Doja Cat drops ‘Balut’ ahead of ‘Scarlet’ album release

MANILA, Philippines — American rapper Doja Cat is gearing up for the release of her fourth studio album "Scarlet" next week with the surprise drop of a new single "Balut."

The song is the fourth single off "Scarlet", which streams globally on September 22, and is the fifteenth and last song on the album's tracklist.

Previous singles off the album that Doja released and performed were hip-hop track "Attention," the pop-rap "Paint the Town Red", which samples the work of singer Dionne Warwick, and the punk-rap "Demons", which featured actress Christina Ricci in its music video.

Doja performed the three songs at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards where the music video for "Attention" won Best Art Direction.

The intro and outro of "Balut" is a sample of legendary wrestler Ric Flair saying "Remember this, girls, none of you can be first, but all of you can be next." One of Flair's nicknames was "I Da! Ba-Loot!" and is likely one of the inspirations for the song's title apart from the famous Filipino delicacy.

The '90s inspired song itself sees Doja singing about how she as an artist stands out surrounded by amateurs, and perhaps even some peers, and dismisses rumors of drug use.

Doja will promote the album around the United States (and one Canadian city) in her second-ever tour also called "Scarlet," beginning on October 31 in San Francisco and ending on December 13 in Chicago, with fellow rappers Ice Spice and Doechii alternating as supporting acts.

The artist is best known for her hits "Say So," "Kiss Me More" featuring SZA, "Need to Know," "Juicy" with Tyga, "You Right" with The Weeknd, "Streets," "Like That" featuring Gucci Mane, "Boss Bitch," and "Woman."

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