What is Doechii's 'Denial is a River' lyrics meme? Meaning decoded

Doechii is regarded as one of the most popular rappers today. Her song, Denial Is A River from the mixtape, 'Alligator Bites Never Heal' was released in 2024 and immediately became a hit among Doechii fans. Besides the track going viral as trending audio on TikTok and Instagram reels, little did we know that it was about to be a meme, thanks to Wendy Williams.

Setting the Context

Doechii's Denial Is A River track features a hypothetical plot of her interacting with her alter ego, confessing some of her vices. However, Wendy Williams used the lyric to refer to a person being 'delusional', thus giving birth to the meme.

Netizens shared different instances with the caption 'Denial Is A River' to imply the state of denial of something obvious.

It was even featured in makeup transition reels and fan edits as a background track. Sometimes the track began with Wendy Williams's words and was followed by the lyrics of Hey, Mickey! by Baby Tate.

Netizens even created random edits including the OG, Wendy Williams dancing on her set.

Decoding the Origin

The meme's origin could be credited to both, Doechii, whose lyric popularized the phrase, and Wendy Williams, for shaping it into a meme trend. However, the latter's clip from the talk show "Wendy Williams Experience" was aired years before Doechii's mixtape.

Nonetheless, fans immediately drew a connection between the two, and a new viral meme was born.

Variations of the meme

Fans have shipped comic book characters in a fanfiction meme and captioned it as Denial is a river in Egypt.

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Denial x Kill Bill (via jurdinb/ Reddit)

Here's another version of the fan edits. A user made this mashup of Doechii's track with SZA's Kill Bill. This might not have been on your 2025 bingo card but fans are surely enjoying it!

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Christmas present (via Gatorchip1585/ Reddit)

A Tesla Cybertruck? It surely belongs to the bucket list, just not the Christmas one.

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I'm swimming in Denial (via Noffenass/ Reddit)

Isn't it a big-time mood? Casually exploring hobbies is a myth.

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Minecraft is a game (via sol_cries/ X)

Another creative version of the meme for Minecraft enthusiasts!

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Hamilton (via gotabadideaa/ X)

So now we have another unexpected crossover with the Hamilton Musical.

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Hitting 'em likes (via _jim_in_jeans/ X)

Looks like we got a loyal fan here!

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Doechii's Denial Is A River was also performed as a comic skit on SNL's 50th anniversary. Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer recited a Doechii verse in a unique, hilarious style, sparking laughter among the audience.