American singer-rapper Doja Cat is another name for controversy. She just seems to not catch a break from her unruly ways. From her 2015 tweets to her recent Tinychat room viral, she has been giving music enthusiasts something to talk about throughout her whole career. She has recently bagged the number one spot on the Billboard with her single, ‘Say So’, dominating the hip-hop industry with her unique talent.
#Early life
Doja Cat was born in Los Angeles, on October 21st in 1995, to a painter mother and a South-African actor father. Her real name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini. She was surrounded by many forms of art in her younger years. Though she claimed her father was not around when she grew up, her father has rebuffed her accusations. She was admitted to jazz, tap, and ballet lessons at only five. Her aunt also gave her singing lessons so that she can get admission to a performing arts school.
At eleven she started living as an ashram in Agoura Hills with her family and started practicing Hinduism. There she used to sing bhajans in the temple. She started losing interest in studying and developed a liking for dancing. While at the ashram she learned Indian classical dancing called Bharatanatyam. After she left the ashram, she became more interested in breakdancing. At sixteen she dropped out of school in her junior year.
#Music career
After dropping out of school, she spent all her time browsing through the internet looking for beats for her music. She used to download them and make her own music with them. She started uploading her songs on the digital streaming platform SoundCloud. Her stage name was inspired by one of her cats and her favorite strain of marijuana. Her single, ‘So High’ was her first permanent track on the platform in 2012. She was discovered by Dr. Luke and she was signed to RCA Records, Kemosabe Records, and a publishing company named Perception Songs at only 17. With this deal, she received a short-time partnership with Roc Nation in artist management.
Debut EP
Her debut EP, ‘Purrr!’ was released in August of 2014 and it received quite the attention from the global hip hop community. Her single, ‘So High’ was revamped and dropped as her solo debut single before the official release of the EP. The track was featured on the third episode of the first season of the hit TV series, ‘Empire’ on Fox. Doja Cat signed a record deal with OG Maco’s label in 2015. After the deal was signed, both the artists made a song, ‘Monster’ in 2016. The track was featured in the mixtape, ‘Children of The Rage’ by Maco in 2017.
Debut album
Doja Cat dropped another single, ‘Roll with Us’ in February 2018, and in the next month, she released ‘Go to Town’, accompanied by a music video. It was the lead single off her debut studio album, ‘Amala’. The second single from the album, ‘Candy’ was released soon in the same month. It became hugely popular after it was used in a dance challenge in the popular video-sharing platform Tik Tok. The song hit the Billboard hot 100, becoming her first solo song to enter the chart. The album was released in March 2018 with three singles. She later said that she was under the influence of marijuana around most of the parts of the production. She used elements from R&B, trap, dancehall, and house and mixed them creating a hybrid sound in the album. The album reached the number 138 spot in the Billboard 200 list a year later in 2019.
Mooo!
Unleashing her eccentric self, Doja Cat released a purely self-produced music video, ‘Mooo!’ on YouTube, featuring her weird fantasy of being a cow. The music video went viral for its weird lyrics and visuals. It became a popular meme earning her vast attention. After the huge success of the music video, she released a single version of it on public demand. In the same month, she dropped another single with a music video named ‘Tia Tamera’ with Rico Nasty soon after the deluxe edition of ‘Amala’ was released. Some new songs like, ‘Mooo!’, Juicy, and a remix of ‘Juicy’ featuring Tyga were included in the album. The remixed track reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified Platinum in the US.
Hot Pink
Doja Cat released her second album, ‘Hot Pink’ in November 2019. She dropped the second single from the album, ‘Bottom Bitch’ a month before, in October. Another single, ‘Rules’ was also released before the album was out. The album gained positive reviews from the critics and reached number 9 on Billboard 200. Her song ‘Boss Bitch’ was included in the official soundtrack of the film ‘Birds of Prey’ in 2020.
The fourth single from the album, ‘Say So’ became hugely popular through Tik Tok in 2020. She sang the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The music video of the track was also released directed by Hannah Lux Davis in February last year. It reached the number 5 spot on Billboard Hot 100. And it became the 2020’s most-streamed song by a female musician in the States. The remix of the track featuring Nikki Minaj peaked at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
She has worked with many elites in the industry like The Weeknd, Lil Wayne, Nikki Minaj, and more.
#Awards
She was nominated for Video of the Year and Best Female Hip Hop Artist in Bet Awards and Billboard Music Awards in 2020. She won Push Best New Artist at the MTV Music Awards in 2020. She won Best New Act at MTV Europe Music Awards and New Artist of the Year at American Music Awards in 2020.
Personal Life
Doja Cat has hinted that she is bisexual and pansexual. She went on a date with British musician Bree Runway in July 2021. She has been a part of many controversies with her past homophobic tweets to calling Covid-19 just regular flu and attending Kendall Jenner’s Halloween Party amid the pandemic, and the recent surface of the Tinychat video showing her saying the ‘N’ word.
Above all the controversies, the fact that she is an exceptional musician is undeniable.