Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, known professionally as Doja Cat, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer whose path from meme rapper to Time-100 pop titan happened at internet speed. She was born on October 21, 1995, in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Deborah Sawyer, is a Jewish-American graphic designer, and her father, Dumisani Dlamini, is a South African Zulu performer best known for the musical Sarafina!.(Wikipedia)
Doja Cat grew up in a creative but sometimes fragmented environment, spending time in both Los Angeles and an ashram-like community in the Santa Monica Mountains where she practiced dance and performance. As a teenager she started uploading songs to SoundCloud from her bedroom. One early track caught attention from label scouts, and at 17 she signed with Kemosabe and RCA Records, releasing her debut EP Purrr! in 2014.(Wikipedia)
Her mainstream breakthrough, however, came from the deliberately absurd 2018 viral song “Mooo!”, whose low-budget cow-costume video turned her into an online cult figure. She capitalized on the attention with the album Hot Pink (2019), blending pop, R&B, and rap. The single “Say So”—boosted by a TikTok dance trend and a Nicki Minaj remix—hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and established her as a top-tier pop-rap crossover act.(Wikipedia)
With Planet Her (2021), she leaned into sleek, futuristic pop and became a festival and award-show fixture. The single “Kiss Me More” with SZA won the 2022 Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Time named her one of the world’s most influential people in 2023, citing her genre fluidity, online savvy, and striking live performances.(Wikipedia)
In 2023 she pivoted into a darker, more rap-heavy sound on Scarlet, then swung back toward pop with her fifth album Vie, announced and released in 2025. Vie—described as more “pop-driven” and featuring R&B, funk, and new jack swing elements—debuted in the top ten of the Billboard 200 and set up the 2026 “Tour Ma Vie” world tour, with dates across nearly every continent.(Wikipedia)
Doja Cat’s career has been marked by constant reinvention, sometimes courting controversy with provocative social-media posts and edgy visuals, but always returning to the music with tightly crafted hooks and a commanding stage presence. In the U.S. pop landscape, she sits at the intersection of meme culture, rap credibility, and high-fashion spectacle—one of the defining pop-rap stars of her era.