Doja Cat explains album title change: “I change my mind constantly”

Doja Cat has revealed why she decided to change the title of her latest album – see what she had to say below.

Speaking to Sean Evans on the latest episode of Hot Ones, the rapper was asked why the album’s title was changed from its original intended name of ‘Hellmouth’ to ‘Scarlet’. In March, Doja Cat revealed that the album would be titled ‘Hellmouth’, only for it to be changed once the album dropped last month.

“I don’t care about the meaning being so deep, as much as the word being a cool word,” she said. “I just like good words. I thought ‘Hellmouth’ was cool… it’s like the gates of hell. But that felt so aggressive to me after a while, and I don’t know if I even like it anymore.”

Doja Cat went on to add: “I change my mind constantly. And ‘Scarlet’ felt like the right thing to do, because it’s kind of an ode to ‘Hot Pink’. I did the name of a colour, but it’s not really; you think of Scarlett as someone’s first name, and not as a colour. That was kind of the twist to it. And also red is just a passionate shade.”

‘Scarlet’ scored a three-star review from NME‘s Nick Levine upon its release. Levine wrote of the record: “It all adds up to an overlong, slightly repetitive but ultimately compelling album of two halves… Still, by this stage, there’s no doubt that Doja has made her point – that she doesn’t owe us anything but to be herself.”

This month, the musician responded to criticism of her album artwork for ‘Scarlet’, saying she doesn’t care about “satisfying” her fans. The album, that was released last month (September 22), was announced in August with artwork that many saw as identical to German metal band Chaver‘s new album ‘Of Gloom’.

Doja Cat then shared a new and markedly different album cover by the same artist, and told one fan on X/Twitter: “The art I chose for my album is beautiful and I like it a lot. The two spiders signify conquering your fear.

“None of my album covers had meaning until this album. You not accepting me was a fear I used to have. I don’t care anymore about satisfying you.”

The post Doja Cat explains album title change: “I change my mind constantly” appeared first on NME.