Doja Cat

Doja Cat Headlines 2024 Coachella Music Festival

Doja Cat, the Grammy-winning artist, made a significant impact at the 2024 Coachella Music Festival in Southern California, headlining the first weekend with a dynamic performance on April 14. The 28-year-old singer and rapper performed alongside special guests 21 Savage, A$AP Rocky, and Teezo Touchdown. Her set primarily featured tracks from her latest album, Scarlet, including a live rendition of her collaboration “Masc” with Teezo Touchdown, which was recently released as part of the deluxe edition of the album. Fans were also treated to her performances of “n.h.i.e.” with 21 Savage and “URRRGE!!!!!!!!!!” with A$AP Rocky.

Doja Cat’s performance was visually captivating, featuring multiple outfit changes and a variety of imaginative stage elements such as a skeleton dinosaur, dancers dressed as yetis, and a mud wrestling ring. However, notable omissions from her setlist included two of her most popular hits, “Say So” and “Kiss Me More.”

As one of the festival’s major headliners, Doja Cat shares the spotlight with Lana Del Rey and Tyler, The Creator. She is scheduled to perform again during the second weekend of the festival on April 21. This marks her second Coachella appearance, following her performance at the festival in 2022.

Who Is Doja Cat?

Doja Cat, born Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini on October 21, 1995, is an award-winning rapper, singer, and songwriter known for her chart-topping hits like “Say So,” “Paint The Town Red,” and “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA. Raised between California and New York, Doja Cat began creating and releasing music as a teenager on SoundCloud, where she caught the attention of renowned producer Dr. Luke. In 2013, she signed with his record label at the age of 17 and released her first EP, Purrr!, in 2014, followed by her debut album Amala in 2018. Her breakout moment came with the viral success of her music video and song “Mooo!” in August 2018, which quickly propelled her to stardom.

Since then, Doja Cat has released three additional albums—Hot Pink (2019), Planet Her (2021), and Scarlet (2023)—and earned a Grammy Award in 2022 for “Kiss Me More.”

Personal Life

Doja Cat was raised by her mother, Deborah Sawyer, a painter and clothing designer, along with her older brother, Raman. Her father, South African actor and dancer Dumisani Dlamini, was largely absent from her life, and the two have only communicated virtually. Recently, Doja Cat has been involved in a family dispute, with her mother filing a restraining order in January 2024 against her brother, Raman, due to allegations of physical and verbal abuse. While a judge granted a five-year restraining order to protect Sawyer, a similar request for Doja Cat was denied.

Where Is Doja Cat From?

Doja Cat, born in Los Angeles’ Tarzana neighborhood, had an early life marked by frequent relocations. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Rye, New York, where she spent the first five years of her life before returning to California. From the ages of 8 to 12, she lived in the Sai Anantam Ashram, a Hindu commune in Santa Monica, California, led by jazz musician John Coltrane’s wife, Alice. During her time there, Doja Cat immersed herself in the Bharatanatyam dance tradition, although she later described her experience as restrictive.

“It was very restraining,” she shared with Rolling Stone. “My brother liked it. He had a lot of friends. But I didn’t have many friends. For me, it was just like, ‘I can’t eat what I want to eat. I can’t really do kid stuff.’” Despite these challenges, the time spent in the commune was formative for Doja Cat, as it was here that she discovered her musical talents. She recalls writing her first song at age 8 for her mother, though she admitted feeling embarrassed by the “mushy” lyrics.

Having trained in ballet, tap, jazz, and breakdancing, Doja Cat later attended a performing arts high school, where she was encouraged by friends to pursue her music. “Some friends in high school would tell me I should sing. I started teaching myself to sing in my room,” she told Dazed. By the time she dropped out of high school at 16, Doja Cat was already recording music, uploading her raps over SoundCloud and YouTube beats.

Early Music Career

Doja Cat’s music began to attract attention on SoundCloud, eventually catching the eye of producers Yeti Beats and Dr. Luke, who signed her to his Kemosabe Records label in 2013 when she was just 17 years old. In 2014, she released her debut EP, Purrr!, which featured the single “So High,” showcasing her early potential as a rising star.

Her influences range widely, from “white people indie music” to iconic artists like TLC, Lil’ Kim, Aesop Rock, Missy Elliott, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Busta Rhymes, and Lauryn Hill. Doja Cat’s own genre-blending style includes rap, R&B, soul, pop, and jazz elements, as she expressed in a 2021 interview with V Magazine.

In March 2018, Doja Cat released her first full-length album, Amala, which initially struggled to gain traction, peaking at No. 138 on the Billboard 200. Reflecting on the project, she admitted to being in a state of excess during its creation. “I was smoking hella weed… I was high all the f––g time,” she told Billboard.

It was, however, her 2018 viral video for “Mooo!” that propelled her into mainstream recognition, earning praise from artists like Chance the Rapper and Katy Perry. “I knew it was goofy,” she said in a 2021 Rolling Stone interview, “but I also wanted it to musically sound good.”

Mainstream Success: “Say So” and “Kiss Me More”

Following the viral success of “Mooo!,” Doja Cat released her sophomore album, Hot Pink (2019), which included hits like “Say So” and “Streets.” The remix of “Say So” featuring Nicki Minaj marked her first No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 2020. Hot Pink also earned her a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2021 Grammy Awards.

In June 2021, Doja Cat released her third studio album, Planet Her, her most successful to date. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and included chart-topping tracks like “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA, “You Right” with The Weeknd, “Need to Know,” and “Woman.” The collaboration with SZA earned the duo the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in 2022, and as of April 2024, Doja Cat has accumulated 19 Grammy nominations.

In May 2022, she released “Vegas,” a song for the Elvis biopic soundtrack, sampling Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog.” Her next purely original release, however, came over a year later with her fourth studio album, Scarlet (2023), which included successful singles such as “Paint The Town Red” and “Agora Hills.”

Doja Cat is also known for her collaborations with artists such as Saweetie (“Best Friend”) and Ariana Grande (“34+35” remix), further cementing her versatility across various genres.

Who Is Doja Cat Dating?

Doja Cat has largely kept her personal life private, though she has been romantically linked to comedian Jeffrey “J” Cyrus since their first public appearance together in November 2022. Reflecting on her approach to relationships, she told Harper’s Bazaar in August 2023, “I’m in a different place in my life where I am very committed and very much in love in a different way than before.” She has also previously been linked to singer Jawny and rapper French Montana, though she has clarified that her relationship with French Montana is strictly professional and based on friendship.

Doja Cat continues to evolve both musically and personally, maintaining her place as one of the most unique and influential artists of her generation.

Controversies

Doja Cat has been at the center of multiple controversies throughout her career, notably due to her use of a homophobic slur and her association with producer Dr. Luke.

Homophobic Slur

In 2018, Doja Cat faced backlash after past tweets resurfaced in which she used a homophobic slur directed at Odd Future members Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt. In a now-deleted statement on Twitter, she remarked, “I called a couple of people f––ts when I was in high school in 2015 does this mean I don’t deserve support?” She further stated, “I’ve said f––t roughly 15 thousand times in my life. Does saying f––t mean you hate gay people? Do I hate gay people? I don’t think I hate gay people. Gay is ok.”

The post sparked significant controversy, prompting Doja Cat to issue an apology, emphasizing her regret for using derogatory language and asserting that no one should face discrimination based on race, religion, or sexual orientation. “I love you and I hope to make more great music with and for you in the future,” she concluded.

In a 2019 interview with Respect magazine, Doja Cat addressed a common misconception about her, stating, “That I am hateful of everybody. We can talk about this all day, but I don’t discriminate against anyone. Not for any race, sexual orientation, religion anything at all. I love people. I love women, I love men, I love animals.” She further explained her controversial online persona, claiming that her provocative behavior was a result of people targeting her with offensive language. “So I became the person who would make offensive jokes and do things sort of out of the box,” she noted in a December 2019 interview with Paper magazine.

In May 2020, she faced renewed criticism for a 2015 song on SoundCloud titled “Dindu Nuffin,” a term used disparagingly to mock victims of police brutality, often associated with alt-right movements. She removed the song following the backlash.

Working with Dr. Luke

Doja Cat has also faced criticism for her professional ties to producer Dr. Luke, who has been embroiled in a high-profile legal battle with singer Kesha over accusations of sexual misconduct and defamation. Kesha filed a civil lawsuit against Dr. Luke in 2014, alleging sexual assault and abuse, but the case was dismissed in 2016. In 2023, both parties reached a settlement in Dr. Luke’s defamation case, with the producer denying the allegations, stating, “I’m absolutely certain that nothing happened. I never drugged or assaulted her.”

Dr. Luke, who owns Kemosabe Records (a subsidiary of RCA Records), has worked on some of Doja Cat’s biggest hits, including “Say So,” “Best Friend,” and “Kiss Me More.” In a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, Doja Cat addressed her relationship with Dr. Luke, stating, “I haven’t worked with him in a very long time,” and expressing ambivalence over his involvement in her music, saying, “There’s s–– that he’s credited for, where I’m like, ‘Hmm, I don’t know, I don’t know if you did anything on that.’” She further remarked, “I don’t think I need to work with him again. I think it was definitely nice of me to work with him.”

Fan Drama

In July 2023, Doja Cat faced criticism after comments she made on the social media platform Threads, where she expressed frustration with fans who used her real name as their profile names. This led some fans to feel that she harbored disdain for them.

However, in a December 2023 interview with Ebro Darden on Apple Music, Doja Cat clarified her remarks. “One thing I do wanna set straight is you’ll never see a direct quote of me saying I hate my fans. Not once. But it’s a really big misquoted thing,” she explained. She added that she enjoys playing with the concept of hate as a meme, stating, “I know that people who get it, get it. And I’m fine with that. I don’t have to explain my sense of humor and explain comedy to anyone. If people don’t see the joke, then they just don’t see the joke, and it’s not my responsibility to have them understand.”