Cat’s Out the Bag– Doja Cat’s Canceled.

Photo courtesy: Google

The music industry has never been without conflict, whether in verbal warfare between beefing artists or controversy surrounding provocative song lyrics. As of September 2023, at the centerpiece of this constant battle arena stands one person, Doja Cat.

Doja Cat is a hip-hop artist who has risen to fame as one of the most prominent female rappers of the generation, as shown by the domination of her Billboard Top 100 hits “Say So” and “Kiss Me More”. She’s regarded as one of the more successful cases of a rapper ascending into the pop sphere, which can be attributed to her bubbly, danceable characteristic in her singles. Her versatility in singing and rapping helped her reach superstar status, and it didn’t seem like she was going anywhere.

However, her booming status and reputation in the music industry began to change when Doja Cat shaved her hair and eyebrows, which she said was purely a “stylistic choice”. However, many of her (primarily male) fans were quick to attack her, commenting how she wasn’t attractive to them anymore, and how her weight loss contributed to it. After the criticism, Doja Cat started showing drastic changes in both her fashion decisions and demeanor. It was evident that she was actively trying to shed her past image, attempting to completely rebrand herself. Her famous Met Gala 2023 outfit was one of her most notable attempts, as she dressed to resemble fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld’s cat.

Being able to move on from your past is a great ability. But moving on doesn’t entail hating your past and pretending like it never existed. In May 2023, Doja Cat took to Twitter and claimed that “Planet Her and Hot Pink were cash-grabs and yall fell for it. Now I can go disappear somewhere and touch grass with my loved ones on an island while yall weep for mediocre pop.” Fans were shocked by this sudden declaration and saw several issues with this, rightfully so.

Firstly, blatantly degrading the fans responsible for your career is obviously wrong. When you’re an artist with a devoted fanbase, the last thing you want to do is to tell them to “weep” and “touch grass”.

The second issue lies in her hatred of her past works. An artist feeling embarrassed or disliking their past projects isn’t anything new. Some feel that they have moved on from the era, and others feel that their artistic creativity was limited due to label pressure. These are all valid reasons that simply show a development of character. But to say that you never liked the albums to begin with is different. Saying that the projects were only “cash-grabs” and that you pretended for the sake of money is sure to spark outrage in fans, which it did.

When she released her single “Attention” taken from her latest album “Scarlet”, it received mixed reactions. The lyrics heavily revolved around her issues with fame and her audience. The song complained about her haters and how they only wanted to witness her downfall for entertainment (not unlike a certain toxic gossip train). She then took to Twitter again to berate her fans for using the fanbase name “kittenz” in their usernames. A fanbase name that happened to be chosen in a poll set up by Doja Cat herself.

Wanting to change genres and artistic identity isn’t a bad thing in itself, but it doesn’t mean that you should neglect and insult fans of your past. It also doesn’t mean that you can trash your former hit songs, only to release much more mediocre songs. Doja Cat’s actions have escalated too far for her fanbase to defend, and it’s safe to say that we may be witnessing one of the biggest artist downfalls of this generation.