Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (Zulu: [ˈzandile ˈɮamini]; born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat (/ˈdoʊdʒə/), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer.

After a hiatus from releasing music and the uneventful rollout of her debut studio album, Amala (2018), Doja Cat earned viral success as an internet meme with her 2018 single "Mooo!

Her fourth studio album, Scarlet (2023), adopted a hip-hop-oriented sound and peaked within the top five of the Billboard 200, while its lead single "Paint the Town Red" became her most successful song to date, as it marked her first solo number-one on the Hot 100 among eight other countries.

Described by The Wall Street Journal as "a skilled technical rapper with a strong melodic sense and a bold visual presence",[1] Doja Cat is known for creating videos and performances which achieve virality on social media platforms such as TikTok.

[10] Her mother, Deborah Sawyer, is an American graphic designer of Jewish heritage,[11][12] and her father, Dumisani Dlamini, is a South African performer of Zulu descent,[13] best known for starring as Crocodile in the original Broadway cast of the musical Sarafina!

[12] He said that he left his family in the US for South Africa out of homesickness, in the hopes that they would join him there,[16] yet Dlamini has suggested on multiple occasions that she is estranged from her father, stating that she "never met him.

[12][21] At the age of eight, Dlamini returned to California with her mother and brother to live at the Sai Anantam Ashram, a commune in Agoura Hills,[12] and practiced Hinduism for four years.

[22][23] While living at the commune, Dlamini started wearing head-covering scarves and singing bhajans at temple,[10] yet disclosed how she felt like she could not "be a kid" during her time there.

[24][22] Her family then moved to Oak Park,[12] where she started attending dance lessons and experienced a "sporty childhood", often skateboarding and visiting Malibu for surf camps.

"[30] She eventually dropped out at age 16 while in her junior year,[31] attributing this decision to her struggles with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), saying that "it felt like I was stuck in one spot and everybody else was progressing constantly.

"[12] Doja Cat has described life after dropping out of school as "messy", claiming that she slept on the floor and spent "all night and day" browsing the internet, looking for beats and instrumentals from YouTube which she downloaded and used to create her own music.

[32][33] After becoming fascinated with internet culture and websites like eBaum's World and Myspace,[30] she taught herself to sing, rap and use GarageBand while at home without a job, frequently making music and uploading it to SoundCloud.

[32] Doja Cat began her career in the Los Angeles underground hip-hop scene, performing at parties and cyphers, and connecting with rappers such as Busdriver, Ill Camille and VerBS, the latter of whom claims to have helped hone her craft and find her first gig.

[40] She had started experiencing writer's block, which led her to decline American singer Billie Eilish's offer to feature on what would later become her popular 2017 single "Bellyache".

[41] Doja Cat would stop releasing music for a while amid what she describes as a "creative limbo", which was influenced by her record labels not paying her much attention, as well as the effects of "finding herself" and smoking too much marijuana.

[125] Later that month, Doja Cat performed the songs "Best Friend" with Saweetie, "Rules", "Streets" and a solo version of "Kiss Me More" at Triller's inaugural Fight Club event.

[140][141] Doja Cat guest starred as the temporary romantic interest of American rapper and comedian Lil Dicky in the second season of the TV series Dave, which premiered on June 16, 2021.

[142] On September 10, she was announced as a Pepsi ambassador and starred in an advertisement in which she performs a modern reenactment of the song "You're the One That I Want" from the musical film Grease, as part of a campaign celebrating the launch of the Pepsi-Cola Soda Shop.

[143] Her first-ever gig as a television presenter,[144] Doja Cat hosted the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony,[145] where she also performed the songs "Been Like This" and "You Right".

[163] In February 2022, Doja Cat released a cover of the song "Celebrity Skin" by American rock band Hole,[164] as part of a Taco Bell commercial in which she starred, and premiered it at the Super Bowl LVI.

[168] In June 2022, the track "I Like You (A Happier Song)" by Post Malone featuring Doja Cat was released as the third single from the former's fourth studio album, Twelve Carat Toothache (2023).

[181] She also adopted a darker aesthetic and appearance, which she described as "punk", "experimental" and "manic",[182] while some fans deemed these changes "demonic",[183][184] and accused her of being a Satanist,[185][186] and a member of the Illuminati.

[182] The second promotional single, "Demons", was released in early September 2023, alongside a music video directed by Christian Breslauer and co-starring American actress Christina Ricci.

"[201] On the song "Get Into It (Yuh)" from her third studio album, Planet Her (2021), she pays tribute to Minaj and borrows lyrics and rap delivery from her debut 2010 single "Massive Attack".

"[54] Additionally, Doja Cat has cited Rihanna,[210][35] Beyoncé,[211][212] D'Angelo,[210] Missy Elliott,[213] Christina Aguilera,[214] Pharrell Williams,[215] and Lil' Kim[216] as major influences.

She draws inspiration from her background engaging in online activities and delving into subcultures as a suburban teenager,[29] as well as the artists her mother exposed to her as a child, such as Fugees, Erykah Badu, Jamiroquai, Earth, Wind & Fire, Black Eyed Peas, Seal, Tupac, Aaliyah, DMX, India Arie, and TLC.

[231][232] During an interview with Billboard, Doja Cat revealed that she was heavily addicted to alcohol as well as chain smoking when growing up and considers quitting cigarettes to be "one of the biggest challenges of [her] life.

[2][5] Bryan Rolli of Forbes wrote that "Doja Cat's aloof, irreverent, chronically online persona masks a tireless work ethic; she sings better, raps faster and dances harder than many of her peers, all at once.

"[267] In an article for Okayplayer, Robyn Mowatt noted that "as a singer, rapper, songwriter, and entertainer Doja has led her fans on a rambunctious journey equipped with snappy lyrics, live video streams, outlandish outfits, and memorable viral moments.

On January 27, 2024, Doja Cat's single "Paint the Town Red" was listed #1 in Australian radio station Triple J's (JJJ) listener poll for the annual Hottest 100 competition (100 most popular songs of 2023).