Doja Cat Is Not Only A Rapper, She’s The Next Drake (Article)

What up one & all. Sky Bento here on the check in. Big Bento Energy is most definitely in total effect. Hope you and yours are drinking your water, protecting your mental health, knowing the vibes and what have you.

Now, usually I don’t do the clickbait title thing… but I have a serious case to make here. There has been an awful lot of talk as of late about whether or not Doja Cat should actually be considered a rapper. If you’ve read the title, you know where I’m going with this. Doja Cat is definitely a rapper. She has quickly positioned herself to be the next queen of rap, and this queen is actually very likely to surpass the king. If you’ve read my last article about the “Unsung Heroes of the 2010’s” (or seen that Rap Caviar Mt. Rushmore) you’ll know that Nicki Minaj, despite all of her accomplishments has evaded the big three conversation. But despite that she is easily one of the most influential MC’s of the past decade, and to find proof look no further than Doja Cat.

Doja has already set herself up to prosper in places that Nicki has floundered. For instance, Nicki very much embodied the typical rapper persona in all of its bravado. This same unwavering belief in herself turned off a lot of people, who weren’t ready to accept a Black woman speaking up for herself (but that’s a whole nother story). The point is, Nicki was so “hip-hop” it was off-putting for mainstream culture. Then she went crossed over and alienated her initial audience. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. But Doja has never had this problem. She came into the game as a quirky light-skinned girl with pop sensibilities. Never one to take herself too serious, she catapulted herself to stardom with the tongue-in-cheek “Mooo!”. Even on these meme of a record, she showed her musicality with 90’s girl group level harmonies in her background vocals, and even showed her rapping ass on the last verse all while keeping her signature irreverence on full display. On the album that followed - 2019’s Hot Pink - she expanded her sound with a retro revival aesthetic giving us records like “Like That (feat. Gucci Mane)” and of course her viral hit “Say So” (which even featured the Queen herself on its remix). This trend of “going pop” continued with her latest album Planet Her heading even further in this direction with records like “Kiss Me More (feat. SZA)” and the spacey pop ballad “You Right (with The Weeknd)”. This has led to the entire debate going on right now about whether or not she is a rapper. Remy Ma (who spearheaded the conversation on an episode of Drink Champs) herself even said she meant it as a compliment when she said she’s not a rapper. Her music has simply reached new heights by embracing more mainstream pop sounds, and by even shifting what mainstream pop sounds like by revitalizing disco for a new era.

If you’ve listened to any of Doja Cat’s music, it’s pretty clear that Doja Cat is absolutely a rapper. The line gets blurry when you consider the factthat she’s also a singer and producer and also that that pretty much every major artist attempts to rap from time to time. She’s just a full artist and with hip-hop’s foundation of sampling and blending styles, it doesn’t take away from her ability to rap. but Doja has proven herself plenty capable from the nimble flows she exercises on pop hits like the aforementioned “Say So” to the playful Carti/Uzi stylings of “Get Into It (Yuh)”. Just as Nicki adopted pink wigs and outlandishly bright and colorful outfits, Doja puts every “weird” part of her personality on full display through her artistry. She presents herself as a popstar with outlandish aesthetics and ideas but makes easily digestible music that transcends genre whether she is rapping or singing at any given moment. This is where you begin to see where Doja can surpass (and is already more exciting than) Drake. Drake became big as a rapper by combining it with spacey trap-flavored R&B soundscapes and catchy pop-like melodies. Later Drake dove into worldly music in the legendary Summer 16 and became who we now know to be the biggest music star on the planet. Dance floors couldn’t get enough of “One Dance” & “Controlla” similar to how Tik Tok & radio can’t get enough of Doja’s disco fever. Doja even injected her music with a similar Caribbean flavor with the Planet Her intro “Woman”. He may have balanced his genres out but due to his reliance on melody and penchant for emotional vulnerability, Drake was heavily critiqued early on for not being the stereotypical rapper. They said he wasn’t hip-hop. Sound familiar? And when you see a song says featuring Doja Cat, what do you usually get? A rap verse, with some melodies woven into it. Also, notice how all them Doja Cat feature videos I tagged have the Doja verse as the “most replayed” part on YouTube.

If you need more convincing that we’re living through the Doja Cat era, think about Tik Tok itself. Doja Cat is to Tik Tok what Drake is and has been to Instagram & Twitter for the past decade. Whereas Drake’s brand centers on the kind of introspection and self-assuredness that litters the captions of our timelines, Doja Cat’s brand revolves around lighthearted fun, just like Tik Tok (you know, the leading social media platform for a new generation). The kicker is that it’s not just that Doja doesn’t simply make music for Tik Tok and let it do what it does. Sure, Doja’s disco revival records will always have a home on the platform due in part to Doja’s mega-popstar level talent and easily danceable beats. But Doja Cat herself also makes TikToks and uses the platform to showcase more of her quirky personality, making fans feel closer to the artist in ways that Drake’s autobiographical lyrics felt like they did in his early years. Doja Cat has shown herself to be so much more than a rapper that it’s been hard for some to even consider her as one despite her clear cut roots. There’s a hint of pop stars like Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande, but there’s also an awful lot of Drake & Nicki Minaj in her DNA; more than anybody would care to admit. Wale recently claimed on Twitter that Doja Cat is “one of the best rappers out, male or female, alien or otherwise” and anybody who considers themselves a student of the craft could agree. But why is she not included on lists like Bdot’s best rappers of 2022 list? Is this misogyny excluding us from viewing her as a top tier MC, like Nicki before her? Or have we simply not seen Doja’s full potential as a rapper? She herself has cried out for her respect as a rapper, so maybe she’s gearing up to actually show us fully what she’s capable. One thing is for sure. From her pure songwriting ability and the bits and pieces we’ve gotten of Doja Cat rapping her ass off, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Doja left Earth on her next project with more of a focus on rap.

We’ve all been curious to see who could possibly take Drake’s place were his reign at the top to end. But I feel we’ve been looking in all of the wrong places. I’m going to stake my claim right now. Doja Cat is going to be the next Drake in the sense that she’ll be the number one artist in music, BECAUSE hip-hop is the number one genre and she is a rapper. I see this coming very soon. She’s already surpassed Drake in monthly listeners on Spotify and is leading the pack in award show nominations left and right. Everything about her is attention grabbing, and that is where the entertainment industry currently stands. Her music is easily digestible and already influential (Megan Thee Stallion and Latto have proven to be taking notes). Your grandmother likely already knows who Doja Cat is and with the global pandemic blowing Tik Tok up like it has, she is really the only artist who felt unaffected. The only thing missing is the undying support of hip-hop. Remy Ma said herself that Doja Cat has transcended hip-hop, that she’s more than a rapper but in saying this it’s like we forget how popular and influential rappers are. Doja began singing as an after thought - she started as a rapper and branched out like most of our greats (Andre 3000, Drake, Kanye West, etc.). I feel like I currently hear more of Doja’s sound on the radio than Drake, whether its her own music or something reminiscent of it. Whether or not Doja Cat dethrones Drake’s run remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure.

Doja Cat is going to absolutely run the 2020’s.