Half of the album was written in Hawaii in February 2019, where Doja Cat was on vacation with her manager and co-writer Lydia Asrat, recovering from a recent breakup.

"[13] Doja Cat previewed the album tracks "Payday", "Ain't Shit" and "Love to Dream" while on Instagram livestreams in April 2020, May 2020 and May 2021 respectively.

[17]: 52:00 In April 2021, shortly after confirming its title, Doja Cat said that Planet Her is her first album that "feels fully her own" and that as opposed to trying "to be a certain kind of pop star, she's simply embodying one".

[18] However, in 2023 Doja Cat ended up describing the album, along with the previous outing Hot Pink, as "mediocre pop" and "a cash grab".

[28]: 00:48 Insider interpreted through the album's music and lyrics that "Planet Her" is a place where "midday skies are streaked with pink and orange" and where "following your sexual urges is uncomplicated and morally good, where the feminine is divine and it's summer year-round.

"[29] Rolling Stone described the planet as an "exquisitely strange and spectacularly camp world" and noted that "there's a bit of cheeky, sci-fi B movie references in the presentation but the content [of the album] itself is pristine pop fun.

"[30] By reflecting the everyday into science fiction contexts that incorporate video game, comic book and cyberpunk imagery, Doja manages to conquer these landscapes, her psychedelic qualities on full display.

This manages to solve the divide between Afro-futurism's darker side and suburban leisure's levity: Doja Cat sees the future as the possibility for utopia and connects it to its roots in current iconography.Planet Her is primarily a pop,[31] hip hop, and R&B record.

[38] The third track, "Payday", celebrates Doja Cat's wealth and fame in a high register,[43] as she sings "I just can't believe I got what I wanted all my life".

[38] "Love to Dream" is a wistful space-age pop and R&B ballad driven by a downcast, distorted guitar lead and Doja Cat's high "crystalline falsetto" vocals.

[43] Over the gentle trap beat and through pitched down vocals of "Been Like This", Doja Cat processes her shifting feelings for a partner after noticing how they've changed and become more toxic, making it one of the most reflective on the album.

[31] "Ain't Shit" was noted to feature Doja Cat's "rapped eye rolls", a "falsetto refrain", and a "fed up attitude of the opposite sex".

[63] In the following month, Doja Cat revealed that the song "You Right" with the Weeknd would serve as the second single from Planet Her in a cover story interview with Billboard.

[69] Planet Her was issued worldwide on June 25, 2021, at midnight[70] local time, by Kemosabe and RCA Records, Doja Cat's third to be released under this contract.

[91] Its corresponding music video was directed by duo Miles & AJ and features cameo appearances from Canadian musician Grimes and American actress Ryan Destiny.

[93] It eventually peaked at number eight in the United States, becoming Doja Cat's fourth top ten hit (second from the album), outperforming "You Right", which was intended to be the "more important single".

[106] Doja Cat performed a solo version of "Kiss Me More" for the first time at Triller's inaugural Fight Club event in April 2021.

[109] During a solo virtual concert as part of American Express's "Unstaged" campaign in June 2021, SZA performed her verse from the song as well as the introduction and chorus usually sung by Doja Cat.

[114] On July 10, she continued to celebrate the album release at a private nightclub in Miami, where she notably slipped and fell while on stage and earned praise for playing it off and carrying on with the performance.

[123] While suspended in the air at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony later that month, she performed "Been Like This" for the first time, followed by a solo version of "You Right" featuring her additional verse from the extended mix.

[130] The New Yorker expressed that it brings her "genre fluidity into perfect synthesis, building upon the pop-rap legacy established by her predecessor Nicki Minaj," noting that "Doja relishes stimulation, from paydays to addictive intimacy.

[...] she manages to execute a varied set of identity-swapping performances in a way that feels like a natural mark of her studied, eclectic talents rather than an exercise in chasing trends.

"[134] Safy-Hallan Farah of Pitchfork described Planet Her as "a kaleidoscope of pop versatility that benefits greatly from a market that currently values eclecticism.

[31] Using "Ain't Shit" as an example, Nick Levine of NME wrote that Doja Cat's lyrics "possess a plain-speaking power," while stressing that "it's not so much what she says, but the way that she says it.

"[21] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian described Planet Her as a "light, summery, really well-produced and impressively concise record" with "music that plays to Doja Cat's strengths.

He wrote that the album has "music with enough room for a degree of experimentation" but, however, was perplexed by how "an artist so evidently concerned with not taxing her listeners' attention spans" could get away with the "tedi[ous]" string of "insubstantial ballads".

Club wrote that the record "lacks the originality Doja made her name on" as she "loses herself in the pop space" with "predictable, uninspired sounds".

[128] Cinquemani of Slant Magazine felt that, other than "Kiss Me More", the rest of the album "leans heavily" on contemporary sounds, making it "hard to differentiate it from any number of other recent R&B efforts".

[151] According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), it was the tenth best-selling album of the year on all platforms worldwide in 2021, despite having a limited physical release.

[156] Subsequently, "Woman" was nominated thrice at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards (as the song was a sleeper hit) for Record of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, and Best Music Video.