a man on her couch – played by Rickey Thompson. After Fox is thrown out of the house a la Jazz on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Doechii’s career levels up. The living room set elevates with sleeker decor, and Doechii hangs a photo of herself, Top Dawg Entertainment founder Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith and label president Moosa Tiffith on a wall. As Doechii details her career’s rise in the song, her living room full of notable friends, including Teezo, her DJ Miss Milan, and TDE singer SiR, is intruded upon by what appear to be music industry execs. The friend group tosses them out, with Doechii growing tired and overwhelmed.
In the last scene of the video, the green living room has been painted a bold shade of red and updated with even more expensive-looking furnishings, including a line of plaques on the back wall. The cinematography is now sleek and modern, and the frame zooms out to show Doechii on set (with previous sets from the teasers besides it) and a studio audience watching her. Her nose bleeds as she admits to drinking and drug use in tandem with her “self worth at an all-time low.” When she reveals that an ex also destroyed her place, the set of her new living room explodes, leaving Doechii alone in the wreckage.
“Denial is a River” is a standout track on her first mixtape with rap giant Top Dawg Entertainment. In November, Alligator BitesNever Heal earned Doechii three Grammy nominations, including Best Rap Album. “I felt like it was necessary for me to tell my story in detail and in many different ways, through many different beats,” Doechii told Rolling Stone about the mixtape. “And it was important for us to go in chronological order of what has happened to me, how that has made me feel, how I overcame it, and where I am now.” In December, Doechii also starred alongside Brittany Howard on a Rolling Stonedigital cover for the Musicians on Musicians series.
