“Doja Cat is an artist that values uniqueness, something that is apparent through her music, the features she chooses, and her personal style.”
Doja Cat’s third studio album, Planet Her, aims to be an other worldly experience for listeners, going beyond the generic idea of pop, rap, or R&B. Planet Her has taken months of creative planning and was first referenced during Doja’s performance at the 2020 MTV Music Awards. Doja is seen performing on seemingly another planet, a full moon bright and present behind her with her backup dancers dressed in alien costumes that fuel the extraterrestrial aesthetic. The official beginning of Planet Her was on June 11, 2021, with the release of the “Need to Know” music video. Doja Cat introduces fans to a sci-fi world, complete with spaceships and alien makeup, that sets the stage for the album.
The album itself is primarily a mix of pop, R&B, and hip-hop, yet Doja manages to elevate every song. The song “Woman” is amongst one of the most popular songs on the album and is a great example of the way Doja’s flow, backing vocals, and layering of sounds amplifies her work tenfold and make for a good album. Doja Cat has both rapping and singing abilities that are showcased in her music, but often faced with much criticism. Doja has acknowledged these criticisms before, most recently in an interview with Apple Music. She speaks on how she’s come to understand the importance of rap culture and its authenticity. She specifically uses the song “Options feat. JID" on Planet Her to demonstrate how she wants to use her platform to spotlight great rappers, like JID, and contribute to their growth and bring more appreciation to different styles of rap.
Doja Cat is an artist that values uniqueness, something that is apparent through her music, the features she chooses, and her personal style. The versatility she holds as an artist and in her music allows her the creative freedom she needs to move between genres easily. Planet Her is stacked full of music that could fit a majority of listeners’ tastes, but the entirety of it, the visual, the sound, the music videos, the live performances, continues to have an out-of-the-box feel that not many artists are capable of. She’s weird but she owns it and it works in her favor.
The way she embraces her uniqueness is what draws her fans to her. Her relationship with them has cemented her space on one of the most lucrative social media platforms today: TikTok. Doja’s songs are among the most popular sounds on the app, accumulating millions of views gathered primarily through different trends. The ‘sparkle sound’ in “Kiss Me More feat. SZA" dominated the app even months after the release of the single. Doja Cat holds a space in the music world that is as unique as her art. No other artist is doing what she does or has a hold on an app like TikTok. Overall, Planet Her delivers on its otherworldly promise but so much of its success is due to how unique of an artist Doja Cat is.
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