Doja Cat went viral. Now what? A hip-hop meme star gets serious, sort of, for her second act

While Doja Cat was writing her second album "Hot Pink," the 24-year-old singer and rapper quit smoking weed. Perhaps she shouldn't have been surprised that, when the clouds parted, she found her songwriting much improved. Like the old joke about the Grateful Dead fan who gets sober, once the drugs wore off, she had higher standards for music.

"My last album was me super high all the time," the 24-year-old born Amala Zandile Dlamini said from Orlando, Fla., as she paused our phone interview to balance a pitcher of mimosas on a hotel bed. Last night, she'd performed as part of Spotify's Rap Caviar Live concert in Miami. "When I stopped and did this album, I've never