‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’ is a mixtape that expands upon what Doechii has openly showcased in her past EPs, filled with bruising bangers and solemn tenderness all around. While abbreviated, it never shrinks the potent skill that Doechii carries as a rapper and a singer.
Ever since Doechii has broken through in the mainstream from her set of EPs and features that led her to be signed over to TDE, there is anticipation of where she will take her capabilities in the future, especially as there is a lot to love about her musicality. An artist who’s just not as explosive as a rapper with enough bite to her delivery that allows her flows to stick, but she is also an expressive singer who can also touch upon a softer side to herself when needed. It’s the kind of vibrancy that’s worth checking up on as Doechii finally gains more gradual success in the meantime, a vibrancy that she manages to open up further within this debut mixtape of hers, ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’.
Within this mixtape, Doechii shows everyone the immense potential that she can muster through and through, certainly expanding upon the snippets of snappy flair that has been potently pulled off in those past EPS, but is now letting it out with more dynamics on the table. Bringing forth a more varied production palette that Doechii nestles in with an effortless ease, able to provide the swell of tones that she can deliver, carrying a lot of swagger, bite, and tenderness to go along with the broader set of sound that’s well-produced enough to throw some blazing quality along the way. The sharp boom-bap percussion knocks across ‘BOILED PEANUTS’ and ‘DENIAL IS A RIVER’ that Doechii just carries with a natural swing to her swaggering tone, the more vindicated tones across the rumbling grooves of ‘CATFISH’ and the spare yet moody atmosphere of ‘STANKA POOH’, the slinkier instrumentation that compliments Doechii’s impressive vocal ranges on ‘BEVERLY HILLS’, ‘SLIDE’, and ‘WAIT’, the more somber touches of guitars amidst the brittle beat on ‘DEATH ROLL’, and the more explosive bite across the whirling banger of ‘NISSAN ALTIMA’ and the glossy charm of ‘BOOM BAP’ just before the melodies eventually ramp into this agitated progression.
That sense of variance of tone does mirror back to Doechii’s writing, where there is a sense of frustration in adjusting to the limelight of success. Self-aware enough to recognize that with this success, there is a sense of responsibility that she has to carefully pull together, yet there are certain factors that shake her up as she has stepped up through this newfound fame. Whether that be the friendships that slowly distance away from her due to the fame that creates a barrier to those past connections, the relationships that open up her vulnerability on really craving to find more love along the way, as well as the pressures that she now has as an artist. That last theme especially is something that she declares in detail, where having to deal with her label, critics, and fanbase that tries to shape her into a direction that she doesn’t really want is something that conflicts with her, especially as a black woman who’s tiptoeing within hip-hop circles that might not give her that much respect and agency. A struggle that Doechii has to roam around, meeting what they want halfway from her while not exactly taking away the agency on what Doechii genuinely thinks is great for her.
All of that being said, given the brief fragments a lot of these songs have, it leads to the mixtape not leaving a lot of mind-blowing moments, where those fragmented pieces could have been stretched out even more, especially with how much Doechii gives so much snarl, vigor, and somber character to her performances. Not all the songs managed to land in their ideas, as there are melodies and production that, with their already brief runtime, don’t lead to more modulation to their production and composition. Essentially leaving a lot more anticipation of how Doechii will follow these ideas up rather than letting these ideas blast through in the way that Doechii would’ve liked.
But for an expansion of what she has pulled together on her EPs, ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’ lands more of what Doechii can do, where the fact that she deftly fits well within the array of genres and textures only emboldens the potential that she can grasp excellently. While this potential has been limited to bite-sized shards for this mixtape, they don’t diminish just how much Doechii bulldozed her way as a singer, rapper, and songwriter. Those bites might leave some ache, but never completely bring down Doechii as she moves forward with more possessed strength than ever before.
Favorite Tracks: ‘STANKA POOH’, ‘BOILED PEANUTS’, ‘DENIAL IS A RIVER’, ‘CATFISH’, WAIT’, ‘DEATH ROLL’, ‘BOOM BAP’, ‘NISSAN ALTIMA’, ‘SLIDE’, ‘BEVERLY HILLS’
Least Favorite Track: ‘FIREFLIES’