It’s all too predictable at this point: an average but relatively successful female artist goes all in on satanic imagery and, like the temptation the devil put in front of Jesus, suddenly they’ve got the keys to the kingdom. So it was barely newsworthy when singer-rapper Doja Cat released a new music video where she dons a demonic persona and terrorizes an unwitting victim.
Or is it? The music video for “Demons,” directed by Christian Breslauer, pays homage to the greatest horror movies ever, from the infamous shower scene in “The Shining” to the snowy static of old-school late-night TVs. Regarding genre, the video leaves no doubt about which category Breslauer prefers. Much of the content of the music video can be gathered from social media posts that Doja Cat, whose real name is Amala Ratna Dlamin, shared on her Instagram page.
Last month, she posted a silhouette of herself wearing horns with the caption “9.1.23,” referring to the debut of “Demons,” prompting one fan to comment, “The religious people will love this one.” Days later, the artist shared an image from the video shoot where she can be seen hanging upside down from the ceiling and wearing an all-black-latex-style body suit with black horns on her head and long, claw-like fingernails.
Another image showed Doja Cat scaling the walls. “Demons” is supposedly the sixth track from Doja Cat’s soon-to-be-released album, “Hellmouth.” For Doja Cat, none of this is particularly new. Her hit song, “Paint the Town Red,” released in August, has 30 million views on YouTube and is the number 12 top music video on the entire platform. That video also has no shortage of satanic imagery, including Doja Cat dancing on top of some type of horned demon head while wearing a sleeve decorated with red pentagrams.
In that video, Doja Cat also flirts with the Grim Reaper while wearing an all-red hooded dress, eats raw meat while wearing a cross necklace and shirt with the word “FERAL,” and again wears horns on her head while getting familiar with another dark horned figure. “Paint the Town Red” is a response song to criticism aimed at Doja Cat over the dark imagery in her videos and whether she, like Robert Johnson and so many before her, actually sold her soul to Satan.
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It’s not as though Doja Cat doesn’t realize the impact she might have on her audience; she’s laughed off accusations about her “demonic” tattoo and even changed her profile image on TikTok to a demonic face. So, she’s not concerned with making the wrong impression that she might, just maybe, have a taste for the satanic. The devil doesn’t show up with pitchforks and horns but masquerades as an angel of light. But whereas before, the demons of this age would conceal their true identity, in 2023, they can no longer be bothered with such technicalities.
Instead, it’s in our faces and on children’s devices. It penetrates the culture. It revels in the fact that most people don’t know their Bibles, feeding on our theological ignorance. And it loves lukewarm Christianity, but rest assured, like so many before, “Demons” isn’t just another music video. It’s a commercial for everything Christians are supposed to hate and, in Christ, ultimately relegate to the dustbins of history.