Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she began making and releasing music on SoundCloud as a teenager. Her song “So High” caught the attention of Kemosabe and RCA Records where she signed a joint record deal at the age of 17, subsequently releasing her debut EP Purrr! in 2014. After a hiatus from music, Doja Cat released her debut studio album, Amala (2018), and later earned viral success as an internet meme with the single “Mooo!”, which appeared on the deluxe version of her debut album along with singles “Juicy” (with Tyga) and “Tia Tamera” (featuring Rico Nasty) in 2019.
Doja Cat’s second studio album, Hot Pink (2019), reached the top 10 of the US Billboard 200 and spawned the single “Say So”, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA following the release of two remixes featuring Nicki Minaj. Doja Cat collaborated with Ariana Grande on their song “Motive”, and later featured on the remix of Grande’s “34+35” along with Megan Thee Stallion, which became Doja Cat’s second song to reach the top 10 of the Hot 100. Doja Cat plans to release her third studio album, titled Planet Her, this year.
Doja Cat is known for creating music videos and songs that achieve popularity on social media applications such as TikTok and YouTube. Doja Cat has been nominated for three Grammy Awards and has won two American Music Awards in addition to the MTV Video Music Award for Push Best New Artist and its European counterpart.
Early life
Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini was born on October 21, 1995, into an artistic family in Los Angeles, California in the neighborhood of Tarzana. Her mother, Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer, is a Jewish-American painter. Her father, Dumisani Dlamini, is a South African actor, composer and film producer of Zulu ethnicity best known for starring in the 1992 musical film Sarafina! According to Doja Cat, she never met her father growing up. Her father has denied this claim, stating that he has a “healthy” relationship with his daughter.
Soon after her birth, Dlamini and her mother moved to New York City, where they lived for five years. Her family later moved back to California in Oak Park, where her mother enrolled her in ballet, tap and jazz lessons as a child. Her family then moved to the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles when she was 11 years old, where they lived in an ashram and practiced Hinduism for four years. She claims that she lacked interest in school from then on, instead taking a liking for dance. After having taken breakdancing classes, she joined a professional poplocking troupe with whom she competed in dance battles throughout Los Angeles while still attending high school. She also frequently skipped school to participate in online chatrooms. She eventually dropped out of high school at age 16 while in her junior year.
Career
2012–2017: Career beginnings and record deal
Doja Cat has described life after dropping out of high school as “messy”, claiming that she slept on the floor and spent “all night and day” browsing the internet, looking for beats and instrumentals from YouTube which she downloaded and used to create her own music. She taught herself to sing, rap and use GarageBand while at home without a job, frequently making music and uploading it to SoundCloud. She got her stage name from one of her cats as well as her favorite strain of marijuana, stating, “I was heavily addicted to weed and weed culture, so when I began rapping I thought of the word ‘doja’ and how it sounds like a girl’s name.” Doja Cat’s formative years involved a brief stint uploading makeup tutorials onto YouTube and, later on, releasing SoundCloud bedroom recordings that eventually attracted the attention of record labels. In late 2012, her song “So High”, became the first permanent upload on her SoundCloud account, and soon caught the attention of Kemosabe Records and RCA Records where she signed at age 17. This deal also came with a temporary artist management partnership with Roc Nation. In August 2014, Doja Cat released her debut EP, Purrr!, described as “spacey, eastern-influenced R&B” by The Fader. “So High” was repackaged and released as her solo commercial debut single prior to the EP’s release, and was later featured on the Fox series Empire in the third episode of the show’s first season. In mid-2015, Doja Cat signed to OG Maco’s label, OGG. Following the signing, in late 2016, Maco and Doja Cat collaborated on the song “Monster”, from Maco’s 2017 mixtape, Children of The Rage.
2018–2019: Amala and “Mooo!”
In February 2018, Doja Cat released the promotional single “Roll with Us”. The following month, she released the single, “Go to Town”, which was released with an accompanying music video on the same day and would become the lead single from her debut album. “Candy” was released as the album’s second single that same month. The track would become a sleeper hit after a “dance challenge” on the video-sharing platform TikTok went viral in late 2019. Consequently, the single charted in countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, the latter having the song peak at 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 making it her first solo entry on the chart. On March 30, 2018, her debut studio album Amala was released, including the three singles. She later claimed to have been under the influence of marijuana for most of the production of the album. NPR described the album as a “manifesto of a young woman striving to take ownership of her craft, her image and her sexuality, mixing genres like dancehall, trap, house and R&B with a healthy dose of sass and humor.” At the time of its release, the album was largely ignored by critics and failed to chart in any market. The album would later peak at number 138 on the Billboard 200 in late 2019.
Doja Cat performing in October 2018.
In August 2018, Doja Cat uploaded the completely self-produced music video for her song “Mooo!”, a novelty song with absurdist lyrics where she fantasizes about being a cow, on YouTube. The video garnered attention and viral success as a meme. Due to popular demand following the music video’s viral success, she released a single version of “Mooo!” later that month. In February 2019, she released the single and accompanying video for “Tia Tamera” featuring Rico Nasty, which preceded the release of a deluxe edition of Amala.
The re-release of the album included three new songs, including “Mooo!” and “Juicy”. A remix of “Juicy” featuring Tyga and its accompanying music video were released in August 2019. Following the release of the remix, the song debuted at number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Doja Cat’s first entry on the chart, and ultimately peaked at number 41. The song would eventually be certified Platinum in the United States. It led to Amala debuting for the first time on the Billboard 200 album chart in August as well.
2019–2020: Hot Pink with breakthrough
In October 2019, Doja Cat released “Bottom Bitch”, the lead single from her second album. This was followed by the release of the single “Rules” alongside the announcement of her second studio album Hot Pink. Hot Pink was released on November 7, 2019 to generally favorable reviews. The album would eventually peak at number 9 on the Billboard 200. She later released the single “Boss Bitch” as part of the soundtrack for the 2020 film Birds of Prey.
Doja Cat performing at the release party for her second studio album, Hot Pink.
In January 2020, her song “Say So” was sent to radio to become the fourth single off of her album Hot Pink. The song was originally released alongside the album in November 2019, but the song gained wider popularity through the video-sharing platform TikTok. She performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in February 2020. The next day, she released the music video for the song, directed by Hannah Lux Davis. The solo version of “Say So” peaked at number five on the Hot 100, becoming her first top-ten single, and, as of April 2020, has been the most streamed song of 2020 by a female artist in the US. In May 2020, following the release of a remix of “Say So”, featuring Nicki Minaj, the single topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first number-one single for both artists. The remix also marked the first female collaboration since “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX as well as the first ever female rap collaboration to peak atop the chart.
In March 2020, Doja Cat was set to embark on the Hot Pink Tour in support of the album, before it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was featured on a remix of Canadian singer The Weeknd’s single “In Your Eyes” in May 2020, as well as on the single “Shimmy” by American rapper Lil Wayne from the deluxe version of his 2020 album Funeral. In June, she was featured on the single “Pussy Talk” by American rap duo City Girls. She released the music video for her single “Like That”. She also uploaded the demo song “Unisex Freestyle” to SoundCloud in late June 2020. At the 20th BET Awards, Doja Cat was nominated for two awards, namely Best Female Hip Hop Artist and Video of the Year.
In August 2020, the song “Freak” which had been on SoundCloud since 2018, was officially released on digital platforms. She won the award for Push Best New Artist at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, where she also performed a medley of the songs “Say So” and “Like That”. She was credited as a lead artist on the remix for Chloe x Halle’s song “Do It” which also featured City Girls and Mulatto, the following month, and was featured alongside Australian musician Sia on the track “Del Mar” from Puerto Rican singer Ozuna’s 2020 album Enoc, also released in September. The “Juicy” remix featuring Tyga was nominated for Top R&B Song at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards. Doja Cat was featured on American singer Bebe Rexha’s single “Baby, I’m Jealous”, the lead single from Rexha’s upcoming second studio album, in October 2020. She performed a burlesque-themed medley of “Juicy”, “Say So” and “Like That” at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards, inspired by Chicago and Moulin Rouge. That same month, Doja Cat performed both “Baby, I’m Jealous” with Rexha and “Del Mar” with Ozuna on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, respectively. Doja Cat was featured on the album track “Motive” from American singer Ariana Grande’s 2020 album Positions, which peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming both her highest debut and second-ever top 40 entry.
Doja Cat performed a metal rendition of “Say So” at the 2020 MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony, where she also won the award for Best New Act. She also won the award for The New Artist of 2020 at the 46th People’s Choice Awards. She also won both New Artist of the Year and Favourite Soul/R&B Female Artist at the 2020 American Music Awards ceremony, where she performed “Baby, I’m Jealous” with Bebe Rexha. 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. After her on-demand audio streams in the U.S. increased by 300% from 2019, Rolling Stone also ranked her at number one on their list of the ten biggest breakthrough artists of 2020. Cosmopolitan declared Doja Cat “hip-hop’s most fierce upcoming rapper.” Forbes named Doja Cat “one of the top breakout stars of 2020” while including her on their annual 30 Under 30 list. The Kyiv Post called her “one of the biggest rising female artists in the U.S. music scene.” Doja Cat was the fourth most-Googled musician of 2020 in the United States.
On December 24, 2020, Doja Cat released a series of videos on her YouTube channel named “Hot Pink Sessions” where she performed three songs twice with two different “looks”. On December 31, 2020, Doja Cat performed “Say So” and “Like That” at the annual Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve show.
2021–present: Planet Her
On January 7, 2021, Doja Cat was featured on the song “Best Friend” by American rapper Saweetie and appeared in the accompanying music video. The following week, Doja Cat appeared alongside Megan Thee Stallion on the remix of “34+35” by Ariana Grande. Following the release of the remix, the song reached a new peak of #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In early 2021, “Streets” became a sleeper hit after live performances of the song went viral on TikTok. TikTok also spawned a viral challenge which uses a mashup of “Streets” and “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” by Paul Anka. This caused the song to enter the Billboard Hot 100, so far peaking at number 16. Doja Cat was nominated for three awards at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, namely Best New Artist, and her single “Say So” being nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. In 2021, she was placed on “Time‘s 100 Next” list, which highlights 100 emerging figures, with her write-up being penned by American musician Lil Nas X.
Doja Cat stated in September 2020 that her third studio album was complete and “all ready” for release, although in March 2021, she revealed to V Magazine that it was “nearly done”. In this same interview, Doja Cat revealed the album’s official title, Planet Her, and its prospective release window of summer 2021. In a prior interview with MTV, she also said that it incorporates musical elements of multiple genres including dancehall, afrobeat, funk and house. She also told iHeartRadio that it will have a number of features and collaborations, and that each song has a “different kind of vibe” to one another.
Artistry
Influences
Doja Cat’s voracious cultural tastes draw from her background engaging in online activities as a suburban teenager. She spent much of her time in front of a computer, delving into sub-cultures and browsing through information about various topics. Her formative years involved a brief stint uploading makeup tutorials onto YouTube and, later on, releasing SoundCloud bedroom recordings. Doja Cat has cited American singer D’Angelo and Barbadian singer Rihanna among her biggest influences. She has also stated American singer Beyoncé “is one of the driving forces of who I am in my career.” Doja Cat explained that the R&B music her mother used to play in her house “poured into childhood,” ranging from Earth, Wind & Fire to Black Eyed Peas, and described her music as “a sponge soaking up water,” stating: “I really pull from everyone. I’m absorbent… if I hear a beat Busta Rhymes would absolutely kill, I’ll use my voice to do a flow similar to his.” During her early career, Doja Cat cited Japanese culture as an inspiration. She has also cited rapper Nicki Minaj as an influence with XXL writer Stacy-Ann Ellis noticing “their similar cartoonish rap deliveries and whimsical sartorial selects.”
Musical style and themes
Doja Cat has been noted for her musical versatility, including genre fluidity for “crossover-ready pop songs” and her ability to sing, rap and produce. When asked about her legacy, she revealed that in future she would like to be remembered for her versatility in not only music but also visual art and dance. Despite being described as a quirky, outlandish “internet rapper,” Doja Cat approached her artistic craft just as seriously as any other burgeoning artist. 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 herself. Doja called Hot Pink a firm restart for her career, and the most “refined, chiseled” representation of herself. Her escapist fantasy worldview is reflected with the music by its upbeat production style. The record was inspired by some drastic lifestyle changes, and sees Doja Cat finally “coming into own” and embracing her strengths as an artist.
Lyrically, Doja Cat is a type of “unapologetically and aggressively sexual” figure. She is able to cleverly combine dick jokes with niche references to celebrity gossip and name-checkings in a rapid-fire, stream-of-consciousness manner. As demonstrated by an abundant usage of salacious double-entendres and declaratives in addition to frequent pop-culture references, Doja Cat’s second album Hot Pink is a witty, irreverent, transgressive encapsulation of her abilities. According to Doja Cat, “There are people who rap in a certain way, because they want to do something so elaborate and so smart that makes you go, ‘Oh my God, I would’ve never thought of that. But I’d rather be the other end of that, which is being ignorant and stupid and saying whatever I want. … Or just being, like, ‘I don’t want to think too hard today.'” Doja Cat expresses a laid-back irreverence that contrasts with the wider world’s doomful, gloomy outlook which seems to appeal to much of her audience. She provides brief glimpses into an escapist fantasy world, one preoccupied with memes, outrageous appearances and lustful musings. It is reflected within her music by the candid nature of her light-hearted, sexual lyrics. For Doja Cat, her approach to writing overrides any conceptual motives that others may connect to her work. She stated, “I try not to be political… I’m more like, ‘I don’t give a fuck, I never think about what I write. I just write whatever the first thing that comes to my mind is.” Doja Cat maintains that an artist’s intention is just as relevant as any external interpretation, saying, “Like, I just love romance and sex … because there’s nothing ‘-ist’ about what I do.”
Personal life
Doja Cat has stated that she “like both . I like dicks and I also like, um, I like people that I can have sex with. You can kind of have sex with anybody, right?” In 2019, she began dating indie rock musician Jawny, although the pair split up in February 2020.
Public image
Doja Cat has been referred to as a “skilled internet troll” and is known for making playfully absurd posts on platforms such as TikTok. Alongside her eccentric sense of humor and rebellious attitude, Doja Cat is known for her love of “making dumb shit on the internet.” However, her posting habits appear to decline with the rise of Doja’s mainstream success and she looked to be taken more seriously as an artist. She admits to not being on Twitter as much, even though her brand and career were, in part, launched on the platform with the viral #MooChallenge. More recently, Doja Cat tries to avoid anything that would cross a line and refrain from commenting on other cultural trends, adopting a tone and spirit that is less akin to 4chan. She instead primarily uses Twitter to discover “memes and shitpost and say something funny to my boyfriend” and apparently, perform routine clean-ups of less recent tweets. Doja Cat has become far more active on Instagram, using the platform for displaying colorful video clips and images. Though she keeps to herself most of the time, Doja Cat confesses she will still on occasion roll her eyes online at the “woke hip-hop people” whom she once tweeted that she likes to “disappoint.” According to Doja Cat, “It’s me being a punk. I love being a punk to people who take things way too seriously.” Although she does reassert admiring some of these artists and their work.
In a July interview with Capital Xtra’s breakfast program, she revealed that she was diagnosed with COVID-19 but has since recovered after a “four-day symptom freak out”. In an interview with Noisey, when asked to pick between Donald Trump, Kanye West, and Bernie Sanders, Doja Cat picked Bernie Sanders.
Philanthropy
In June 2020, Doja Cat donated $100,000 to the Justice For Breonna Taylor Fund, in support of Taylor’s family.
Controversies
After achieving viral recognition in 2018 with “Mooo!”, Doja Cat sparked controversy on social media when her Twitter account history revealed the usage of homophobic slurs. In a tweet dating back to 2015, Doja Cat used the word “faggot” to describe hip hop artists Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt, members of the musical collective Odd Future. Doja Cat initially defended her past remarks. She stated, “I called a couple people faggots when I was in high school in 2015 does this mean I don’t deserve support? I’ve said faggot roughly like 15 thousand times in my life. Does saying faggot mean you hate gay people? I don’t think I hate gay people. Gay is ok.” Her response was met by even more backlash, including a critical tweet from Will and Grace actress Debra Messing. In her statement, Messing expressed disappointment with Doja for defending her past ignorance and implored her to use her fame and platform for good. Later that day, Doja Cat issued a series of apologies for her derogatory words and has since deleted her tweets. The controversy generated much discourse regarding the limits of “cancel culture,” the growing trend of outcry on social media resulting in celebrities being deserted and careers abruptly derailed following publicized past misconduct. As a result of the controversy, Doja Cat was declared the Milkshake Duck of 2018 by NME.
In March 2020, Doja Cat received backlash after claiming on Instagram live that COVID-19 was only a “flu” and that she was not scared of it. Later that October, Doja Cat was criticized along with other celebrities including Justin Bieber, Travis Scott and Paris Hilton, among others, for participating in Kendall Jenner’s Halloween and birthday celebrations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May 2020, a 2015 song by Doja Cat titled “Dindu Nuffin” resurfaced. “Dindu Nuffin” is an alt-right term used to ridicule African-American victims of police brutality who claim they are innocent. After apologizing, Doja Cat claimed while though the song was intended to flip the term’s meaning, it was a “bad decision”. Doja Cat denied she harbored self-hatred and internalized racism or that the song was a response to the death of Sandra Bland, calling the latter allegation “one of the most awful rumors that I’ve ever encountered.” Doja took to Instagram to address her multiple accusations and past actions after footage began circulating of her on Tiny Chat in a chat room saying “nigger” and making sexual comments to men reportedly members of the alt-right/incel community. While she apologized to those offended and said she shouldn’t have been on certain chat room sites, Doja Cat maintained she had never personally been involved in any racist conversations. Distractify reported that frequent users of the chatroom came forth and revealed the nature of the chatroom was not specifically racist, and Doja herself didn’t say anything discriminatory in her conversations.
American rapper Nas referenced the controversy in his 2020 single “Ultra Black”, with the lyrics “We goin’ ultra black / Unapologetically black / The opposite of Doja Cat.” Seemingly unfazed, Doja Cat responded on TikTok by sarcastically saying, “I am so offended by this song. Have you guys heard ‘Fruit Salad’ by The Wiggles?” During an interview with NME, Nas addressed the situation, explaining the attention it received was symptomatic of the social media age.
Discography
- Amala (2018)
- Hot Pink (2019)
- Planet Her (2021)
Awards and nominations
| Organization | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Music Awards | 2020 | New Artist of the Year | Herself | Won | |
| Favorite Female Soul/R&B Artist | Won | ||||
| Favorite Soul/R&B Album | Hot Pink | Nominated | |||
| Video of the Year | “Say So” | Nominated | |||
| BET Awards | 2020 | Video of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Best Female Hip Hop Artist | Herself | Nominated | |||
| Billboard Music Awards | 2020 | Top R&B Song | “Juicy” (with Tyga) | Nominated | |
| BreakTudo Awards | 2020 | International Hit | “Say So” | Nominated | |
| International Revelation | Herself | Nominated | |||
| GAFFA Awards | 2021 | Best International New Act | Won | ||
| Gold Derby Music Awards | 2021 | Best New Artist | Nominated | ||
| Best R&B Artist | Nominated | ||||
| Grammy Awards | 2021 | Best New Artist | Nominated | ||
| Record of the Year | “Say So” | Nominated | |||
| Best Pop Solo Performance | Nominated | ||||
| Latin American Music Awards | 2021 | Favorite Video | “Del Mar” (with Ozuna and Sia) | Pending | |
| LOS40 Music Awards | 2020 | Best International New Act | Herself | Nominated | |
| MTV Millennial Awards Brazil | 2020 | Global Hit | “Say So” (ft. Nicki Minaj) | Nominated | |
| International Collaboration (Feat Gringo) | Nominated | ||||
| MTV Europe Music Awards | 2020 | Best Push Act | Herself | Nominated | |
| Best New Act | Won | ||||
| MTV Video Music Awards | 2020 | Push Best New Artist | Won | ||
| Song of the Year | “Say So” | Nominated | |||
| Best Direction | Nominated | ||||
| Song of Summer | Nominated | ||||
| NAACP Image Awards | 2021 | Outstanding New Artist | Herself | Won | |
| NRJ Music Awards | 2020 | Video of the Year | “Say So” | Nominated | |
| International Revelation of the Year | Herself | Won | |||
| People’s Choice Awards | 2020 | Best New Artist of 2020 | Won | ||
| Soundtrack Song of 2020 | “Boss Bitch” | Nominated | |||
| TEC Awards | 2021 | Outstanding Creative Achievement – Record Production/Album | Hot Pink | Nominated |
Tours
Headlining
- Purrr! Tour (2014)
- Amala Spring Tour (2017–2018)
- Amala Fall Tour (2018–2019)
- Hot Pink Tour (2020; cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic)
Supporting
- Theophilus London – Vibes Tour (2015)
- Lizzo – Good As Hell Tour (2017)