Doja Cat
Amala Dlamini, professionally known as Doja Cat, is a Los Angeles rapper, singer, and songwriter who built a cult SoundCloud following before breaking through with 2019's Hot Pink. Dubbed the “Queen of Pop-Rap,” she moves fluidly between rapping, singing, and an internet-native comic persona, turning viral moments into some of the era's biggest pop hits.
Doja's brassy, cartoon-voiced flow-switching and thirst-trap comic timing pick up where Minaj's alter-ego theatrics left off — wordplay-heavy verses, pitched-up ad-libs, and hooks that flip from rapped to sung without warning.
listen forCue up Minaj's 'Super Bass' next to Doja's 'Boss Bitch' — listen for the same rapid-fire cadence shifts and the boastful, sing-songy hook that turns technical rapping into pure pop candy.
Missy's playful, futuristic sense of groove and total commitment to a strange idea show up in Doja's love of hooky, off-kilter beats and larger-than-life comic performance.
listen forPut on Missy's 'Get Ur Freak On' right before Doja's 'Freak' — listen for the same appetite for a strange, insistent beat and a vocal that treats rapping and singing as interchangeable.
The unhurried, neo-soul phrasing Doja has said she grew up on via her mother's record collection surfaces in her more laid-back, groove-first R&B songs, where the cadence relaxes into a sung, conversational pocket.
listen forPlay Badu's 'On & On' alongside Doja's 'Rules' — listen for the same loose-limbed, behind-the-beat phrasing riding a hypnotic, mid-tempo groove.