Doja Cat has made her fame off of being a walking contradiction. She is known for being bold, outspoken, and incredibly controversial. However, we still have to give the woman her flowers for being one of the most talented and innovative artists of our generation. She has dominated the charts for years and in multiple genres, no less. Her versatility is one of the main reasons she has stood out from the crowd, and won the adoration of millions while still being so polarizing.
One instance of this controversial behavior is her immense disdain for fan culture, leading her people to believe that she hates her fans. This couldn’t be further from the truth; she loves her fans, and she shows it. She dislikes bandwagon fans who come and go with her fame. Eventually turned into a PR stunt, during the release of her Scarlet album. She would outwardly insult her fans. In separate videos taken not by her team but by fans, she would show her true gratitude. However, this has still led to numerous online feuds, unfollowing sprees, and mass social media fallout.
In addition to this, she has been outright bizarre online. She is often posting cryptic, confrontational messages only to delete them hours later. This unpredictability is a fuel for frustration and intrigue. She is someone that people just can’t keep out of their mouths.
Before her fame, she was getting into precarious situations as well. As she found her fame online, she was also found in online chat rooms engaging in conversations with racist undertones and general insensitivity. Additionally, her old and buried song Dindu Nuffin. While the actual song and lyrics aren’t inherently offensive, the title is a term used in far-right extremist groups to demean victims of police brutality. Given her mixed race identity and her participation in these chat rooms, she received a lot of backlash. She was officially “Cancelled” in 2021. However, because the internet is the internet, cancellations never truly go through and she has seen immense success.
Despite these controversies, she continues to be a true artist. Her albums Hot Pink, and Planet Her were all global phenomenons, reaching 2x Platinum status by the RIAA. Additionally, her song Kiss Me More is a Grammy Award winner. She also received the Top Female Rap Artist at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards, following the success of her newest album Scarlet.
In 2023, she successfully reinvented herself with Scarlet. She leaned into more aggressive rap. Instead of, pop and R&B , she was known for, and gave a middle finger to the music industry who tried to box her into these genres. She is known for jumping to different genres to prove that she is not the one-trick-pony people thought she was with the release of her biggest chart-topping song Say So, from 2020. She fully dominated the rap game with that single album, earning her stripes in that community. Songs like Attention, 97, and Ouchies all were extreme hits. Now that she has shown herself and what she is capable of, she has proven to everyone to never doubt her craft and abilities. She has announced her new album, titled Vie. It has been hinting heavily about its release, including releasing the song titles, and announcing her return to R&B. I’m incredibly excited!
