From Say So to Super Bowl

My Doja Cat Confession

Time goes back to the start of covid in 2020.

We just returned home from our family trip to St. Lucia, and due to an immediate and mandatory lock down, my husband and I started to work-from-home and my daughter also started to have virtual school (she was 10 back then). It was scary time, as there were lots of unknown and uncertainties in all aspects (e.g. financials, work, academics, socials, the world etc…). I have a practice to keep my radio on at all times throughout the day (for an obvious reason) and as time went by, I started to notice that when a specific song came up on the radio, my daughter would start a choreographed dance move, all smiling and looking at me. It went like this:

“Day to night to morning, keep with me in the moment I’d let you had I known it, why don’t you say so?”

She would roll her fists backwards, curved her little body, knocked her head, and ended by pushing her hands towards the front like taking a picture of me with a camera.

I started to capture her short little dance and uploaded it as a post on my Facebook page whenever she started that dance. She also danced to another song that goes “I’m a savage, classy, bougie…”, but I like this one more (since it is much more melodic and has an actual hook to it) and so I skipped the other.

Time flew, and the year went on into fall and winter (Christmas). I was busy (as usual) and didn’t care much as she was not dancing to the song as frequent; however this fun, bubbly song is still on the radio, and whenever it comes up, I started to feel good and would sing along a little bit with it (Ooo… Aha, ah, aha aha ahaa…)

Then we continued into 2021. Covid didn’t end as everyone expected, and we entered into another major lockdown. Due to provincial boundaries, we also could not travel by land as we planned over Christmas since it required to cross the border. Beer cans and bottles started to fly around in our household; and of course March break was also cancelled (and moved to April instead).

I dropped out of the music industry for long, but recalled that one of my best moments during that era of my time was attending the MTV Asia Awards in Singapore (was working on a Missy Elliott release) and so all of a sudden I decided to watch a music award show (have still been watching all along the years). It’s March, and I figured that the Grammys should be around this time and checked the broadcasting schedule to watch it live on television.

And that night, I experienced something that I didn’t have for a looooooong time.

As I was casually watching, there was this absolutely outstanding performance from an artist, who dressed like a gynoid with her robotic dancers in complete black shiny and sexy attire, and sang/danced the shit out (I could see her moves were flawless and experienced, with extended years of practicing and training if not natural born). The song sounded very familiar, and the music mix and arrangements were extraordinarily well done (for a live television broadcast). She gave her everything, and obviously enjoyed every beat of it (very passionate, which resonates to the viewers).

When that electrifying performance ended, the spotlight went on to the artist face. She looked fierce, satisfied, content and very professionally refined. In a split of a second, I thought she was Kylie Minogue (but then immediately realized that she shouldn’t be). For this level of performance and live execution during covid, that was a wow x 10. The live audience at the Grammys agreed, and the broadcast wrapped up with lots of yeahs and woos and unstoppable claps then cut into commercials.

I suddenly felt a chill through my entire body from head to toe.

I started to get curious about who that was. I was blown away by this person’s entire performance package at the Grammys. During time gaps throughout my following days, I started to google and figured that this person is called Doja Cat (as a stage name), and although her vocals and moves are so precise and elevated, she is only 25 (as of publishing time). Doja Cat’s Grammys performance was created with solid traditional values, but with a cutting edge theme and implementation. I also figured that the song was indeed a Grammys remix with an exotic spin of the same song that I have been humming along throughout my covid time and is still on the radio. It is called Say So.

From then on, I started my fascinating online backwards journey of Doja Cat.

While still in awe of her Grammys performance (never mind the win or not, really), I found an older live performance (which in fact was only 5 months prior) of Doja and that was the Billboard Music Awards. I was, stunned, after watching it. She was the same mysterious girl from the Grammys, but this time looking sweet and in proper broadway style and attire with a medley of her best hits called Juicy/Say So/Like That all blended smoothly together and again flawlessly executed, with another customized special stage remix and this time with elegant string arrangements for her performance that evening. I somehow recognized a couple of verses too (probably from Juicy), and immediately fell in love with this medley mix. I love the music arrangements so much that, I started to loop it on YouTube almost everyday.

Sometimes one can do it once, but Doja has done it twice (at least for me at this point). I asked myself — how on earth can she pull this off, with all these musical, costume, creative and arrangement details? During covid? With her entire team? The wow effect went on with a certain level of doubt (because I knew how strained it could be at times), however this led me on to the making of the BBMA behind the scenes video. With this, I finally realized how serious this girl is taking her music career (not just finding a job) as, not a singer nor an artist, but as an elevated live performer, pushing herself very hard to become a star.

It’s now around early April 2021, and my family started to notice that I kept listening to this person called Doja Cat. I came across Doja’s raging pop-locking dance battle videos teaming up with her boys during high school time. I went speechless; as a teen girl at around 15/16, you need to have massive confidence and a very strong will to compete in order to stand eye to eye with those guys. And in one particular dance move, she even wanted to f them back. WOW. She wanted to win with her team.

My daughter started to ask me play Streets and sometimes Candy (apparently she has listened to her music already before). During this time, there was a new (finally not an old clip anymore!) performance of Doja, and this round for an online platform called Triller.

I was astounded.

At 25, her showmanship can be this suggestive yet classy but like the untouchables. She did it once again, and this time an impeccably sensuous and seductive burlesque. The medley was Rules/Streets plus a new song (that’s super!) called Kiss Me More. I recognized Paul Anka’s Put Your Head on My Shoulder during the transition of Rules and Streets, and the entire performance package was fierce, intense and alluring. In coeval popular music world, I do not see any female artist/singer who can pull this one off like Doja across all aspects. No one is even close. I was/am impressed.

By now I became aware of how much I was playing catch up on Doja Cat (only under music terms still). The ‘new’ song was actually not so new (in digital speed) as it was already 2 weeks old. That being said, the radio station is STILL playing Say So, and of course now I recognized Kiss Me More too. I searched for the video and it was so sweet and pleasant and lovable, in peach color and a flowy feel with Sza. The lyrics of Kiss Me More touches my heart (especially verse 1, and I love it when the station plays it every 2 hours on certain days); my husband started to like the song too. When it comes up through the radio waves and if we are together (either having a meal or doing something and not working), we will start to goof around and look into each others’ eyes and say/sing “Can you kiss me more?”, and we will have a small kiss (we are still doing it) :>

Still in April 2021, it’s my second covid birthday at the end of the month. Other than a cozy celebration meal with my immediate family (still in lockdown so we Zoomed), I decided to loop back and bought Doja’s old (but new for me) album Hot Pink in vinyl as my birthday present, since most of the songs that my ears engaged with so far, stayed. I have a turntable that hooked up with my long time Sonus Faber system (full frequency range), therefore I decided to travel all the way downtown to immediately pick up a hard copy with artwork and stuff (in stock but ended up not much artwork…), instead of waiting for Amazon’s very fast digital (or vinyl) delivery.

To my surprise, the vinyl itself is in solid neon pink (which is cool), just like in the old school days in transparent neon green, yellow and purple around the 80s. I had high expectation to this album, and was anticipating a 7/8 out of 10 from it. I lifted the tonearm and carefully dropped the stylus onto the grooves.

After listening to the entire album (it was short), I was dazed - my magical ears gave Hot Pink a rating of 20/10. It is solid. My heart loves every bit of it, and the energy. It is soulfully and emotionally supercharged.

I was blown away (just like Joe Carter hit that massive home-run to win the world series). If I were still a promo exec, I could plug this entire album every single song as a whole package for 3/4 years (which turned out to be almost the case as I learnt now). Every single note is polished and beat sensitive, juiced up, sonically and harmonically refined, lyrically street smart/fun and to the point, organic - short and sweet. It’s playful yet heavy, and each song has it’s own unique sound and style, moment and elements. And yes I read it correctly, that Doja Cat wrote and produced everything on Hot Pink herself (with a long time producer called Yeti Beats) and what? She actually started to do some online tracks and mixtapes by herself in her bedroom when she was around 15/16 years old (which I myself did something similar but older at around 19/20). Am I ready for more? That Doja indeed had a massive online hit on Soundcloud called So High when she was 17.

Since I worked briefly at a professional recording studio before as an audio engineering assistant in the early days (which I also graduated from) prior to do promo work, my new guilty pleasure became - blasting Doja’s Hot Pink really, really loud with my Sonus Faber while my family members go out for a walk and I am home, cooking for supper after work. I found myself lost in Doja Cat’s Hot Pink.

Then I came across Mooo! (and how big and viral it went), and all her old songs on SoundCloud. Her older songs are mostly sensual, calm, sweet and chill, sometimes antic, and at times feeling a bit sad and desolate. I drowned into Doja Cat’s complete deranged musical world.

Thanks to the overwhelming amount of internet information, I began to learn about Doja Cat more as a person instead of solely as a rapper/performer. And the more I stumbled upon, the more I find Doja extremely motivating and inspiring (even though I am almost doubling her age).

What I appreciate the most Doja, is that you can turn potentially extremely dark/broken/upsetting situation into huge positive experiences/opportunities for yourself.

For example, as a mixie (in which my daughter is also) growing up could have been stressful and frustrating; growing up without daddy’s presence could have been extra unsettling and dismayed; and growing up in an ashram and then back to normal world could have been devastating. And in terms of business, cancelling Hot Pink tour due to covid certainly was the biggest blow.

But thanks to your mom, I am sure she showers you with all her love and care, that none of the above actually bothers you deep deep down but in reverse, you made the best out of them all (hence the drive and power). Instead of pausing off all the preparations for your tour, all the extra work that you now did to your marathon of live performances from the VMA to BBMA to EMA to AMA to Jingle Balls to Dick Clark’s Countdown to Grammys to Billboard again and to the most recent iHeart - turned monumental, and it is [revenge for saying “she off her fish” isn’t it]… Your mom probably was never aware of cultivating a mighty little Doja too, who would take over the world of music in every corner and curve on earth from Planet Her, soon.

Of course everything has the bright side, and the dark side. When So High did not take off as expected after signing a label, there were probably some hiccups that might have contributed to the slow down and got lost. You might have also learnt more than a couple of things when you were almost being completely cancelled online (ar-hum). But since you know you got all the needed assets/elements and was/is determined, you did not give up and kept going and did it your way. You did whatever you can, and were able to push and cut through the noise (I know really, it’s hard) and slowly bounce back.

I especially love the story of good girl gone bad, then back to good in a curve ball situation - that Doja is now sober and spear headed for her next best thing. I also feel very good that you have a few devoted and trusted long time workmates - they are like your family which is a blessing and should be treasured (especially Lydia). Live life to the fullest Doja, and don’t forget to form a simple loving family yourself later in the future with little Dojis and Dojas to finally enjoy it in harmony.

I can continue to write another five thousand words, but I will shorten it by mentioning some of my favorite WTF moments and elements:

• Your endless live power, energy and hardcore work ethic with your team
• The photo that you were getting your hair done while eating crab legs
• Your split at 2:31 of Like That official video
• Your vocals in In Your Eyes
• When you game the reporter/vlogger “Shut up! You look ugly!” smiling from the SUV
• The fun session that you played to identify whether the audio clip was giving birth or having a high time (I need this article to be published…) in one of your radio interviews
• Your overall unapologetic and expressive lyrics, especially on fantasies
• Your goofy personality that take things both serious and easy
• Your long and short Instagram lives
• All the Pretty Little Thing images
• Your normal and non-understandable trash texts after midnights
• Your direct-to-consumer self web marketing/DIY social management, especially when you didn’t have any budget to do anything back in the days (trust me I understood) and during crisis
• Your unfiltered and comical reactions during your Cosmo naked man painting interview
• Your massive creativity and versatility in freestyle music, vocals and visuals
• Your packed club show in London UK and the last show that you had in Arizona
• Your image in Del Mar
• All those harmonized a cappellas
• Your genuine and organic reaction when you won your first moonman in disbelieve, and your proud fists up moment after winning your first AMA

If you read until here, you must also be a fan of Doja (I am just a bit older), or herself. To celebrate the launch of Planet Her, I am publishing this article on the release date eve of her album. Of course now I do not have priority access to any unreleased materials anymore and write reviews right away or do promos, but with the current artwork and sound that Doja posted on her social accounts, I am very happy to see the change from Doja Cat-17 to now Doja Cat-25, and am excited to see how things play out in her future versions. Her evolution in all aspects are meteorically towering.

Lastly, to everyone whether you like Doja Cat or not - I am honestly observing an indescribable and inconceivable one in a trillion mix of Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Beyonce right here right now in her very own way all fuse together, who can be anything like an amoeba and sings in one soul in a killer combo with genuine raw talent. Her name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini. I am sincerely thankful to exist in Amala’s era while she is at her prime (just like the Beatles, David Bowie and Britney Spears) so that I can have the chance to be showered by her goofiness and imagination, and her wild and extreme musical/visual/live creations with commercial success.

Doja rekindles my love for popular music, and a music icon should be like Doja.

With this, let’s celebrate Amala’s creativity by giving her the respect, credit, and space that is required through positivity all along the way (Amy Winehouse, Chester Bennington, Karen Carpenter), and treasure Doja Cat’s lyrical blessings wisely with human care, humor, senses and hearts.

See you at the stadium, Doja.

June 24, 2021/ Markham, Ontario

PS - the radio station is called KiSS92.5, and my all time anytime Doja Cat favorite among all favorites is Like That (maybe Come?) pre Planet Her. I checked out all the short 6 seconds snippets, and I like all the beats so far.

I am a label promotion executive alumni in my mid-40s, who is currently raising a 12-year-old girl. Growing up with my father and uncle who used to work at the labels’ sales department (selling vinyls, CDs and DVDs back then), we have magical ears that can identify smash hits (from pre-launched materials to albums and singles) usually within 30 seconds to a minute of listening into a song (sometimes with chords and lyrics only) at a commercial level to understand the vibe/energy plus radio alignment/marketing effort in order to predict/forecast the number of sales units that can move for orders and manufacturing.

Be Open Says;