Doja Cat is officially entering her emcee era.
Over the weekend, the Grammy-winning performer took to Twitter to tease possible track titles from her upcoming fourth album, “Hellmouth.” She posted a screenshot of the song files with titles “Wet,” “Balut” and “Agora Hills.” She later added that the album will have “10 tracks total +5 extras.”
Yet it was her candid exchange with fans in a series of tweets throughout Saturday where she revealed even more about her aspirations on “Hellmouth.”
When one fan asked her what genre the album would be, Doja Cat declared “rap only.” Later that day, she tweeted another bold pledge: “No more pop.” Fans and followers of the pop star had strong reactions to her announcement, from , one bawling “NOOOOOOO QUEEN” and to another welcoming her with a new crown as “a rap icon.”
Since the release of her first studio album, “Amala,” in 2018, Doja Cat has incorporated rap into her music. Some fans remembered and welcomed Doja’s announcement with “RAPMALA IS BACKKKK,” a play on her name, Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini. One fan posted a clip of the music video for her 2019 single “Rules,” in which Doja fires off staccato bars that had some critics drawing comparisons to Kendrick Lamar’s flow.
Even so, Doja Cat became a household name in 2021 with two pop singles, “Woman,” which nabbed nominations for top honors at the 2023 Grammys, and “Kiss Me More,” featuring SZA. That song earned the pop duo/group performance award in 2023, Doja Cat’s first Grammy.
After dropping her artistic pivot, Doja Cat acknowledged on Twitter how her rap verses in previous songs weren’t top-tier. But with her new music, she promised to silence any haters.
“i also agree with everyone who said the majority of my rap verses are mid and corny. I know they are,” she wrote in a follow-up tweet. “I wasnt trying to prove anything I just enjoy making music but I’m getting tired of hearing yall say that i can’t [rap] so I will.”
Doja Cat continued, explaining that it wasn’t just the haters that motivated her to rap on the new album: “pop isnt exciting to me anymore. I dont wanna make it.”
On Sunday, in typical Doja fashion, she followed up her string of earnest tweets by trolling her fans, joking that she changed the title to her album and that it would no longer be rap but instead “rock/spoken word” and “a french conceptual experimental country/bohemian fusion with the essence of blue-grass.”
She continued the gag, declaring, “jk i quit im done with this music s— its only making me sadder every day. i cant take it anymore.”
But Doja Cat quickly assured her fans that she would make good on her earlier emcee promises, “jp [just playing] ima finish this album yall dont worry.”