DrumBeat Radio Reviews: ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’ thrashes our expectations
“There’s past, present, and future. You gotta put pieces in place, it’s 24 hours. You take part of those hours. You do what you can do and go to bed.” (Bloom off Doechii’s Mixtape). Time passes and flows at a master’s pace. When you have a ear for musicality and bars spoken at the speed of sound, time bends to your will. Doechii breaks through the vocal stratosphere in her most recent mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal. From dating a crazy ex-boyfriend to developing unhealthy coping mechanisms for fame and success, Doechii’s bars never bark, they bite.
We start off this expedition with a gripping line, “I’m dead, she’s dead, just another Black Lives Mattered. And if I die today, I’d die a bastard.” Doechii has lyrics that grounds you before tearing through your thick skin to reveal the blood that makes us human. Black Americans have a gruesome history of violence that gets told through a history book or a striking obituary. Despite the aforementioned, Doechii works likes a spiritual medium expressing the truths of the dead and the lies of the living.
“Boiled Peanuts” gives you a snack but fills your spirit like a Sunday service. She uses 2000s Hip-Hop nostalgia to build a lyrical timeline of growing a legacy. Instead of the song determining Doechii’s flows, she takes control of not only the narrative but her addiction, as well. “Denial is a River” addressees the previous thoughts presented through a song written like a therapy session. It starts off with a recap of Doechii’s recent life with her explaining how her ex-boyfriend cheated on her and later vandalized all of her belongings. Doechii begins the song by addressing her trauma in a very nonchalant tone. Then jumps to her unraveling her previous drug and alcohol use as a coping mechanism. Her therapy session ends with her taking breaths that she’s held in for a long time.
She confronts her fears head on and fries her struggles like frying a freshly caught “Catfish.” Doechii names the song after people who “Catfish” who conceal who they truly are. Like a grandmother with generations of family recipes, Doechii wastes no time to metaphorically deep fry them. As the song ends, we are rewarded with a song that satisfies your cravings. “Skipp” kicks off a new era of the album filled with chill SZA-like productions paired with heartfelt and deeply personal confessions that are told as if she’s running out of time. “Hide N Seek,” “Bloom,” “Wait,’’ “Death Roll” and “Profit” ushers in an era of acceptance to bandage listeners scars and wounds. As Doechii wraps your wounds in a lyrical gauze, she voices through her pain and gives listeners substantial meanings to hold onto for tough times.
Just as Doechii’s masterpiece of an album comes to a close, she realizes that she needs a spiritual guidance. She gains a new kind of confidence in “Boom Bap,” a spiritual confidence that no one can dismantle. Doechii speaks tongues over her previous struggles and states she “is everything.” Doechii surpasses her expectations and creates her own original way of rapping. “Nissan Altima” crashes through listeners expectations and drives us 100 mph into our potential. “Huh” is the victory lap for reforming years of spiritual trauma into a masterpiece. “Slide” is a song played when all the kids are sleep and the adults can let loose a little. “Fireflies” replaces a goodbye text to ex-friends and partners. “Beverly Hills” feels like cruising downtown the sun blazing in your rear view mirrors. Instead of her rapping for the production, she raps against it and molds it into her own song. She doesn’t always follow the rhythm, percussion, rhyme scheme, genre. Her lyricism changes as the album reflects her spiritual growth. Her gripping album twists your pain into truth. Her breaths are a calm before the storm of life. Her kindness is something earned not given. Her existence on this place we call Earth is a blessing. “Alligator Bites Never Heal” is like a prayer said on a restless night to welcome a new tomorrow that rebukes the barriers from our past.
