As both a rapper with melodic vocals and an enchanting performer with a bold image, Doja Cat has been around since the early 2010s. But throughout her years, she’s made herself quite the reputation. She has a long past of offensive comments and actions, of which she often disregards. With the rise of this hidden controversy, and her “new debut” of herself, how well will this new album treat her career?
For some background, Doja Cat, or Amala Ratna Dlamini, was born and raised in her Los Angeles home. She first started her music career as a teenager releasing on soundcloud. She had a small following until one of her first big soundcloud hits, “So High,” in 2012 brought her major attention. This song helped to sign her with RCA Records, and a joint deal with Kemosabe Records. These labels helped mass publicize her biggest hits, like, “Say So,” and “Juicy.” The song “Say So” from her album ‘Hot Pink’ was her first and only billboard #1 Hit. Multiple others reached the top 10, along with her album ‘Planet Her,’ hitting #1 for over a week straight. But with this success, she’s been finding herself in hot water a lot.
To sum up this initial scandal, Doja had canceled a show, which fans were right to be upset about. She was quick to give an attitude to her fans, claiming she was out of the music industry because of their concerns. Fans were astonished with her reaction, they were hesitant to believe her. She eventually came back on social media with a new demeanor and look. She continued to act “strange,” being very spontaneous, as well as very uncensored and seemingly disrespectful.
Since June of 2023, she’s been releasing new songs, ones quite different from her previous sound. Fans were still raving about this comeback, despite her previous antics. Her first song since “Attention” hit top 10. Now with her new album release, “Scarlet,” on September 22nd has already hit #1 on Billboard charts. She’s going on tour with this album, beginning right after Halloween across North America this fall, selling out the majority of her venues already.
Fiona Bunnell, a student at Pennsbury High School is a big fan of her, who’s been listening since late 2018. She personally stated ”I love for her has changed a lot over the years. She’s definitely trying to rebrand herself, you can tell. I’m not too sure if I like it, but I really enjoy the new album. She has a more confident sound. She already was confident before, but she was more bold confident than self-confident. Most people don’t like her anymore but I admire it, she’s choosing to be how she wants.” She further shared that it even helped her to feel better about herself, watching Doja embrace her actual self not caring about others reactions.
Melanie Flores, a junior at Seminole, also used to be a fan of Doja. She had a different experience: “I was big on her from middle school to freshman year, but she became too much for me, both her and the fanbase. I felt like the fame got to her music; but she was also too toxic to be a good role model either. I don’t think this new album really brought back any fans, but the negative publicity is definitely what gave her the ratings she has.” She points out a good point that negative publicity still gives her a lot of her support. When it comes to famous celebrities in today’s time, any publicity is a form of revenue, so they tend to push the agenda even more, to get attention and make money.
Doja is the face for controversy, yet she still rocks her own demeanor. No matter what people say or criticize, she seems to turn a shoulder and continue to thrive with her career. It seems obvious that her new album did, in fact, lead to further success in her career.