Doja Cat

“I think that creativity is love,” Doja Cat told Apple Music. “You risk a lot for love. And so when a musician loves what they do, sometimes that entails things that are kind of uncomfortable and scary. But it doesn’t matter, because you love that thing so much.” Time and time again, the artist proved that feeling has propelled her success. Born Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, the Los Angeles singer and rapper went viral in the summer of 2018 with “MOOO!,” a sultry R&B jam thick with double entendres and sung from the perspective of a cow. But Doja, who released her debut EP, Purrr! in 2014 and her first album Amala in 2018, was no novelty act. In the years since, she has become one of pop music’s savviest, most audacious characters. She raps nimbly, switching up her cadence from one syllable to the next, and her pop-culture nods are just as unpredictable as her dizzying flow. Her presentation is both tough and coquettish: On her 2019 album Hot Pink, she assumes a fun and fundamentally empowered stance in her singing and rapping about sex. Futuristic, interplanetary adventures fueled the 2021 album Planet Her, which sees Doja Cat continuing her dominance in expressing the spectrum of feminine experiences. An ardent student of hip-hop, Doja builds her stylistic approach upon the nostalgic elements that colored rap’s golden eras: Her deserved cockiness intertwines with her unique personality, informed by the greats who preceded her. And her desire to be seen as a formidable MC is felt most on 2023’s Scarlet, a provocative project that reflects her desire for freedom and flexibility. Once again showcasing her versatility, she turned to whimsical, often romantic camp on 2025’s Vie. “I think I love talking about love,” she said. “And I also think music is just such a door for expressing love in its different forms.”