Doja Cat (/dod/ DOH-j), whose real name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini and who was born on October 21, 1995, is a famous American rapper and singer. She is a native Angeleno who got her start in the music industry when she was just a youngster. She secured a combined record deal with Kemosabe and RCA Records at the age of 17, and her debut EP, Purrr!, was released the following year.
Doja Cat’s novelty song “Mooo!” (2018), in which she makes satirical claims about being a cow, went viral after she took a break from making music and her debut studio album, Amala (2018), was released uneventfully. She released Hot Pink, her second studio album, the following year to cash in on her rising stardom.
Doja Cat’s Early Life
Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini was born on October 21, 1995, in the Tarzana section of Los Angeles, California, into an artistic family. Her mother, Deborah Sawyer, is a Jewish-American graphic designer, and her father, Dumisani Dlamini, is a South African actor of Zulu ethnicity, best known for starring as Crocodile in the original Broadway cast of the musical Sarafina! and the 1992 film adaptation. The two had a brief romance after meeting in New York City where Dumisani performed on Broadway, but he was too busy on tour to spend time with Amala and her brother.
He says he moved his family from the United States to South Africa because he missed them so much, but Doja Cat has made it clear more than once that she does not get along with her father and has “never met him.” Her father, however, has rejected these rumors, saying that he and his daughter had a “good” relationship and that her management company blocked his attempts to reach her because they were afraid of losing her.
Doja Cat’s Career
Doja Cat has characterized life after dropping out of school as “messy”, stating that she slept on the floor and spent “all night and day” searching the internet, hunting for beats and instrumentals from YouTube which she downloaded and used to produce her own music. She taught herself to sing, rap, and use GarageBand while unemployed and hooked on internet culture from places like EBaum’s World and Myspace, regularly producing and posting music to SoundCloud.
Late in 2012, she made her first ever permanent SoundCloud upload, which was titled “So High.” At the beginning of her career, Doja Cat was active in the Los Angeles underground hip-hop scene, where she would perform at parties and ciphers and meet other artists like Busdriver, Ill Camille, and VerBS, the latter of whom she credits with helping her develop her skills and land her first gig. During this time, she connected with Jerry “Tizhimself” Powell, a producer who had discovered her SoundCloud page.
He put her in touch with the record producer Yeti Beats, who invited her to record at his studio in Echo Park, which became an “oasis of sorts” for her to get away from the chaos at home. After signing with Yeti Beats, she was introduced to RCA Records’ imprint Kemosabe Records, where she signed in March 2014 under label executive Dr. Luke and his publishing firm Prescription Songs. As part of the agreement, Roc Nation will serve as the artist’s management team for a limited time.
As The Fader put it, “spacey, eastern-influenced R&B,” Doja Cat’s debut EP Purrr! was released in August of 2014. Preceding the EP’s release, “So High” was reworked and released as her solo commercial debut single; it was later used on the third episode of the first season of the Fox series Empire. Doja Cat made a short-term deal with OG Maco’s label OGG in the middle of 2015.
Following the signing, in late 2016, Maco and Doja Cat worked on the song “Monster”, from Maco’s 2017 mixtape, Children of The Rage. Due to a case of writer’s block, she politely declined American singer Billie Eilish’s invitation to appear on the track that would become her breakout hit of 2017. Doja Cat went into what she calls a “creative limbo” where she stopped putting out new songs for a period due to the lack of interest from record labels, the impact of “finding yourself,” and excessive marijuana use.
Did Doja Cat Change Her Face?
Doja Cat is currently one of the most popular artists in the world due to the success of her third studio album, Planet Her. Her latest offering, which includes the singles Need To Know, You Right, Woman, and Get Into It, has been widely successful, having sold over four million copies globally and accumulated a string of accolades.
Planet Her made history when it became the first album by a female rap artist to remain in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 200 for an entire year. Over 113 million streams were generated in just five days after its release in June 2021, setting a new record for the largest streaming week for an album by a female rapper.
Obviously, Doja is already famous and on her road to even greater fame. The Say So singer has become increasingly famous, but with that comes increased scrutiny on her physical looks. Doja, who is only 26 years old, has been accused by many of undergoing plastic surgery in recent years based on a comparison of before and after pictures. So, here’s the skinny…
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