Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally asDoja Cat (/ˈdoʊdʒə/), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as the "Queen of Pop-Rap",[note 1] she is known for her versatility, live performing skills, internet personality and stage presence.Billboard named her "one of the world's biggest pop stars" and "one of the defining pop stars of this era", andTime listed her as one of theworld's most influential people in 2023.[18]
Doja Cat began making and releasing music onSoundCloud as a teenager. Her song "So High" caught the attention ofKemosabe andRCA Records, with which she signed arecording contract prior to the release of her debut extended playPurrr! (2014). After a hiatus from releasing music and the uneventful rollout of her debut studio album,Amala (2018), she earnedviral success as aninternet meme with her 2018 single "Mooo!", anovelty song in which she makes humorous claims about being a cow. Capitalizing on her growing popularity, she released her second studio album,Hot Pink, in the following year. The album eventually reached the top ten of the USBillboard 200 and spawned the single "Say So"; its remix withNicki Minaj topped the USBillboard Hot 100.
Doja Cat's third studio album,Planet Her (2021), spent forty-one weeks in theBillboard 200's top 10 and became the 10th best-selling album globally of 2021. It produced the top ten singles "Kiss Me More" (featuringSZA), "Need to Know", and "Woman". Her fourth studio album,Scarlet (2023), adopted ahip-hop-oriented sound and peaked within the top five of theBillboard 200. Its lead single "Paint the Town Red" topped the Hot 100, theBillboard Global 200, and numerous charts internationally. Her fifth album,Vie (2025), marked a return to herpop roots and also peaked within the top five of theBillboard 200.
Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini[21] was born on October 21, 1995,[22] in theTarzana neighborhood ofLos Angeles,California.[23] Her mother, Deborah Sawyer, is an American graphic designer ofJewish heritage,[24][25] and her father,Dumisani Dlamini, is a South African performer ofZulu descent,[26] best known for starring as Crocodile in the originalBroadway cast of the musicalSarafina! and the1992 film adaptation.[27][28] The two had a brief relationship after meeting in New York City where Dumisani performed on Broadway, but he was too busy on tour to spend time with Amala and her brother.[25] He said that he left his family in the US for South Africa out of homesickness in the hopes that they would join him there.[29] He has also claimed that he has a "healthy" relationship with his daughter and that her management team had tried to block all his attempts to contact her out of the fear that they "might lose her".[30][29] Nevertheless, Dlamini has said on multiple occasions that she is estranged from her father, stating that she "never met him" and later accused him of being adeadbeat to her and her brother.[31][32][33][34]
Soon after her birth, Dlamini moved from Tarzana toRye, New York, where she lived for five years with her maternal grandmother, an architect and painter.[25][35] At the age of eight, Dlamini returned to California with her mother and brother to live at the Sai Anantam Ashram, a commune inAgoura Hills.[25] Its spiritual director wasjazz musicianAlice Coltrane.[36] The family went on to practice Hinduism for four years.[37][38] Dlamini wore head-covering scarves and sangbhajans while at the temple,[23] saying that she felt like she could not "be a kid" during her time there.[39][37]
Her family then moved a couple miles north to neighboring,Oak Park, California,[25] where she started attending dance lessons and experienced a "sporty childhood", often skateboarding and visitingMalibu for surf camps.[40][41] Dlamini and her brother were also subjected to racial prejudice as some of the only mixed-race children in the area.[25]
As she grew older and moved away from the ashram, she attendedbreakdancing classes and joined a professionalpoplocking troupe, with whom she competed in dance battles throughout Los Angeles while still attending high school.[42] Her aunt, a vocal coach, had given Dlamini singing lessons to help her audition forCentral Los Angeles Area New High School No. 9, a performing arts high school in Los Angeles.[41][25][43] She frequently skipped school to participate in online chatrooms.[44] After becoming discouraged about her education and career path, Dlamini claims that she realized in eleventh grade that "performing and music was all [she] ever cared about."[45] She eventually dropped out at age 16 while in her junior year,[46] attributing this decision to her struggles withattention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), saying that "it felt like I was stuck in one spot and everybody else was progressing constantly."[25]
Career
2012–2017: Career beginnings and record deal
Doja Cat has described life after dropping out of school as "messy", claiming that she slept on the floor and spent "all night and day" browsing the internet, looking for beats and instrumentals fromYouTube which she downloaded and used to create her own music.[47][48] After becoming fascinated withinternet culture and websites likeeBaum's World andMyspace,[45] she taught herself to sing, rap and useGarageBand while at home without a job, frequently making music and uploading it toSoundCloud.[42][48][47] In late 2012, "So High" became the first permanent upload on her SoundCloud account.[47] Doja Cat began her career in the Los Angelesunderground hip-hop scene, performing at parties and cyphers, and connecting with rappers such asBusdriver, Ill Camille and VerBS, the latter of whom claims to have helped hone her craft and find her first gig.[49] It was during this time that she met producer Jerry "Tizhimself" Powell, who had stumbled upon her SoundCloud account.[49] He introduced her to record producerYeti Beats,[49] who invited her to record at his studio in the neighbourhood ofEcho Park, which also served as "an oasis of sorts for Doja to escape from the turmoil at home".[25] Yeti Beats then connected her withKemosabe Records, an imprint ofRCA Records, where she signed under label executiveDr. Luke and his publishing companyPrescription Songs at the age of 17.[23][35][50][51] This deal also came with a temporary artist management partnership withRoc Nation.[35]
In August 2014, Doja Cat released her debut EP,Purrr!, described as "spacey, eastern-influenced R&B" byThe Fader.[52] "So High" was repackaged and released as her solo commercial debut single prior to the EP's release,[50] and was later featured on theFox seriesEmpire in the third episode of the show's first season.[53] In mid-2015, Doja Cat temporarily signed toOG Maco's label, OGG.[54] Following the signing, in late 2016, Maco and Doja Cat collaborated on the song "Monster", from Maco's 2017 mixtape,Children of The Rage.[55] She had started experiencingwriter's block, which led her to decline American singerBillie Eilish's offer to feature on what would later become her popular 2017 single "Bellyache".[56] Doja Cat would stop releasing music for a while amid what she describes as a "creative limbo", which was influenced by her record labels not paying her much attention, as well as the effects of "finding herself" and smoking too muchmarijuana.[25]
Her first major commercial release in four years, Doja Cat released the song "Roll with Us" in February 2018 following a brief hiatus.[57] The following month, she released "Go to Town" as the lead single from her debut album, with an accompanying music video.[58] "Candy" was released as the album's second single that same month.[59] The track would later become asleeper hit after a "dance challenge" on the video-sharing platformTikTok wentviral in late 2019.[60] The single consequently charted in countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, with the latter having the song peak at 86 on theBillboard Hot 100, making this her first solo entry on the chart.[61]
Doja Cat performing in October 2018 after the success of "Mooo!"
On March 30, 2018, Doja Cat's debut studio albumAmala was released through RCA and Kemosabe Records, and included the three singles.[62] Its release was largely uneventful,[63][64] as it was ignored by critics and failed to chart in any market.[65][66] Doja Cat has since expressed strong disdain toward the record, claiming that it doesn't entirely represent her as an artist and that it isn't a "finished album" since she was constantly partying or high on marijuana during its recording.[67][68][69] She claims it was also rushed in order to meet deadlines from the record labels who paid it "almost no support".[70]
In August 2018, Doja Catself-published the homemade music video for "Mooo!", anovelty song with absurdist lyrics in which she fantasizes about being acow.[71] The video promptly garneredviral success as aninternet meme, attaining over three million views in one week.[72][73][74] Due to popular demand following this viral success, the single version of "Mooo!" was released ontodigital platforms later that month as the lead single from the deluxe edition ofAmala.[75] This was followed by the release of the second single, "Tia Tamera" featuringRico Nasty, and its accompanying music video in February 2019.[76] The full deluxe edition ofAmala was released on March 1, 2019, and featured the bonus tracks "Mooo!", "Tia Tamera" and "Juicy".[66] The success of "Mooo!" is believed to have "irrefutably proved" to her record labels that Doja Cat was a marketable artist, which led them to start paying more attention to her.[25]
A remix version of Doja Cat's song "Juicy", from the deluxe version ofAmala, added a verse from American rapperTyga and was released alongside a music video in August 2019 as the lead single from her second studio album.[77] Following the release of the remix, the song debuted at number 83 on theBillboard Hot 100, marking Doja Cat's first entry on the chart, and ultimately peaked at number 41.[66] TheRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) would later award the song aplatinum certification in the United States.[78] The song's success led toAmala debuting for the first time on theBillboard 200 chart that same month.[66] In October 2019, Doja Cat released "Bottom Bitch", the second single from her second album.[79] This was followed by the release of the single "Rules" alongside the announcement of her second studio albumHot Pink.[80]Hot Pink was released on November 7, 2019, to generally favorable reviews. The album would eventually peak at number 9 on theBillboard 200.[81] Doja Cat was meant to feature on a track titled "Broward Coward" from an early version of the lateXXXTentacion's fourth studio album,Bad Vibes Forever,[82][83] however the song was ultimately scrapped when the album tracklist was completely revised for its posthumous release in December 2019.[84] She later released the single "Boss Bitch" as part ofthe soundtrack for the 2020 filmBirds of Prey.[85]
Doja Cat performing at theHot Pink release party in 2019
In January 2020, "Say So" was sent to radio to become the fourth single off of her albumHot Pink.[86] The song was originally released alongside the album in November 2019, but gained wider popularity through the video-sharing platformTikTok.[87] She performed the song onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in February 2020.[88] The next day, she released the music video for the song, directed byHannah Lux Davis.[89] The solo version of "Say So" peaked at number five on the Hot 100, becoming her first top-ten single,[90] and was the most streamed song of 2020 by a female artist in the United States.[91] In May 2020, following the release ofa remix of "Say So" featuringNicki Minaj, the single topped theBillboard Hot 100, becoming the first number-one single for both artists and the first ever female rap collaboration to peak atop the chart.[92][93]
In March 2020, Doja Cat was set to embark on theHot Pink Tour in support of the album, before it was postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[94] She was featured on a remix ofthe Weeknd's single "In Your Eyes" in May 2020,[95] as well as on the single "Shimmy" by rapperLil Wayne from the deluxe version of his 2020 albumFuneral.[96] In June, she was featured on the single "Pussy Talk" by the rap duoCity Girls.[97] She released the music video for her single "Like That".[98] She also uploaded thedemo song "Unisex Freestyle" toSoundCloud in late June 2020.[99] At the20th BET Awards, Doja Cat was nominated for two awards,Best Female Hip Hop Artist andVideo of the Year.[100] In August 2020, her song "Freak", which had been on SoundCloud since 2018, was officially released on digital platforms.[101]
According to sales in the United States,Billboard ranked Doja Cat at number five on both the Top New Artists of 2020 and Top Female Artists of 2020 charts.[124][125] After her on-demand audio streams in the U.S. increased by 300% from 2019,Rolling Stone ranked her at number one on their list of the ten biggest breakthrough artists of 2020.[126]Forbes named Doja Cat "one of the top breakout stars of 2020" while including her on their annual30 Under 30 list.[127] Doja Cat was the fourth most-Googled musician of 2020 in the United States.[128]
On January 7, 2021, Doja Cat was featured on the single "Best Friend" by rapperSaweetie, and appeared in the accompanying music video.[129][130] The following week, Doja Cat appeared alongsideMegan Thee Stallion on the remix of "34+35" byAriana Grande.[131] Following the release of the remix, the song reached a new peak of number two on theBillboard Hot 100.[132] In early 2021, Doja's song "Streets" became a sleeper hit after live performances of the song went viral onTikTok.[133] TikTok also spawned a viral challenge which uses a mashup of "Streets" and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" byPaul Anka.[134] This caused the song to enter theBillboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 16.[135] Doja Cat was nominated for three awards at the63rd Annual Grammy Awards: herself forBest New Artist and "Say So" being nominated forRecord of the Year andBest Pop Solo Performance.[136] In 2021, she was placed on "Time's 100 Next" list, which highlights 100 emerging figures, with her write-up being penned by American rapperLil Nas X.[137]
Doja Cat revealed the title of her third studio album,Planet Her, in a March 2021 interview withV.[138] On April 10, the song "Kiss Me More" featuringSZA was released alongside a music video as the lead single for the album.[139] It received critical acclaim,[140][141][142] and commercial success, spending nineteen consecutive weeks within the top 10 of theBillboard Hot 100, breaking the record for the most weeks in the top 10 by a female collaboration.[143] The song peaked at number three and became Doja Cat's third top 10 hit.[144] Later that month, Doja Cat performed the songs "Best Friend" with Saweetie, "Rules", "Streets" and a solo version of "Kiss Me More" atTriller'sinaugural Fight Club event.[145][146] On April 23, 2021, Doja Cat launched anNFT marketplace titled "Juicy Drops".[147] In May 2021, Doja Cat won the award for Top Female R&B Artist at the2021Billboard Music Awards,[148] where she performed "Kiss Me More" with SZA.[149] Later that month, she performed a solo version of the same song in a medley with "Streets" and "Say So" at the2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards, where she won the award for Best New Pop Artist.[150]
The song "Need to Know" was released alongside a music video as the firstpromotional single fromPlanet Her on June 11, 2021.[151][152] Doja Cat wrote that it was released in anticipation of the "more important" second single,[153] which was confirmed to be "You Right" with the Weeknd.[154] Doja Cat officially announced the release ofPlanet Her and revealed its tracklist andalbum art via social media a few hours before the release of "Need to Know".[155] The album was released to generally positive reviews,[156] and opened at number two on theBillboard 200 where it remained for another two weeks, becoming the first album to spend its first three weeks at number two on the chart sinceThe Pinkprint (2014) byNicki Minaj in January 2015.[157] It spent over six months in the chart's top ten, the first project by a female rapper to do so.[158] Elsewhere, it topped the charts in New Zealand,[159] and landed in the top 5 in countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Norway and Ireland.[160][161] It became the 10th and 13th best-selling album in 2021 and 2022 respectively, according to theInternational Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).[162][163]
Doja Cat guest starred as the temporary romantic interest of American rapper and comedianLil Dicky in the second season of the TV seriesDave, which premiered on June 16, 2021.[164] On September 10, she was announced as aPepsi ambassador and starred in an advertisement in which she performs a modern reenactment of the song "You're the One That I Want" from the musical filmGrease, as part of a campaign celebrating the launch of the Pepsi-Cola Soda Shop.[165] Her first-ever gig as a television presenter,[166] Doja Cat hosted the2021 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony,[167] where she also performed the songs "Been Like This" and "You Right".[168] She won the awards forBest Collaboration (shared with SZA for "Kiss Me More") andBest Art Direction (shared with Saweetie for "Best Friend"), among nominations forArtist of the Year,Video of the Year andBest Visual Effects.[169] It is the first time in history where a nominee in the Video of the Year category hosted the ceremony in that same year.[170] Doja Cat was praised for her presenting abilities, withPitchfork noting that she "reinvent[ed] award-show hosting".[171]
Doja Cat was featured on the song "Scoop" from Lil Nas X's debut studio albumMontero (2021), which was released on September 17,[172] and then on the song "Icy Hot" from American rapperYoung Thug's second studio albumPunk (2021), which was released on October 15.[173] That same month, she reached number one on theBillboard Hot 100 Songwriters chart for the first time in her career,[174] and also became the first rapper to place three top 10 songs on the USMainstream Top 40, with "You Right", "Need to Know" and "Kiss Me More".[175] She featured alongside Saweetie onFrench Montana's song "Handstand" from his fourth studio albumThey Got Amnesia (2021).[176] The music video forPlanet Her's fourth single, "Woman", was released on December 3.[177] According toBillboard, Doja Cat closed 2021 as the bestselling female R&B and hip-hop artist in the US,[178] and the fourth bestselling female artist overall,[179] additionally placing six songs on the year-end Hot 100.[180]Planet Her was also the sixth best-selling album in the US,[181] and the fifth most streamed album globally on Spotify in 2021.[182] In 2022, Doja Cat won the awards for Female Rapper of the Year and Performer of the Year at the2022 XXL Awards.[183][184] She received nominations for eight awards at the64th Annual Grammy Awards, the most for any female artist. "Kiss Me More" won the award forBest Pop Duo Performance, while her other nominations includedAlbum of the Year (Planet Her andMontero), Record of the Year ("Kiss Me More"),Song of the Year ("Kiss Me More"),Best Pop Vocal Album (Planet Her),Best Rap Song ("Best Friend") andBest Melodic Rap Performance ("Need to Know").[185]
Doja Cat later began sharing her experiences ofcareer burnout,[195] expressing her disdain for "unnecessary" obligations, while admitting that she was no longer enjoying her career.[196][197] Doja Cat continued to publicise her frustrations during a South American festival tour in March 2022. After an incident involving Paraguayan fans, which followed a storm that prompted the cancellation of her scheduled show, she posted to Twitter: "Everything is dead to me, music is dead, and I'm a fucking fool for ever thinking I was made for this... This shit ain't for me so I'm out. Y'all take care."[198][199]
In early 2023, Doja Cat began teasing her fourth studio album with the working title ofHellmouth.[200] Prior to this, she had asserted that the album would be "predominantly rap", a callback to the musical style of her earliest works,[201] and an effort to diverge from the "pink and soft things" and "pop and glittery sounds" that she has become noted for,[202] notably denouncing her previous two albums as "cash grabs" and "digestible pop hits".[203] She also adopted a darker aesthetic and appearance, which she described as "punk", "experimental" and "manic",[204] while some fans deemed these changes "demonic",[205][206] and accused her of being aSatanist,[207][208] and a member of theIlluminati.[209][210]
In mid-June 2023, Doja Cat released the album's first promotional single, titled "Attention", alongside an accompanying music video directed byTanu Muino.[211] The album's lead single, "Paint the Town Red", was released in early August 2023 to commercial success, breaking a number of streaming records,[144][212] and becoming her first solo song to top the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom,[213][214] among several other countries and theBillboard Global 200 chart.[215] It also peaked at number one on theBillboard Global Excl. US chart, the first rap song to do so.[216] The album's title was later revealed to beScarlet in mid-August 2023.[204] The second promotional single, "Demons", was released in early September 2023, alongside a music video directed byChristian Breslauer and co-starring American actressChristina Ricci.[217]
Scarlet was released to mostly positive reviews on September 22, 2023,[218][219] and debuted within the top 5 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. Doja Cat then embarked the opening North American leg ofthe Scarlet Tour, her first arena tour featuring rappersDoechii andIce Spice as supporting acts.[220] A deluxe edition of the album,Scarlet 2 Claude, was released on April 5, 2024 and was named after the Claude Frollo character fromThe Hunchback of Notre Dame. The deluxe edition features collaborations from American rappersASAP Rocky andTeezo Touchdown.[221] In early 2025, Doja Cat withRaye featured in "Born Again" fromAlter Ego, the first studio album of the Thai singerLisa. On March 21, 2025, she was featured on the song "Just Us" with American rapperJack Harlow.[222]
In October 2024, Doja Cat made a few posts onX (formerlyTwitter) teasing a forthcoming album, such as "vvv" and "album", which led to fans thinking she was working on her fifth studio album.[223][224] On May 5, 2025, Doja Cat surprise released "Crack", an outtake from her fourth studio albumScarlet, exclusively on her website, which was only available to download for 24 hours.[225][226] She later collaborated with Marc Jacobs and previewed a snippet of the lead single "Jealous Type" in the advertisement of the campaign. She attended theMet Gala the same day, where she confirmed in an interview that the song will serve as a single from her upcoming album.[227][228] On July 21, 2025, Doja Cat posted on X that the album had been completed. In an article forV Magazine, she confirmed the album for a fall release date, and shared that it will be more "pop-driven" than her previous album,Scarlet.[229][230][231] On August 14, she officially announced the album alongside a promotional video and shared that it would be released on September 26.[232][233]
The album, titledVie, was released as scheduled, on September 26, 2025, to critical acclaim.[234] The record, which marked a return to Doja Cat's pop roots, features an eclectic range of genres, includingR&B, pop,funk,new jack swing, andhip-hop.[235] Following "Jealous Type", "Gorgeous" was released as the second single in October.[236]Vie debuted at number four on the USBillboard 200, earning 57,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It became Doja's fourth top-ten album on the chart.[237]
Artistry
Influences
Doja Cat has citedNicki Minaj as one of her influences.[238][239] In aBillboard interview, Doja Cat stated that she is "in love with everything Nicki Minaj has put out into the world".[240] On the song "Get Into It (Yuh)" from her third studio album,Planet Her (2021), she pays tribute to Minaj and borrows lyrics and rap delivery from her debut 2010 single "Massive Attack".[241][242] Critics noted that the album as a whole was largely influenced by Minaj,[243][244][245] withThe New Yorker noting that she "build[s] upon the pop-rap legacy established by her predecessor".[246] She has also namedLauryn Hill andBusta Rhymes as some of her biggest influences.[247][248] While speaking about Busta Rhymes, she stated: "if I hear a beat Busta Rhymes would absolutely kill, I'll use my voice to do aflow similar to his."[69]
As a teenager in 2012, Doja Cat gained her stage name from one of her cats as well as her favoritestrain ofmarijuana, stating, "I was heavily addicted to weed andweed culture, so when I began rapping I thought of the word 'doja' and how it sounds like a girl's name."[42] She has since expressed slight disdain towards the name and the persona that it carries, stating in November 2021 that "my image was the potheadhippie girl, and I'm not that."[56]
Musical style and themes
Doja Cat's music has been described aspop rap,[259]hip-hop,[249][253]pop[23] andR&B.[253] When asked about her legacy, Doja Cat revealed that in future she would like to be remembered for her versatility in not only music but alsovisual art and dance.[40] Her second full-length studio album,Hot Pink, is built with her own beats as well as a series of videos written and conceived by her.[44] She claimed the era was a firm restart for her career, and the most "refined, chiseled" representation of herself. Her escapist fantasy worldview is reflected in the music by its upbeatproduction style.[44] The record was inspired by drastic lifestyle changes including an "illuminating" acid trip which made her quit smoking cigarettes and marijuana.[44]
Her 2021 song "Naked" contains atongue-in-cheek sexual reference that refers to bisexuality in that she "like[s] bananas and peaches",[260] while her 2019 single "Bottom Bitch" can also be interpreted as a metaphor for lesbian sex.[261]
Personal life
Doja Cat is reported to be "eager to deflect interest in her personal life".[262] She lived in a home inBeverly Hills, California, which she bought in 2021 for $2.2 million[263] and sold in September 2022 for $2.5 million.[264]
She was in a brief open relationship with American musicianJawny from August 2019 until separating in February 2020.[265] Despite not having formally come out or openly stated hersexual orientation, Doja Cat has hinted atqueer themes, stating that she likes "people [she] can have sex with. And you can kinda have sex with anybody."[266]
In June 2020, Doja Cat donated $100,000 to the Justice forBreonna Taylor Fund to support Taylor's family.[267]
In January 2024, Doja Cat's mother, Deborah Sawyer, filed for a temporary restraining order against her son, Raman Dalithando Dlamini, who has allegedly been physically and verbally abusing both Doja Cat and their mother.[268][269] Sawyer was previously granted a restraining order against her son back in 2017.
In a 2025 interview withZane Lowe forApple Music, Doja Cat revealed that she regularly attends therapy sessions.[274]
Public image
Doja Cat has been noted for being versatile in her music. This includes her ability to sing,rap, andproduce,[275][51] as well as perform and dance.[276] Often described aseccentric,[262][277][50] she is known for herabsurdly humorous personality and posts on social media platforms.[278][279] Bryan Rolli ofForbes wrote that "Doja Cat's aloof, irreverent, chronically online persona masks a tireless work ethic; she sings better, raps faster and dances harder than many of her peers, all at once."[280]
Her extensive online presence and bold persona have at times garnered controversy. NME named herMilkshake Duck of the year in 2018 following public circulation of 2015 tweets in which she referred to other performers as "faggots".[281] After initially defending herself, she apologized and deleted the tweets.[282] She faced similar backlash for comments she made regarding theCOVID-19 pandemic.[283]
In 2022, the controversy surrounding Doja Cat reached a peak when she did not come outside to greet fans waiting at her hotel after her scheduled performance atAsunciónico was cancelled due to severe weather.[284] Frustrated with the backlash, Doja Cat announced she was quitting the music industry. After a brief Twitter hiatus, she retracted that statement.[285] She faced a similar fan response after a Threads post in which she said she was not obligated to say she "loves" her fans whenshe does not know them, which resulted in a loss of over a quarter of a million followers on Instagram.[286]
In an article forOkayplayer, Robyn Mowatt noted that "as a singer, rapper, songwriter, and entertainer Doja has led her fans on a rambunctious journey equipped with snappy lyrics, live video streams, outlandish outfits, and memorable viral moments. It's not just the music that gets her fans riled up, it's also her live performances which typically are infused with a touch of eccentricity."[287]
As one of the biggest and best-performing commercial artists of the 2020s decade, writers atBillboard expressed that "it'd be tough to name three artists of any kind who feel more like the 2020s so far than Doja Cat."[288]
On January 27, 2024, Doja Cat's single "Paint the Town Red" was listed number one in theTriple J Hottest 100, making her the first female rapper and first woman of color in history to top the list.[292][293]
Billboard ranked Doja Cat at number 24 on its 2025 "Top 100 Women Artists of the 21st Century" list "in just five years as a Billboard-charting hitmaker".[294] "Paint the Town Red" is the first rap song in history to top theBillboard Global Excl. U.S chart.[295]
^Including six iHeartRadio Titanium Awards for one billion spins on iHeartRadio stations.
References
^Piester, Lauren (September 27, 2025)."Get to Know Every Musical Guest for Saturday Night Live Season 51".NBC. RetrievedSeptember 30, 2025.The pop-rap queen, known for hits like "Kiss Me More" and the recent "Jealous Type," promotes her Vie, her fifth studio album, released on September 26.
^Robinson, Ellie."Doja Cat's 9 Hottest Collaborations".The Music. RetrievedSeptember 30, 2025.The head-spinning queen of pop-rap has stunned fans with a grand total of zero (0) collabs on new album 'Scarlet'. Over the past decade, the queen of pop-rap has doled us out a full suite of giant plot twists
^Hunte, Justin (December 8, 2022)."What She Says: 50 Greatest Women MCs".Black Entertainment Television. RetrievedOctober 11, 2025.With over 34 million records sold since 2018, Doja Cat turned a novelty moment into a stratospheric career in music while never letting her superstardom supersede her passion for hip hop culture.
^"Kush Hour TV x Doja Cat 'So High'".Kush Hour. December 26, 2016.Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. RetrievedNovember 25, 2020.As a child, Doja Cat found herself immersed in Hinduism: "I practiced this religion for three years, in Agoura Hills, California."
^Zandile, Amala."About: Ami Zandile".Facebook.Archived from the original on December 16, 2021. RetrievedDecember 16, 2021.Went to Central Los Angeles High School No. 9: School of Visual and Performing Arts
^abcdeSong, Sandra (December 11, 2019)."Doja Cat: Reloaded".Paper. Paper Communications.Archived from the original on May 27, 2020. RetrievedMay 23, 2020.
^Cho, Regina (November 22, 2019)."Doja Cat Feels Liberated and More Focused Than Ever: 'I'm So Pumped For My Life Right Now'".Billboard.Archived from the original on May 7, 2020. RetrievedNovember 6, 2020.A lot of people likedAmala, and that's great. However, I don't think it was a finished album. I was smoking hella weed. I was high all the f--king time and it wasn't even helping me perceive what was going on musically. I was just really out there partying and it was a crazy time for me.
^McLevy, Alex; Scheetz, Cameron; Gajjar, Saloni; Tenreyro, Tatiana; Anderson, Shanicka; Schimkowitz, Matt; Sanchez, Gabrielle (July 9, 2021)."The best songs of 2021 so far".The A.V. Club.Archived from the original on July 16, 2021. RetrievedJuly 17, 2021.
^Seabrook III, Robby (September 1, 2021)."Here Are the Most Unique Flows From Rappers Over the Last Five Years".XXL Mag.Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. RetrievedSeptember 2, 2021. "[Doja Cat] has acknowledged that Nicki Minaj has influenced her artistry and it's apparent in the character-like deliveries she executes."
^Fleming, Sara (March 2, 2020)."Who Are We Keeping It Juicy For? Doja Cat Outshines Tyga in Denver".Westword.Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. RetrievedMay 25, 2020.Doja also came halfway out of the closet herself when she told an Instagram livestream audience, "I like both. I like dicks. I like people that I can have sex with. And you can kinda have sex with anybody." Or perhaps because songs like "Bottom Bitch" and "Go to Town" can easily be reinterpreted as tributes to lesbian sex
^Shanker, Lucy (November 16, 2019)."Album Review: Doja Cat Scratches at Her Potential on the Mixed Hot Pink".Consequence of Sound.Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. RetrievedDecember 16, 2020.What Hot Pink lacks in layers of ridiculousness expected from a Doja Cat album, it makes up for in its versatility. It serves as a testament to Doja's skill set: Her singing, rapping, and producing shine effortlessly on the record on tracks that range in genre and topic.
^Yu, Brandon (June 29, 2021)."On 'Planet Her,' Dlamini is fully realized as the future of pop".Mic.Archived from the original on July 16, 2021. RetrievedSeptember 2, 2021.Doja is a star whose identity is embedded into the internet, from her gaming streams on Twitch to her own wickedly funny inside-joke-heavy TikToks to her dubious forays into chatrooms — her music is just one part of her persona, and arguably even the less important part of her allure for some of her fan base
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