[8][9] The remix to its standout single, "Say So" featuring Nicki Minaj, became the first song by a female rap duo to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

[12] It became the most-streamed album by a female rapper on Spotify, and its lead single, "Kiss Me More" featuring SZA, won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

[13][14] After being nominated for the BET Award for Best Female Hip Hop Artist in May 2021, Doja Cat was criticized by social media users who felt she was "too pop" to be considered as a rapper.

[22] On April 26, radio personality Ebro Darden shared that he had the opportunity to listen to approximately eight songs from the album while it was in its "early stages", stating "I heard straight rap records".

[26] Leading up to the album's release, Doja Cat adopted a darker aesthetic and image, claiming that she had "a lot of pent-up feelings and anger" which she wanted to express through beauty, further describing her new style as "punk", "experimental" and "manic".

[28] She initially shaved her hair and eyebrows,[29] and then got a number of tattoos,[30] including a creature from Fortunio Liceti's De monstris (1655) on her arm,[27][31] a scythe surrounding her ear,[32] and the skeleton of a bat on her back, which she claimed to symbolize a "new beginning".

[44][45] She was unbothered by these reactions, tweeting in February 2023 that she enjoyed "playing with people’s ignorance and stupidity for [her] own happiness and personal gain",[46] and then in April 2023 addressed her fans in saying "Your fear is not my problem".

[28] "Scarlet" is the name to an alter ego adopted by Doja Cat which symbolizes rebirth, "the reimagination of the self", and "the birth of a new creative, or new thought, or new way of style that you're expressing".

[3] After having tweeted "Scarlet is here" on June 16,[56] the alter ego made her debut in the music video for "Attention" where she was seen in the nude and painted head-to-toe in red blood.

[3] Several wax figures of this Scarlet character began appearing in public locations around the United States, such as a subway station and Tompkins Square Park in New York City,[3][57] and both Wrigley Field and Riverwalk in Chicago.

[58] On August 29, 2023, Doja Cat initially shared an album cover to Instagram which featured a painting of a big pinkish arachnid and a small drop of blood; containing no text.

[59] Fans then noticed that it looked almost identical to the cover for Of Gloom, the third studio album by German metalcore band Chaver, which was slated for release on the same day as Scarlet.

During a cover story with Variety in February 2023, Doja Cat expressed that Scarlet will diverge from the "pink and soft things" and "pop and glittery sounds" that she has been noted for; opting instead for a more "masculine" sonic direction.

[64][65] She claimed to have purposefully misled journalists and fans into thinking that her album would be inspired by 1990s German rave music, rock, experimental jazz and R&B, rather than rap.

[68][69] In an interview with Rolling Stone in June 2023, Doja expanded on the influences and inspiration for her upcoming album, saying that she had been reconnecting with the music that she was raised listening to, such as Erykah Badu, John Coltrane and 90s hip hop.

[71] The standard edition of Scarlet opens with "Paint the Town Red," a boom bap song where Doja asserts her stance as a performer against critics and fans.

Sampling Dionne Warwick's version of "Walk On By," the song lambasts her detractors as she "refuses to settle for the disrespect she faces and will say whatever is necessary to prove that she is indestructible.

"[74] "97" follows as the sixth track, with Doja continuing the theme of indifference towards pressure from others as she raps about "flaunting luxury and extravagance without care for societal judgment.

Sampling "All I Do Is Think of You," Doja raps with a "valley-girl accent"[74] about her unabashed desire to physically indulge in her love with her partner, regardless of ever-present spectators.

[91] It was followed by "Demons"[4] on September 1, 2023[92] alongside a music video co-directed by Christian Breslauer and Doja Cat and co-starring American actress Christina Ricci;[93] the trailer first premiered at Cinespia in Los Angeles on August 27.

Rappers Doechii and Ice Spice served as supporting acts on the North American leg while singer Hemlocke Springs opened for the Europe trek.

[104] At the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, Doja performed a medley of "Attention", "Paint the Town Red", and "Demons", dressed in a grey suit and glasses, and trailed by multiple dancers resembling the blood-soaked "Scarlet" alter ego.

[105] Justin Curto of Vulture highlighted the performance as one of the best moments of the night, describing the "preppy" outfit as "giving Joan Cusack in School of Rock",[106] while Joey Nolfi of Entertainment Weekly compared it to Britney Spears in the "...Baby One More Time" music video.

[107] Pitchfork's Madison Bloom echoed Nolfi's sentiment while describing the dancers' choreography as "recall[ing] Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria remake" and praising the performance as one of the best of the night.

[108] In late September, Doja performed "Ouchies" and "Attention" at the 2023 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which was released as a Prime Video special titled The Tour '23.

"[121] PJ Somerville of The Line of Best Fit predicted that Scarlet would be a divisive listen, but lauded Doja Cat's ability to "paint a vivid picture" and "create a hit".

[119] The Independent's Roisin O'Connor complimented how Doja Cat incorporated the styles of her musical influences, highlighting Nicki Minaj's "wide-eyed insouciance" on "Gun", D'Angelo's "gorgeous" croons on "Often" and Kendrick Lamar's "silky, dangerous tones" on "Demons".

[117] Rolling Stone's Larisha Paul deemed Scarlet to be "just another chapter" of Doja Cat "burning the pages of the rulebook on pop stardom.

"[122] Concluding her review for Clash, Madeline Smith wrote, "At its core, Scarlet is an interesting exploration into the world of ego trips, the trappings of fame, escapism and novelty, a welcome deviation with a heightened sense of maturity and finesse.

"Masc" featuring Teezo Touchdown was released simultaneously as a promotional single, accompanied by a music video directed by Doja Cat and Jamal Peters.