Doja Cat has said people have “discredited” her as a rapper.
READ MORE: Doja Cat – ‘Planet Her’ review: controversial pop-rapper enters her imperial phase
The singer and rapper, who is nominated for five Grammys at this year’s awards on Sunday (February 5), said in a new interview that she’s not surprised about such opinions, given the fact that her biggest hits lean more heavily on singing.
Reflecting on her love of ‘Vegas‘, the Grammy-nominated song (Best Rap Performance) from the Elvis biopic and how it allowed her to return more to rapping, Doja told Variety: “That was one of the greatest experiences because everyone knows ‘Hound Dog’ [the Elvis Presley song from which it interpolates].
“But I was able to give it my own spin. I went in and I was like, ‘Finally, I get to rap again.’ A lot of people discredit me, so it’s nice to just put another one in the fucking bucket for a great rap song.”
Doja Cat. CREDIT: Getty
She added that she can’t blame casual hip-hop fans for regarding her as a dilettante. “I just got an award [from iHeartRadio] for a billion spins on the radio,” she told Variety, which is attributed to the popularity of her pop hits ‘Say So’, ‘Woman‘ and last year’s Grammy-winning ‘Kiss Me More‘.
“So with that alone, I’m constantly being shoved down people’s throats. I would be upset if I saw somebody who has kind of been fed to me as this pop-star girl with a fat ass making it to this level of rap icon, after I’ve only been watching them do disco shit and pop shit all the time,” she said.
Doja expanded on what her fourth album, the follow-up to 2021’s ‘Planet Her‘ that’s promised this year, will be. She told Variety that the next album will up the ante in both R&B and rap, with songs that aren’t necessarily geared for the Top 40.
On touring, the rapper said, “I don’t know,” but added, “I do want to make sure that everything I’m doing right now in terms of recording is solidified before I make any decisions. The baby hasn’t been born yet.”
Meanwhile, in the same interview, Doja hit back at comparisons that people have made of her to Britney Spears after Doja recently shaved her head.
The rapper said that the comparisons to Spears were harmful in light of what Spears was going through at the time.
In 2007, Spears shaved her head in a highly-publicised moment that was captured by photographers following the musician. A year later, she was admitted to hospital under a temporary psychiatric assessment ruling and placed under a controversial conservatorship that saw her father take control of all her personal affairs and finances.
“It’s so incredibly disrespectful for people to be minimising what Britney went through and make a joke out of something that was very serious and a big deal in her life,” Doja said.
“Every time I see a comment like that, I can’t compute what’s happening, other than it’s just an awful thing.”
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