Anxiety

"Anxiety" is a raw and unfiltered exploration of the internal and external battles with mental health. The song personifies anxiety as a persistent antagonist that attempts to silence and control the narrator. Through lyrics like "Anxiety, keep on tryin' me / I feel it quietly, tryna silence me," Doechii articulates the constant, often invisible burden of anxious thoughts. The recurring phrase "somebody's watchin' me" points to a sense of paranoia and the pressures of being in the public eye, blending internal struggles with the external scrutiny of fame. The song doesn't seek to offer a solution but rather to provide an honest depiction of the cyclical and suffocating nature of anxiety, mirroring this in its repetitive structure. It touches on themes of self-doubt, the need for perseverance ("You gotta lose a lot before the winnin'"), and the difficulty of escaping unhealthy coping mechanisms. Ultimately, the track serves as a form of advocacy, opening up conversations about mental health, particularly for Black women who are often underrepresented in such discussions. It’s a statement of vulnerability and resilience, encouraging listeners to confront their own feelings without shame.

The song plunges the listener into the disorienting experience of living with anxiety. It opens with a direct address to the feeling itself, personifying it as a relentless entity that is constantly trying, testing, and attempting to silence the narrator. There's a palpable sense of being watched and scrutinized, a paranoia that blurs the line between internal and external pressures. The feeling is described as a quiet, insidious presence that can't simply be shaken off. The lyrics then shift to a more free-associative, almost stream-of-consciousness flow, touching on themes of navigating life and career. Phrases about having “no mojo” but bouncing back, and rejecting logos for new brands, suggest a struggle with identity and authenticity in the face of public life. This is contrasted with a raw ambition and hustle, a need to succeed even if it means seeking out a “smuggler up in Russia.”

A recurring theme is the performative nature of life, captured in metaphors like “my life is a wet dream I call it a sex scene” and “my life is a sex tape, you only get one take.” This imagery highlights the immense pressure of being constantly observed and the fear of making a mistake. The command “Quiet on the set, please” before diving back into the chorus reinforces this idea of life as a performance where anxiety is the unwelcome director.

The chorus is a cyclical, looping chant that mimics the repetitive and inescapable nature of anxious thoughts. The phrases “keep on tryin' me,” “tryna silence me,” and “somebody's watchin' me” become a haunting mantra. The vocal delivery shifts between melodic singing and a more frantic, layered repetition, enhancing the feeling of a spiraling mind. The second verse delves into a sense of otherness and danger with lines like “marco Polo Negro run from Popo, that blue light and that Rojo,” connecting personal anxiety to broader, systemic fears and racialized trauma. This grounds the internal struggle in a very real external world fraught with its own threats. The song culminates in a powerful physical description of anxiety’s toll: “I get this tightness in my chest, like an elephant is standing on me.” This visceral image makes the abstract feeling tangible and suffocating. The song doesn't offer a resolution or escape; instead, it ends by surrendering to the feeling, letting it “take over,” and repeating the main hook, emphasizing the ongoing, cyclical battle with anxiety.

"Anxiety" has a unique and layered history, beginning as a freestyle Doechii recorded in her bedroom and uploaded to YouTube on November 10, 2019, during the sessions for her early mixtape Coven Music Sessions. For years, it remained a relatively obscure track appreciated by her early fanbase. The song prominently samples Gotye's 2011 global hit "Somebody That I Used to Know," which itself samples Luiz Bonfá's 1967 song "Seville."

In 2023, the song gained new life when Brooklyn drill rapper Sleepy Hallow sampled Doechii's original demo for his own track, also titled "Anxiety," which featured Doechii. Following this, in early 2025, Doechii's original 2019 version went viral on TikTok. A popular trend used the song, inspired by a scene from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. This viral moment created massive fan demand for an official release. In response, Doechii re-recorded the song with updated production and vocals, and it was officially released on streaming platforms on March 4, 2025, through Top Dawg Entertainment and Capitol Records. Wally De Backer (Gotye) is credited as a co-producer on the official release alongside Doechii. The song was later added as a bonus track to the extended version of her acclaimed 2024 mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal.

"Anxiety" utilizes a dynamic interplay of rhyme and rhythm to reflect its central theme. The song operates at a tempo of approximately 140 BPM in a 4/4 time signature, creating a driving, energetic pulse that contrasts with the lyrical content's unease. The rhythmic foundation is built upon the irregular, syncopated xylophone melody sampled from Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know." This creates a jittery, off-kilter feel that Doechii uses as a template for her vocal phrasing. Her vocal rhythm is highly versatile, shifting from smooth, melodic flows in the verses to rapid-fire, staccato deliveries and layered, overlapping vocals in the chorus. This rhythmic complexity mirrors the chaotic and racing thoughts associated with an anxious state. The rhyme scheme is largely free-form, relying more on internal rhymes, assonance, and consonance rather than a strict, traditional pattern. For example, in lines like "Solo, no mojo / I bounce back, no pogo / Unhappy, no homo / New brands, no logos," she strings together a series of rhymes that feel conversational and freestyle-like. The chorus's repetitive phrasing ("Anxiety, keep on tryin' me / I feel it quietly / Tryin' to silence me") acts as a rhythmic and lyrical hook, its cyclical nature reinforcing the song's theme of being trapped in an anxious loop.

Doechii employs a range of stylistic techniques in "Anxiety" to create its distinctive, unsettling, and compelling atmosphere.

• Vocal Versatility: A key feature is Doechii's seamless shift between different vocal deliveries. She moves from soulful, melodic singing in the verses to a more frantic, layered, and rhythmic spoken-word approach in the chorus and bridge. This versatility mirrors the fluctuating emotional states associated with anxiety.
• Repetitive, Looping Structure: The song's structure, particularly the chorus, is intentionally repetitive and cyclical. This mimics the experience of obsessive, looping thoughts that are characteristic of anxiety, creating a feeling of being trapped.
• Direct Address (Apostrophe): Doechii directly addresses her anxiety as if it were a person ("Anxiety, keep on tryin' me"), a literary technique known as apostrophe. This personification makes the abstract concept a tangible antagonist in the song's narrative.
• Sampling as a Foundational Element: The prominent use of the xylophone riff from Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" is a central musical choice. The familiar yet jarring sample creates a sense of uncanny valley, a distorted nostalgia that underpins the track's uneasy mood. The irregular rhythm of the sample serves as a template for her vocal approach.
• Surreal Imagery: The lyrics and the accompanying music video are filled with surreal and dramatic imagery, such as kitchen fires, SWAT teams, and roaming elephants. This reflects the internal chaos and emotional turmoil of anxiety, where the ordinary world becomes distorted and threatening.
• Staccato Phrasing: In the second verse, Doechii uses a staccato, fragmented delivery ("No lim–its, no bor–ders") which enhances the song's rhythmic complexity and catchy, off-kilter feel.

"Anxiety" has had a significant cultural impact, marking a major milestone in Doechii's career. Originally a 2019 YouTube upload, the song's official 2025 release was propelled by viral success on TikTok. It became her first single to break into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number nine. The song achieved international success, topping the charts in countries like Australia, New Zealand, and Switzerland, and reaching the top 10 in the UK, Germany, and France. Critical reception was largely positive, with publications like Clash magazine praising its "soulful vocals, revelatory lyricism, and hard-hitting flows." The song's open discussion of mental health has been lauded as a form of advocacy, particularly for providing visibility and encouraging dialogue around the topic for Black women. The music video, directed by James Mackel, garnered significant attention for its surreal visuals and clever homage to Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" video. The song's success has solidified Doechii's position as a rising star, contributing to her being named Billboard's Woman of the Year in 2025 and winning a Grammy for Best Rap Album for the mixtape it was added to, Alligator Bites Never Heal.

"Anxiety" is rich with symbolism and metaphors that visualize the chaotic mental state the song describes.

• Life as a Performance: The lyrics "my life is a sex tape, you only get one take" and the interlude "Quiet on the set, please / Rolling 'Anxiety' in three, two, one" frame her life as a high-stakes performance being recorded for public consumption. This metaphor highlights the pressure of fame and the feeling of being constantly judged, where any mistake is permanent.
• The House of Chaos: The music video, directed by James Mackel, uses the setting of a house to symbolize Doechii's mind. The home, typically a place of safety, is thrown into surreal turmoil with kitchen fires, breaking glass, and strange, looping guests, representing the distortion of the mundane by anxiety.
• The Elephant on the Chest: The line "I get this tightness in my chest / like an elephant is standing on me" is a powerful and direct metaphor for the physical weight and suffocating pressure of an anxiety attack, making the abstract feeling visceral and relatable.
• The Looping Video: The music video ends in a perpetual loop, with Doechii seeing herself back in the bedroom where the video began. This symbolizes the cyclical, inescapable nature of anxiety, where one often feels trapped in repeating thought patterns.
• Gotye Homage: The video includes a direct visual reference to Gotye and Kimbra's "Somebody That I Used to Know" video, featuring two body-painted actors. This homage grounds her struggle within the emotional landscape of the sampled song, linking her anxiety to themes of loss and memory.

The most prominent recurring element in "Anxiety" is the chorus itself, which functions as a haunting, cyclical motif. The phrases "Anxiety, keep on tryin' me," "I feel it quietly, tryna silence me," and "somebody's watchin' me" are repeated throughout the song. This repetition is not static; Doechii varies her delivery, from a clear sung melody to a more frantic, layered chant, mirroring the escalating and spiraling nature of anxious thoughts. This lyrical loop is the core of the song's structure and meaning, reinforcing the theme of being mentally trapped. Another key recurring phrase is the direct address to "Anxiety," which personifies the feeling as a persistent antagonist. The music video visually reinforces this theme of inescapable loops by beginning and ending in the same bedroom scene, implying the entire chaotic sequence is a recurring mental event. The sample from Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" is the central musical motif, its distinctive xylophone melody looping incessantly to create a foundation of familiar yet unsettling tension.