DENIAL IS A RIVER

"Denial Is A River" is phrase popularized by the talk show host Wendy Williams, who was addressing a caller who caught her husband cheating on her... with a guy. The caller was clinging to the hope that her husband was merely bisexual, but Wendy set her straight, telling her, "Denial is a river in Egypt, your husband is gay." That clip became a meme and got Doechii's attention. She used it as the title of this song, where something similar happens to her: She finds out the guy she was dating was DL, with a guy on the side. Doechii says it's a true story, although embellished a bit. It happened back in 2019; she used her journal entries as source material when she wrote this song about it a few years later.

The song is structured as a therapy session, with Doechii playing the part of both the therapist and the patient. She often assumes various personas in her songs; in her viral hit from 2020, "Yucky Blucky Fruitcake," she's both the student and teacher.

The song is a showcase for Doechii's sharp wit, honed from lots of writing and delivered with an array of dextrous flows. Her wry sense of humor comes through as she raps about substance abuse, creative blocks, and a laundry list of exes who seem to have been sent by the devil, including one who trashed her home, racking up $100,000 worth of damage in the process. "Whoopsie, made a oopsie," she raps, somehow turning the catastrophic into comedy gold. "One-hundred thousand dollar 'oops' made me loopy." In a Rolling Stone interview she confirmed the story was true. "Man, people act crazy," Doechii said, with the weariness of someone who's seen enough for two lifetimes.