Last week, the young Los Angeles sing-rapper and viral success story Doja Cat scored her first-ever #1 single. Nicki Minaj had jumped on the remix to Doja Cat’s hit “Say So,” and that was enough to push the song to the top of the charts. (Amazingly, this was also Nicki Minaj’s first-ever #1.) Today, we get another high-profile Doja Cat remix; we’ll probably get a lot of those in the weeks ahead. This time, it’s Doja Cat jumping on another artist’s song. That artist is the Weeknd, a guy who recently scored a couple of #1 hits of his own.
The Weeknd released his new album After Hours two months ago. Since then, he’s released a number of remixes of After Hours songs, enlisting the talents of people like Lil Uzi Vert, Chromatics, Oneohtrix Point Never, and the Blaze. Today, he’s shared a new version of the lush, funky ’80s-pop pastiche “In Your Eyes,” and it’s got a verse from Doja Cat.
The Weeknd’s “In Your Eyes” is not a Peter Gabriel cover. (I would definitely listen to the Weeknd’s version of Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” especially if it involved Doja Cat singing the Youssou N’Dour part.) Instead, the Weeknd’s “In Your Eyes” is a slick piece of work full of synths and saxophones; the Weeknd recorded it with co-writers and co-producers Max Martin and Oscar Holter. Right now, the Weeknd’s “In Your Eyes” sits at #54 on the Billboard Hot 100. It previously peaked at #16, which is 10 places higher than Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” ever got.
On the remix, Doja Cat sings and raps, turning the song into a duet about two self-destructive people who are extremely into each other. Listen to it below.
The “In Your Eyes” remix is out now on the streaming services. This morning, as it happens, the Weeknd’s frequent collaborator Lana Del Rey appeared to shade Doja Cat, among a great many other artists. Also, the “In Your Eyes” is the first time that Doja Cat has worked with Max Martin, though she came up working with one of Martin’s proteges, the much-despised Dr. Luke. (Luke is one of the co-writers of “Say So.”)
