There’s a case to be made that it was during the pandemic that the internet finally subsumed us—which is precisely whenAmala Dlamini, a.k.a. Doja Cat, became a global pop star. Dlamini, 27, was born in LosAngeles and spent time as a child with her mother at an ashram led by jazz musician Alice Coltrane. But she is also a member of the connected generation whose creative DNA is defined not by a record collection as much as by a swirling torrent of songs, sounds, clips, and memes. She has been releasing music for more than a decade, but her mainstream breakthrough came in late 2019 with “Say So,” a masterful mash-up of disco, hip-hop, and funk vibes that became a left-field sensation on the eve of lockdown, inspiring aTikTok dance challenge. Since then, there have been more hits, tours, and a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Kiss Me More,” a collaboration with SZA off 2021’s Planet Her. In June, she released “Attention,” the first single from her new album, Scarlet, which will be accompanied by her first arena tour this fall. Dlamini sat down with rap-radio legend and media entrepreneur Angie Martinez to discuss art, fame, and finding your way—on Instagram and IRL.
Angie Martinez: An icon by definition is “a person or a thing regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration”. Do you see yourself as worthy of veneration?
Doja Cat: I don’t. I think I deserve love and respect from the people that I love and respect back—and I guess respect means different things to some people. I put myself out there on social media and TV. I shoot my image out onto these screens. But I don’t really put myself out there in real life. I don’t go to clubs. I stick to creating.
AM: Do you get inspiration from other people and their energy?
I love positive feedback. I appreciate when people speak up for someone who is getting bullied or attacked by internet trolls…Some of the most moving moments for me have been when my fans have stood
