Planet Her

Maybe not every song here is as fully-realized as her best material, and maybe there are a few too many slow-moving ballads – but this doesn’t lessen just how delightful Planet Her ends up as a whole. It’s the type of pop album there should be more of: both playful and psychedelic, rich in intelligent production, and filled with charismatic and chameleonic performances.

For 'Planet Her', there is a sense of predictability in that; if nothing else, you can expect a versatile project. Multiple layers mold the artist that is Doja, and as she is carving out a lane that is entirely her own, she is not afraid to be herself no matter how chaotic it may be at times.

Planet Her maintains the versatility that Doja’s Hot Pink performances hinted at, but it all hinges on her knack for a singalong chorus, and fits cohesively in our ever-diversifying pop landscape. The result, while not terribly profound, is an album full of bulletproof bops, with the help of some well-chosen star collaborators.

Throughout the record, Doja has the method for seeing soaring stats down: Instagram caption ready lyrical quips, a flurry of famous pals (The Weeknd and JID also appear), and an effortless kaleidoscopic pop soundtrack backing it all up.

Fizzy and golden. ... A pop-star boss and player president of the Planet she's created, dictating her own laws of gravity.

Planet Her has no skips, not even the previously released singles. It showcases many sides to Doja but remains cohesive — if you don't consume it in its entirety, you'll definitely miss out on truly understanding her world.

It all adds up to a job well done with more than enough bops to drown out her next social media controversy.

Planet Her is a kaleidoscope of pop versatility that benefits greatly from a market that currently values eclecticism. It feels both premeditated and casual, well-crafted yet trenchantly frivolous.

Planet Her proves, undoubtedly, that her creativity doesn’t hinge on his contributions. Of course, Doja shines so brightly because of her voice. Her flow and singing are elastic, swift and often purposefully silly. She straddles multiple worlds at once.

With the liveliest songs bookending the album, though, the middle stretch of Planet Her gets swallowed in a celestial soup of midtempo R&B and trap trends like the pitched-down vocals on the narcotic “Been Like This.”

It’s smart at points, silly at others, often musically unremarkable, occasionally pure pop gold and easily listenable without providing significant satisfaction for more than ten to fifteen minutes after the act of consumption.

While the pleasant-enough arrangements may make for an effective summer record, Planet Her lacks the originality Doja made her name on, and no amount of stunning and spacey visuals (as in the music video for “Need To Know”) can make the songs better than they are.