Doja Cat’s profession modified irrevocably after she shaved her head.

In early 2022, Doja Cat revealed in a sequence of posts on X (previously Twitter) that she was planning to stop the music business. The surprising announcement got here on the heels of an look in Paraguay, the place she reportedly uncared for to work together with followers following a pageant set. The unfavorable response triggered the artist to let her feelings out on-line. “Every little thing is useless to me, music is useless, and I’m a f***ing idiot for ever considering I used to be made for this this can be a f***ing nightmare,” she wrote within the since-deleted posts (by way of The Impartial).

Whereas showing on the Grammys just a few weeks later, she deflected questions on her on-line rant however nonetheless assured followers that she would proceed to carry out (and tour with The Weeknd). Nevertheless, she did double down on eager to take a break from the highlight following her efficiency commitments. “For many who are seeing me on the ‘After Hours’ tour, I’m not bailing,” she posted to X (by way of Billboard). “However me not bailing doesn’t imply my a** isn’t gonna disappear proper after.”

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By that summer season, Doja Cat had dropped out of The Weeknd’s huge summer season tour and different festivals, citing tonsil abscess surgical procedure, and followers and critics alike had been frightened in regards to the star — making her subsequent actions much more watched than ever.

In August 2022, Doja Cat took to Instagram Stay to share her subsequent dramatic transformation in actual time. She shaved her head for thousands and thousands of followers to see, adopted by shaving her eyebrows off. Her rationale behind the buzzy transfer was her lack of affection for her pure locks, inflicting her to put on wigs more often than not. “What’s using having hair when you’re not going to f***ing sporting it out?” she defined to her followers on Instagram Stay (by way of Folks). “There’s no level. I’ve by no means felt so f***ing comfortable, like … it’s very humorous how a lot of an impact taking my hair off my head has positively influenced me.”

Whereas some followers praised the star for taking cost of her appears on this means, many others criticized the singer, inflicting her to clap again in traditional Doja Cat style in a since-deleted put up to X. “I received a grammy and traveled the f***ing globe, I’ve had a No. 1 [single] and I went platinum,” she acknowledged within the put up (by way of Folks). “I make hit after hit after hit and also you all need me to look f***ing for you … Go f*** yourselves.” Some followers even in contrast her change in look to Britney Spears’ notorious head-shaving second, mirroring a psychological well being episode that followers had been cautious of additionally occurring to Doja Cat. “It’s so extremely disrespectful for individuals to be minimizing what Britney went by and make a joke out of one thing that was very critical and a giant deal in her life,” Doja Cat shared with Selection. “Each time I see a remark like that, I can’t compute what’s occurring, apart from it’s simply an terrible factor.”

Following her drastic transformation, Doja Cat started planning for a unique kind of album, one with a darker sound than her earlier information. She spoke with the press about making a extra “masculine” album and experimenting with totally different genres like punk, diving into territory removed from the rap-pop princess vibes she had been giving off since her single “Say So” skyrocketed to the highest of the charts in 2020. “I need to discover extra of a uncooked, unfiltered, hardcore punk type of factor,” she instructed Selection. “It’s simply one thing that I’m doing for my very own private enjoyable — getting some drummers and guitarists collectively.”

However even after explaining the actual that means behind her hit “Say So,” she seemed to increase her musical horizons into totally different genres and in addition double down on her unique fashion: rap. She shared that as she was planning her subsequent album, she was returning plenty of her focus to her rap roots. “I’ve rapped because the starting, and I actually couldn’t even sing that nicely to start with — I received so much higher,” she instructed Elle in 2022. “I exploit my voice as a instrument to create these worlds.” The entertainer reportedly researched the occult whereas writing the album, and even revealed some potential album names, together with “Hellmouth” and “First of All.” “I’m good at doing issues final minute,” she admitted to Enterprise Insider. “So I’ve been firing off random stuff and studying feedback and seeing how individuals obtain it after which, you understand, saying ‘no’ so much. ‘Simply kidding.’”

Whereas she was recording her subsequent album, she additionally mirrored on her previous work — a few of which she wasn’t too enamored with after releasing it. “‘Planet Her’ and ‘Sizzling Pink’ had been cash-grabs and y’all fell for it,” she shared to X in a since-deleted put up (by way of AV Membership). “Now I can go disappear someplace and contact grass with my family members on an island whereas y’all weep for mediocre pop.”

Whereas she has criticized the work of others, like when she had one thing to say about producer Dr. Luke, this isn’t the one time she criticized her personal work. She has additionally shared that previously, she caught to comparable kinds and sounds to observe what was fashionable on the time. After reaching success, she discovered that she may experiment extra along with her music, it doesn’t matter what it gave the impression of. “I really feel like I can take these components that I’ve from the music that sticks and put it into this soup of various genres that I actually love and revel in and respect, and make one thing new with it,” she instructed fellow rapper Jack Harlow in an interview for Current House.

By September 2023, Doja Cat had settled on a title for her extremely anticipated album and launched “Scarlet,” which boasted monster singles together with “Agora Hills” and “Paint the City Pink.” The latter marked a turning level within the entertainer’s profession, because it grew to become her first solo No. 1 Billboard Sizzling 100 single. On the time, “Paint the City Pink” was additionally the primary rap No. 1 in over a 12 months. Starting that fall and spanning by 2024, she headed out on a headlining tour supporting the album with fellow buzzed-about rappers Ice Spice and Doechii as her opening acts.

The hitmaker noticed this album as a chance to not solely increase her boundaries as an artist but in addition faucet again into what makes her the artist that she is. “I need to give tales and bops,” she shared with Harper’s Bazaar. “It’s a pleasant combination of each. I believe this mission is a very enjoyable canvas for me to play with my rap abilities and speak about what’s occurring in my life. However I’m not abandoning who I used to be and what I find out about pop and singing and that side of music.”

It wasn’t simply her personal albums that Doja Cat was writing hits for. She additionally joined forces with filmmaker Baz Luhrmann to put in writing a signature tune for his movie “Elvis,” starring Austin Butler. Her tune “Vegas” grew to become a calling card for the movie, serving as the primary single from the album. The observe drew inspiration from the traditional tune “Hound Canine,” which Elvis Presley famously coated in his heyday. She unveiled the tune throughout her Coachella efficiency in 2022, the place the director was available to witness the spectacle. He later wrote about Doja Cat’s affect when she was named to Time’s 100 Most Influential Folks of 2023: “She will be able to’t be boxed in,” he wrote for Time. “She’s the canvas on which she expresses a personality or an concept. There’s no ‘model’ to Doja Cat. You by no means know what she’s going to do subsequent, and that’s thrilling.”

Concurrently, different artists had been impressed by Doja Cat’s inventive power and wrote hit songs along with her in thoughts — and in title. A kind of was U.Okay. rapper Central Cee’s smash tune “Doja,” which landed on the No. 2 spot on the U.Okay. singles chart by 2023. The topic herself was initially planning to maintain quiet in regards to the observe, however later modified her thoughts upon listening to the lyricism. “I used to be going to be superior, I used to be going to be above it,” she admitted on an Instagram Stay (by way of The Line of Greatest Match). “I used to be going to rise above, however then I noticed that and it’s truly nice.”

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By 2025, Doja Cat was not solely getting ready a brand new album, however she was additionally combining her star energy with a number of different high-profile artists to launch a number of hits. In March 2025, she and Jack Harlow launched their extremely anticipated collaboration “Simply Us,” and the music video was much more star-studded. Cameos from the likes of John Mayer, Matt Damon, and PinkPantheress had been featured as Harlow and Doja Cat paraded by LA hotspot “Horses” with their flirty chemistry on full show. Followers had been thrilled to see the 2 get cute on digicam, particularly after Harlow admitted to having a crush on the rap songstress in an Instagram Stay just a few years prior.

Doja Cat additionally joined forces with highly effective feminine artists Lisa (of Blackpink) and Raye for the only “Born Once more” that very same 12 months. The tune, which includes a verse from every of the women, even received the MTV Video Music Award for Greatest Okay-pop of the 12 months. “Thanks to Doja Cat and RAYE for making ‘Born Once more’ such a particular tune,” Lisa gushed throughout the trio’s acceptance speech.

This flip in the direction of collaborations is a pivot for Doja Cat, who had beforehand expressed curiosity in transferring away from duets, or not less than being choosier about who she launched songs with. “I really feel like plenty of options are popping out,” she as soon as admitted to ExtraTV. “It appears like persons are simply getting on one another’s songs for the sake of getting them on one another’s songs. I need to be actually cautious about that.”

Even in the course of getting ready a brand new album in 2025, Doja Cat was capable of fulfill her followers’ need for brand new music when she surprise-dropped the only “Crack.” However the drop got here with a twist: the tune was solely accessible to obtain for twenty-four hours. The tune, which was clamored for by followers regardless of being dropped from 2023’s “Scarlet,” was a means for the artist to offer again to her followers. “It’s not the lead [single], I’m simply giving it to the individuals who requested for it,” she shared on X (by way of Rap-Up).

Whereas many followers had been disillusioned that the tune was not on “Scarlet,” it might stem from the truth that the singer’s emotions in regards to the album have shifted over time. In a 2025 interview with The New York Occasions, the “Paint the City Pink” rapper claimed that making and releasing the hit-making album was bizarrely just like a selected bodily operate. “To not diminish [the album], but it surely was a little bit of like, ‘I simply must get this out’ — it was a large fart for me,” she instructed The New York Occasions. “I believed fixing that might entail making music that was extra visceral … but it surely didn’t get me all the way in which there. So I need to return again to what I do know.”

As a lot as she is understood for her music-making, Doja Cat’s fashion-forward prowess grew to become a calling card for her by 2025. After making an look on the 2025 Met Gala, she revealed a partnership with designer Marc Jacobs, marking one other occasion the place we discovered what her profession was actually value. The duo teamed up for the summer season 2025 marketing campaign “Staycation,” which featured the songstress displaying off the legendary designer’s baggage and different fashions. “Being on trip isn’t about the place you go — it’s the way you present up,” she mentioned within the marketing campaign.

The marketing campaign was additionally a chance for Doja Cat to disclose a snippet of her new single “Jealous Kind,” which grew to become the lead single on her studio album “vie.” The tune, she says, was a chance to deal with extra of her singing potential. “I like to sing and I’ve simply been engaged on my voice and my instrument and I really feel like I can do much more issues that I may by no means do,” she shared with Zane Lowe. The tune ultimately made its solution to No. 3 on the Billboard Sizzling Dance/Pop Songs chart, setting the stage for a brand new period of Doja.

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With the discharge of her album “Vie” in fall 2025, Doja Cat returned to her signature pop sound with an ’80s synth twist. “​​It’s overtly horny and it turns into sort of foolish, which is likable and enjoyable,” she mentioned of the album to The New York Occasions. “I simply all the time need to preserve that sense of enjoyable, however I by no means need to be too goofy.” She additionally referred to as the album a continuation of earlier albums “Planet Her” and “Sizzling Pink” — albums she beforehand shunned publicly — permitting her to faucet again into what she does finest. “I’m doing what I used to be perfecting at first,” she instructed the outlet. “I’m doing what I do know I understand how to do.”

The album additionally noticed her crew up with R&B songstress SZA as soon as once more on the observe “Take Me Dancing.” The 2, who had beforehand received a Grammy Award for his or her single “Kiss Me Extra,” discovered magic once more on the observe, which was a last-minute addition to the album. “Sza is the siren of this century and my favourite voice,” Doja Cat gushed by way of X. Between the pop bops and the hit-making duets, the rapper-turned-singer turned true to kind for the following chapter of her profession.