Doechii joined Vevo for their Footnotes series, taking viewers behind the scenes of the video for her massive single “Denial Is A River,” from her Grammy Award-winning project, Alligator Bites Never Heal.
Co-directors Carlos Acosta and James Mackel provide interesting insights into the sitcom-inspired video, which intentionally reflects Doechii’s personal and professional journey.
Towards the end of the clip, the directors reveal that the video’s ending almost went in a different direction. “We had an alternate ending where Doechii passes out and EMTs rush on stage to revive her, but during the last hour of shooting, the entire power at the stage shut off,” they explain. “We still filmed it, but we actually went with the cleaner ending in the video.”
“Denial Is A River” is one of many hit tracks from Alligator Bites Never Heal, which also features “Catfish” and “Nissan Altima.” Released in 2024, it was honored as Best Rap Album at this year’s Grammy Awards. The win crowned her as the second solo woman (following Cardi B) and third woman overall (factoring in Lauryn Hill’s win as a member of the Fugees) to receive the award. The Florida rapper commemorated the career-setting milestone by releasing the celebratory “Nosebleeds” just shortly after the ceremony’s end.
Doechii’s milestone year continued with Billboard naming her its 2025 Woman of the Year back in March, following her previous Rising Star honor at the 2023 Women in Music event. Recently, the rapper released an official version of “Anxiety.” Originally a fan-favorite early career track released five years ago, the song (where she raps over an instrumental of Gotye’s 2011 hit song with Kimbra, “Somebody That I Used To Know”) quickly gained traction on TikTok. The rapper kept the momentum going with the song’s official video, which dropped on April 18.
Listen to Alligator Bites Never Heal now.
