Doja Cat, “Scarlet.”

The fourth album by rapper and singer Doja Cat pulls very few punches. The 27-year-old, whose name is Amal Diamini, turns up the heat with fiery aggression over pointed instrumentals.

The album, her first since 2021’s Planet Her, also veers into controversial territory.

“I’m a puppet/ I’m a sheep/ I’m a cash cow,” she declares on the explosive “Demons.” The defiant track has Doja Cat flaunting her exploits over an arrangement that fuses classical orchestration with a pulse-pounding bass beat. “We are enemies/ We are foes/ Who are you?/ And what are those?”

The top-of-the-fold headline will likely come from Doja Cat weighing in on the feud between Cardi B and Nicki Minaj on diss track “Skull & Bones.”

“You need to mind your business Helga Pataki/ ’Cause I’m’a do something devilish if you come at me/ You too high off that boo boo to unpack me,” she sings; Helga Pataki a reference to Cardi B’s given nickname to Minaj. Musically, the track is breezy R&B with a smooth flow. It doesn’t immediately come off as a diss track right away.

Scarlett excels at spanning a wide spectrum. Opening track “Paint the Town Red” brings a light groove with horn accents. Vocally, Doja Cat nimbly shifts between melody and rhyme, with a keen sense of knowing what the song calls for. Anthemic tracks like “Wet Vagina” have Doja Cat taking on her naysayers in the most direct form.

“I live life like I got a cheat code,” she sings, “You can have a trophy, I no longer need those.”

The understated arrangement of “FTG” makes for one of Scarlett‘s most compelling moments. The flow is tight, the energy is focused and urgent, but the instrumentation and funky bass is sly, making for a dichotomy of emotions. Aggressive battle track “Ouchies” has a ’90s flare with an expansive beat with lyrics that evoke a royal rumble.

The spacey “97” takes on a more exploratory feel with Doja Cat rapping out an unorthodox rhythmic flow that purposely clashes with the equally unorthodox time signature. The results are surprising and an the song is decidedly different from the rest of the record. Similarly, “Often” also feels experimental, blending elects of jazz with the hip-hop for a natural driving flow. The vocals are spacey and ethereal, far less direct and upfront.

The pace slows, if only momentarily, on the mid-tempo “Gun.” The start-and-stop bass beat drives the the lyrically suggestive track. The mood continues on “Go Off,” which occupies a similar musical space, except with more atmospherics and melody. Doja’s delivery is impressively intricate, mixing her signature spoken rhymes with a calm, cool demeanor.

“I want to brag about it/ I want to show you off,” she sings on love song “Agora Hills.”

The ode to young love manages to achieve a sweet innocence while also mixing in more explicit lyrics that push the boundaries in a different direction.  “Can’t Wait” changes up the flow once again to throwback R&B, with a barebones rhythmic loop.

“I can’t wait to get next to you,” Doja Cat confesses.

The urgency returns on “Love Life,” an optimistic track track that shouts out Doja’s sources of inspiration, from her friends and family to her fans. The album closes out on the rhythm-forward “Attention” and “Balut.”

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.