Doja Cat’s ‘Scarlet’ Fails to Debut in Top 3

Billboard just released its newest update to the Billboard 200 chart. Featuring Florida rapper Rod Wave’s Nostalgia at No. 1 for the second time since its September 15 release, the chart also included a bit of a letdown for internationally acclaimed pop rapper Doja Cat.

Debuting her fourth album Scarlet on September 22, Doja’s LP came in at No. 4 in its first week on the chart. Selling 72,000 copies in its first week, Scarlet‘s performance comes as a surprise to many in the music industry, considering it is more than a 30,000 unit decrease from her prior LP Planet Her‘s debut in 2021.

Upon the announcement of the new Billboard 200 chart, staff at Billboard put together a story to try to explain Doja’s mediocre sales. Noting how Doja intentionally alienated her fans in the Scarlet rollout process, while also boldly switching up her sound to a more rap-influenced approach, some of the staff felt like the No. 4 placement wasn’t entirely that shocking.

[RELATED: Review: Doja Cat’s ‘Scarlet’ is a Party on Fire]

With this, though, many of them also felt that this outcome did not diminish Doja’s star power in the mainstream. Noting that she has greatly contributed to the current zeitgeist of pop music, Billboard‘s team did not foresee any decline in popularity for Doja.

“If you’re just talking about pop stars whose songs and personas best capture and define an era, it’s pretty hard to leave her out of that discussion,” Billboard‘s Andrew Unterberger wrote. “It’d be tough to name three artists of any kind who feel more like the 2020s so far than Doja Cat.

Scarlet‘s Hot 100 chart performance may lend itself to this stance, as three of the album’s songs landed on the chart, with promotional single “Paint The Town Red” remaining at No. 1 and “Agora Hills” debuting at No. 18.

Overall, while the entire album may not have resonated with listeners like Doja’s old music has, her crafty songwriting and impressive melodies still shine through on certain songs, and are evidence that Doja’s slip in sales does not equal a slip in talent.

Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for MTV