Winter blues got you down? Feel like your days are dragging on? Time to pop in those earbuds and play some Doja Cat.
Recently I’ve really been discovering Doja Cat’s music and bumping to her extremely catchy songs on my trek to class. Her playful and bouncy style mixes bubblegum pop with trap, which distinguish her from the rest of the rising artists in the rap game. You may recognize Doja Cat from the viral song and music video “MOOO!” 
but you better not limit her abilities to that single piece. Each of her songs have a different type of sound ranging from light trap to slightly grungy and pop punk, as her voice is extremely versatile. Doja crushes any and all expectations placed on her as an artist and instead chooses to make music that feels good to her.
Doja Cat, was born in Los Angeles, California as Amalaratna Zandile Dlamini. Dlamini comes from a fairly artistic family as her father was a composer, her mother was a painter, and her grandmother was an artist. Her first exposure to rap music came from her brother as he used to rap to her when she was a child. Moreover, Dlamini played the piano and danced throughout her childhood. Her music falls within the genres of rap, R&B, hip hop, and neo soul. She credits Nicki Minaj, Pharrell, Erykah Badu, and a few others for influencing her style of music, while also drawing off of Indian and Japanese culture for inspiration as well. To date she has made two albums, with her most recent one called “Hot Pink” which was released in 2019.
One song that truly draws me into Doja Cat’s music is “Juicy” (which peaked at #45 on the US Billboard Hot 100). The first few seconds of the song where the anticipation is built before the beat is introduced are catchy enough to roll around my head for hours. The song has the perfect tempo with enough bass and pace to 
keep you moving and wanting more. Moving out of musical technicalities, Doja Cat’s lyrics are simple and are extremely fun to sing along to with your friends (particularly a late Friday night or so). Doja Cat’s meaning behind her lyrics is not awfully complicated, as it is a lighthearted song that is simply about butts. Her body positive language embraces any body shape, type, figure, etc. and she goes about this without bashing “skinny” girls, as many other songs with the same theme have done. It’s essential to have artists like this that aim to make everyone feel good and sexy, regardless of their race, gender, body type, and so on. Doja’s unapologetic sexual expression and appreciation of bodies crafted together with an amazing beat make a memorable song.
I urge to take a chance on Doja Cat’s music, even if you think you might not like it you’ll never know until you find out.
It’s cool how Doja Cat drew inspiration from different cultures and artists! I’ll give Juicy a listen sometime – sounds like a catchy song.
I really liked this blog. I’ve recently been listening to some of her songs and I like the song Juicy as well. I did not know that she had that much of a variety in genre of her music.
I personally don’t listen to a lot of new music, so I am excited to get to explore some through your blog! It is insane how so many recent pop-culture icons have risen to stardom through viral status on the internet!
I love Doja Cat, saw in concert here at PSU. She’s a definite pop up artist this year!
I am so excited to read about your blog this semester! Admittedly, I did not know who Doja Cat was before she came to Penn State, but I will try to listen to her music. I am surprised Juicy peaked so low on the chart when it seems to be such a popular song and has so many views.