Fun Facts About Doja Cat

Doja Cat was born Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini on October 21, 1995, in Los Angeles, California.

Her mother, Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer, is a painter, and her father, Dumisani Dlamini, is a South African actor, composer, and film producer.

Her parents separated when she was young, and she was raised primarily by her mother in the Los Angeles area.

Doja Cat dropped out of high school at age 16, during her junior year, and has spoken openly about how ADHD made traditional school difficult for her.

After leaving school, she taught herself to sing and rap and produced early tracks using GarageBand, uploading them to SoundCloud.

Her debut EP, "Purrr!," was released in 2014 and featured the song "So High."

In 2018, her song "Mooo!" went viral on YouTube, helped along by its low-budget, deliberately absurd cow-themed music video.

Her debut album, "Amala," was released in 2018 and included the tracks "Go To Town" and "Tia Tamera."

In 2019 she released her second album, "Hot Pink," on RCA Records, which included the breakout single "Say So."

"Say So" became a massive TikTok dance trend, and its remix featuring Nicki Minaj rocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 2020 — the first No. 1 hit for both Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj.

Doja Cat's sound draws on multiple genres, blending pop, R&B, hip-hop, and electronic influences.

She has cited Nicki Minaj and Erykah Badu as major musical influences.

Doja Cat was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2021.

She won the iHeartRadio Music Award for Best New Pop Artist in 2021.

At the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, she won the Push Best New Artist award; "Say So" was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Direction, though it didn't win those categories.

Forbes included her on its 30 Under 30 list in the music category in 2020.

She has collaborated with artists including Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, SZA, The Weeknd, and Saweetie.

She appeared on the remix of Saweetie's "Tap In" and released "Juicy" featuring Tyga.

Her stage name comes from her love of cats combined with slang for marijuana ("doja").

Her real first name, Amala, is a Sanskrit word meaning "pure" or "spotless."

"Streets" became a viral TikTok trend in 2021, with users filming a silhouette-style dance to the song's slowed-down outro.

In May 2020, Doja Cat faced backlash after old videos surfaced showing her using racist language and participating in online chatrooms linked to the alt-right; she later apologized and denied being part of any alt-right group.

She has said she plans to keep releasing new music and has expressed interest in acting and fashion design.

She has collaborated with the fashion brand PrettyLittleThing on a clothing line.

Doja Cat is signed to Kemosabe Records, an imprint under RCA and Sony Music Entertainment.

Her father, Dumisani Dlamini, is of Zulu heritage from Durban, South Africa; the two were estranged for much of her career but have since reconnected.