Hi, everyone. Bitethony Metano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new Doechii mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal.

Florida native, rapper, singer, songwriter, Doechii. For a few years now, she has been one of the most promising artists on the Top Dog entertainment roster. And considering the bar that label has set historically, that's saying a lot. I mean, this is the same outlet that gave us Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Schoolboy Q, Ab-soul. And through a bunch of singles and a few EPs that she has released so far, Doechii has showcased levels of lyricism, of personality, of character that could take her equally as far.

For one, she had one of the most impressive showings of the 2022 XXL freshman class. That she / her / black bitch EP she dropped the same year was quite impressive. And she has been building up things interesting interestingly, in 2024, with all of the singles in the lead to this new tape, as well as the Florida Banger Hip House Anthem featuring JT that is "Alter Ego".

So all of that had me waiting with baited breath to see what she would deliver to us this year. And at least for now, Doechii's plans just seem to be this tape, which is under 50 minutes in length. It's 19 tracks, and I stress but once again, this thing is supposed to be a mixtape, not an album. It very much feels like it. As artistically, I feel like Doechii's ambitions on this thing come off tempered with a great deal of tracks on this project, feeling like loosely defined mood pieces or free styles, which may be backed by some hard-hitting beats but still don't really have a whole lot of structure.

Also, when listening to this thing, I don't think Doechii is shooting for the stars commercially either, as there aren't really any big features packed into this project or any potentially viral choruses to my ears. I mean, "Alter Ego" that I mentioned earlier isn't even on the tape, which at this point, I'm not sure if that's just going to be a non-album single or we'll later see a home on a formal album down the road.

Either way, again, for now, Alligator Bites is seemingly the project that we've got, and in a way, it feels like it's serving very much the same purpose the she / her / black bitch EP did, and really telling us more of what we already knew, if you've been paying attention, that Doechii is a versatile and talented rapper with a lot of lyrical wit.

Sometimes on a track, she brings levels of passion and energy that are just erupting out of her, like on the very unhinged "Boom Bap" or the slick and catchy "Nissan Altima", where she calls herself the hip hop Madonna and also the trap Grace Jones. Yes, we need that.

The issue ultimately is, though, all of this hype and emotion isn't very much focused on this tape, and I guess that's probably by design to a degree because the tracklist on this thing feels less like a series of formal songs and more like a bunch of, Look what I can do's. But I will say, even in this somewhat disorganized state, Doechii is still pretty entertaining, whether she's bringing a very heady and funny pen game to the table, like on the opener, where she says, "Talking out my ass, and that's my assumption, but, But that's my conjunction." That's funny.

There's also the very cold-blooded and braggadocious "Bullfrog", which is fantastic. She switches things up successfully once again with some zany and psychedelic boom bap with "Boiled Peanuts", which is very much giving the Pharcyde vibes.

Then "Denial is a River" is a hilariously executed story song where she's bouncing back and forth between alternate personalities. I would absolutely love to hear her indulge in this thing more on future projects. The versatility of this tape continues to expand on the following "Skip", where Doechii embraces some very slow, harmonious, chopped-and-screwed-esque production, shows off her singing chops, too. And while I do like what this track brings to the table in terms of aesthetics and vibes in one breath... In another, this track just feels so half baked song-wise, which becomes more and more the case for a bunch of different cuts on this tape as we dive deeper into it.

Because, yeah, there are just a lot of songs on this I am left wanting more from, be that "Hide and Seek" or "Bloom", which is very much like a malformed interlude that overstays its welcome. There's the very sleepy, sensual and one-dimensional, "Huh". Also, "Boom Bap" that I mentioned earlier, where Doechii is very much bringing this totally chaotic ODB or Kanye-level energy to the mic, which is great. I just wish she brought stronger verses to accompany it. And "Profit" is another moment that brings an interesting vibe to the table, some very glamorous pop rap with some ritzy piano cords that I do like a lot, but structurally, it's just one of quite a few songs on this tape that I think is just too brief.

This track also brings up a bar that sticks out among the many on the record where Doechii is talking about how her label doesn't really like the direction she's going in artistically. But I don't know, to my ears as a listener, I feel like the problem with this tape is that it has a lack of direction, really. Not like a crazy direction that seems like it has no commercial viability.

From here, we go into a sleepy final leg for the project where some of the most forgettable tracks turn up. But with that being said, there are low-key moments on this project where Doechii does actually bring some more structure, sure, some more lyricism, be that on "Wait", or "Death Roll", or "Beverly Hills". But these tracks, while good, they are also the exception to the rule as a lot of the more measured songs on this tape, I think, come across just passable filler.

But believe me when I say that "just okay" is about as bad as this album gets, and there are certainly more highlights than there are lowlights across its run time. It's also worth pointing out that Doechii comes across on this tape as very much a product of the era of rap music she's coming up from and seems very heavily influenced by the likes of Princess Nokia, Tyler, the Creator, Nicki Minaj, to a lesser extent, also Doja Cat, Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott, Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Biz Markie on that throwback track, Andre 3000.

So even if this record isn't as well-groomed as I hoped it would be going into it, it's still incredible that Doechii seemingly has the capacity to do it all if she sets her mind to it. The main issue, though, is that there's not really a whole lot of organization to all of it and very little follow-through on some pretty key tracks. So yeah, that's ultimately how the tape falls short. But again, with this thing being categorized as a mixtape, I guess you could understand how she wouldn't go all out with her biggest beats, her biggest choruses, or really any show stopping features.

Once again, I'm walking away from a Doechii project feeling like, Okay, there's some serious potential here, but I guess I'm going to have to wait a little bit longer to hear all of it come to fruition, which is why I'm feeling a strong 6 to a 7 on this thing.

Anthony Fantano. Doechii. Forever.