Doja Cat is both Pop and Rap’s viral superstar-in-the-making. Everything from her innovative musical creations to interesting online presence shows that Doja is creative, funny, smart, and also a bit controversial.
And instead of getting a taste of her unique offerings from a quirky tweet or Instagram Live, Elle got up close and personal with Doja Cat for their June cover issue.
The 26-year-old multidisciplinary artist sat down with the publication to talk about everything from the success of her 2021 album, Planet Her, what it’s like to tour, and even give some hilarious insight into her “really, really ugly dog that’s dope.”
Read some of Doja’s interview below and check out the full feature here.
On the inspiration behind her viral 2018 hit, “Moooo!” :
“[Jay-Z] was talking about irony in rap, and that is just such a key element. When you take something that isn’t supposed to be what people perceive as rap and mix it in, it creates something new and inspiring. I love the irony.”
Doja on the fun of being creative in front of an audience:
“When I’m getting creative in any way, I like to see what people think of it. I’ll be like, ‘Should I do this hat or that hat?’ Or ‘We’re going to do a ’90s- inspired makeup thing today.’ Or ‘My wig is falling off the front of my face. Do you want to watch me reapply it?’”
On a viral clip of her using a racial slur among white friends in a chat room:
“’ve used public chat rooms to socialize since I was a child. I shouldn’t have been on some of those chat room sites, but I personally have never been involved in any racist conversations. I’m sorry to everyone that I offended. I’m a Black woman. Half of my family is Black from South Africa and I’m very proud of where I come from.”
Doja on receiving eight Grammy nominations:
“That was insane to me. When they told me how many, I was like, ‘No, no way.’ That was actually the first show that I cried after,” she says. “I definitely felt the emotions. I was so happy to be doing it. Despite the latex, it was very, very fun.”
On being incorrectly categorized as a singer instead of a rapper:
“The only person who should be rating hip-hop is an OG or somebody who is respected in hip-hop. I’ve rapped since the beginning, and I really couldn’t even sing that well to begin with—I got a lot better. I use my voice as a tool to create these worlds, and it’s fine if people think that I can’t rap.”
Don’t forget to read the full interview here and check out some of the beautiful photos from the June cover issue below:
