Single Review: “Anxiety” by Doechii

Breaking through her bedroom walls, Doechii's Anxiety single has now been played in rooms across the world, making the American singer / rapper a household name. Doechii sits up on her bed, in her most sacred space with a mic and a dream and raps over the 'Somebody That I Used To Know' sample to an online audience in 2019. Until recently the video was only available as part of the singers Coven Music Sessions, a playlist of the singers passion projects but glory to the demands of the people, it now stands at an outstanding 12 million views, just 2 million short of the 2025 official (and professionally shot) Anxiety music video. A simply put together yet chaotically chilling video that symbolises the infinite feeling of anxiety as Doechii seamlessly prances or is pulled through frames, her voice seamlessly transitioning from narration to rap to singing then back again.

"Anxiety, shake it off of me

Somebodys watching me

It's my anxiety"

Plainly written, the lyrics seem confessional. Doechii paints a picture of how anxiety is force fed through our senses, like a "tightness in my chest" that can't be easily shaken off, an all encompassing feeling of unease and paranoia. So even if, and credit to Andre 3000, you don't want to hear and just want to dance, the message is there - take it or leave it. 

I found Anxiety quite polarising in the best of ways. Vintage yet fresh, simple yet experimental, a double edged sword. With the sample we all recognise from Gotye and Kimbra, the song strikes feelings of familiarity and nostalgia, perhaps premeditated from the triple threat herself? A way of showing nobody puts Doechii in a box, at least without caution tape reading: Serious topic ahead but you will want to get up and dance! Perhaps a revolutionary way to create space for more music about mental health.