Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat (DOH-jə), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Pop-Rap", she is known for her musical versatility, live performing skills and humorous internet presence. Billboard named her "one of the world's biggest pop stars" and "one of the defining pop stars of this era", and Time listed her as one of the world's most influential people in 2023.
Doja Cat first gained attention in 2012 with her song "So High", which was released on SoundCloud and caught the attention of Kemosabe and RCA Records. After signing a recording contract, she released her debut extended play, Purrr! (2014), followed by her debut studio album, Amala (2018), which featured her viral single "Mooo!". Her second studio album, Hot Pink (2019), spawned the single "Say So", which became her first to top the US Billboard Hot 100. Her third studio album, Planet Her (2021), produced a string of top-ten hits, including "Kiss Me More", "Need to Know", and "Woman", and won her a Grammy Award. Her fourth studio album, Scarlet (2023), adopted a hip-hop-oriented sound and was led by her second US number-one single, "Paint the Town Red", while her fifth album, Vie (2025), marked a return to her pop roots.
Doja Cat is one of the best-selling female rappers of all time, with over 34 million records sold between 2018 and 2022. In 2024, Billboard ranked her as the 24th top woman artist and 2nd female rapper of the 21st century—five years after her first charted record (2019). Since 2020, she has won hundreds of accolades, including a Grammy Award from 19 nominations, six Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards, six MTV Video Music Awards and eight iHeartRadio Music Awards.
