What you need to know about Doja Cat’s new blood-covered alter ego, Scarlet, and what it represents

• Doja Cat has adopted an alter ego ahead of the release of her new album “Scarlet.”
• The character is nude and covered head-to-toe in blood.
• Here’s what you need to know about Doja’s new alter ego and what it could represent.

Ahead of the release of her hotly anticipated fourth studio album, “Scarlet,” Doja Cat has adopted a striking new look — nude and coated in fake blood.

The 27-year-old star first donned the radical new look in June in the music video for “Attention,” a promotional single for her new album.

At around the 2:50 minute mark of the video, Doja appears in the street completely naked, painted head-to-toe in red.

“Look at me, look at me / I’m naked,” she raps during the brief few seconds she appears in the guise.

Since then, Doja has posted numerous photos of herself in the same attire (or lack of it) to her Instagram, including for the promotion of her Scarlet Tour.

Statues of the red, naked Doja — or Scarlet — have also been spotted around New York City, including in what appears to be the subway and on a basketball court at Tompkins Square Park.

On Wednesday, Doja shared a number of snaps of her with the latter.

“we met,” she captioned her post.

What does Doja Cat’s new look mean?

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar published on YouTube in August, Doja appeared to confirm that Scarlet is an alter ego that represents “rebirth.”

“Scarlet is basically a symbol for the reimagination of the self,” she said. “Just a new beginning.”

Of the look — which bears a close resemblance to the blood-covered title character in the 1976 horror film “Carrie” — Doja said that it embodies “the effort that you have to put into pushing out this new person.”

“The birth of a new creative, or new thought, or new way of style that you’re expressing,” she said.

While Doja has not expressly confirmed what her “rebirth” entails, it appears to refer to her changing her musical style — possibly in response to criticism of her rapping abilities.

Former Terror Squad member Remy Ma said last year that she thinks Doja is “dope” but doesn’t qualify as a rapper.

Social media users also criticized Doja after she was nominated for best female hip-hop artist at the 2021 BET Awards.

“Doja is a pop artist,” wrote one user on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Coachella

In an interview with Elle in May 2022, Doja hit out at the claims that she was not a rapper.

“I’ve rapped since the beginning,” she said.

In a series of now-deleted tweets in April 2023, Doja said she was done with pop music and was ready to prove to the world that she was in fact a rapper.

“I also agree with everyone who said the majority of my rap verses are mid and corny. I know they are,” she wrote. “I wasn’t trying to prove anything, I just enjoy making music. But I’m getting tired of hearing y’all say that I can’t, so I will.”

“No more pop,” she wrote in a second tweet.

A new Doja

Doja’s Scarlet persona is just one part of the darker aesthetic that she has adopted ahead of the release of her new album.

In May, she unveiled a number of new tattoos, including an antelope skull on her wrist, a spider on her forearm, and a huge bat skeleton on her back.

In an Instagram post showing off the bat tattoo, Doja also shared an excerpt that explained its meaning.

“Bats often represent death in the sense of letting go of the old, and bringing in the new,” reads the phrase she shared. “They are symbols of transition, of initiation, and the start of a new beginning.”

As well as tattoos, Doja has also been toying with macabre imagery.

In the video for “Paint the Town Red,” the lead single from “Scarlet,” Doja is seen being embraced by death and the devil. In one scene, she peels out her eyeball which then falls into hell. In another scene, she rides on a green creature through the sky.

Her alter ego Scarlet also appears in the video.

In the video for her new song”Demons,” Doja is dressed as a demon with red eyes and horns,  and haunts a woman after becoming possessed.

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