Doechii - Anxiety Music Video
Music videos. Once upon a time not so long ago, music videos were the biggest thing since sliced bread within the realms of pop culture. This was much in thanks due to MTV, an American television channel that focused on music videos, live performances (unplugged), and other similar shows. Over the years, MTV has strewn away from its roots of music videos, which has indirectly led to a shrunken appreciation and demand for such a thing or at the very least, it has lowered standards. It’s very rare these days (in my artistic opinion) that a music video truly stands out or radiates a powerful message that grooves with the original song because of this. However, there are some that manage to put the right effort and work in to create a beautiful, impressive production and the most recent that comes to mind is Doechii’s video for her hit song, Anxiety.
For those out of the loop, Doechii is the musical moniker for modern r&b artist Jaylah Ji'mya Hickmon. She first made strides into the public eye in 2023 when her song What It Is featuring Kodak Black went viral on Tiktok. 2024, though, has been her biggest year in terms of success (so far). Her Summer album Alligator Bites Never Heal that contained several hits such as DENIAL IS A RIVER and NISSAN ALTIMA skyrocketed her to fame along with a feature on Tyler, The Creator’s song Balloon that dropped that Fall. 2025 has already shown intense promise for the young rapper’s career, too, with her newest song Anxiety. A song about the title’s coinciding mental illness, Anxiety samples the 2011 Gotye and Kimbra sensation Somebody That I Used to Know and it seemed to check all the boxes for the public (myself included) because the piece has become a craze overnight with over 200 million streams worldwide. On April 18th, a music video for the song dropped on Youtube and to say that it’s powerful would be a grand understatement.
Directed by James Mackel, the Anxiety video tells a full thematic story in just four minutes and eleven seconds. It opens with the exterior of a bedroom window, a callback to the first time Doechii debuted the song via Youtube four years ago. It showcases the artist sitting on her bed with headphones on and a microphone in hand, laptop sitting before her. As the camera pans inside, the window shatters and the real anxiety begins.
From the chaotic dance sequences to the plethora of irrational fears that come to life to the Somebody That I Used to Know video reference, this is a work of true film that perfectly captures the irrational disorder that is the reality of having anxiety. It’s unpredictable yet repetitive as Doechii is pulled and pushed through disaster after disaster within an incohesive house: people breaking and entering, a kitchen fire she must put out herself while a negligent firefighter watches, rabid dogs, a chandelier falling, an elephant in the front yard, etc. After a jumbled and offputting dance sequence in the street in front of the house where she finally gets away from the anxiety, the camera swivels back to that bedroom window and it ultimately starts all over again: Doechii seemingly breaks free but this ending scene shows that the anxiety comes crashing through, that it is inescapable.
Even with all of the spectacular visuals, easter eggs, and fluidity, one element of this video really takes the cake for me in terms of message and execution: its ability to capture the actual feeling of anxiety. The irregularity of the video’s arrangement serves as a foundation for it and as a viewer, merely watching it instills a sensation of concern even if it is only subtle. As things play out, there are several instances that are adjacent to panic attacks, a common symptom of chronic anxiety. People often close in around Doechii, portraying the awful feeling of claustrophobia that’s common in said panic attacks. There is also a particular clip where Doechii is desperate to get out of a narrow hallway but all the doors are locked, which also helps to transmit this gnawing attitude of feeling trapped with horror and agitation.
In a time where great, skillfully crafted music videos are severely lacking, this new production for Doechii’s Anxiety is truly a refreshing and hopeful thing despite its core meaning. It gives me faith that more great film-esque projects such as this will begin to break out both in and outside of r&b. Doechii’s dancing and personal touch sets the tone, James Mackel brings the vision to life, and the corresponding crew’s blood, sweat, and tears are very evident due to its grandeur as a video.
After the release of the Anxiety music video, Doechii has several festivals planned for this Summer and Fall such as Lollapalooza (Chicago), All Things Go, and more. With this growing success, fans old and new are manifesting a larger headline tour for the young artist but nothing has been teased or confirmed as of publishing.