(hip-hop music)
- Hey, guys. It's Doja Cat here.
I can't believe it's only been months into 2021
'cause I feel like I've gotten so much more done.
I've done the Grammys, which was amazing, a huge highlight,
probably the biggest highlight.
It was the first show that I felt emotionally attached to
at the end of the show.
I've never cried after a show, so that was one fun fact.
Working with SZA on "Kiss Me More" was incredible.
It was fun to see my vision come to life.
And even better, I feel like the styling
and everything just went really well.
It was really fun to be an alien for a day.
So that was something pretty significant.
"34+35" with Ariana Grande and Meg Thee Stallion,
and that was life-changing.
And "Best Friend" with Saweetie,
which was incredible as well.
It was just nice to work with people.
And I really thought that I wasn't gonna be able
to work with anybody before COVID.
And yeah, it's just, it's great.
I've just been doing a ton.
My creative vision when it comes to music videos:
a lot of what I do is straight from my brain or my mouth.
So I like to write a treatment
and then send it off to people
and then have them revise
or put their own spin on something.
But I usually start with whatever's happening in my head.
When it came to coming up with ideas for videos,
I would write all of my treatments on the plane
and nowhere else.
Something about the clouds and being stuck in the sky
and looking at the sky at such a close range
is one of the most surreal feelings of all time.
I would come up with stuff pretty easily,
just looking at the nothingness of the sky
or space or the clouds.
It's very, very inspiring.
But now it's more like, well, obviously, I have no choice.
I'm stuck here.
So I've been writing them just fine, pretty much, at home.
And I like to usually just listen
to the song as I'm writing.
I've had a lot of different influences in my life as a kid.
My mom is a painter,
and she loves to design things, like clothing.
She's just very aesthetically knowledgeable.
And then my grandma's a painter, and she's incredible.
That's all she did for a very long time.
And I've just been around a lot of different people,
like Alice Coltrane.
When I grew up on an ashram,
she was the swami of the ashram,
and we would sing bhajans with her.
And she was musical, she's obviously a musical legend,
and I hope to God any of that rubbed off on me.
So I just...
It's amazing.
I feel very fortunate that I had
the women in my life that I've had.
I would listen to Amy Winehouse all the time as a kid.
That was one of the first albums my mom bought me.
Yeah, and I would just look at her on the cover of the album
and just be like, "I wanna do that."
And I did the rounded,
big rounded cat eye every day for years.
When it comes to clothing and makeup,
that's something that I do when I'm not even working.
I like to literally just sit on the floor
and do my makeup when I have a day off.
It's one of the things that make me happiest.
I remember when I was, like, eight years old,
I found my mom's makeup bag for the first time.
And I had a friend over,
and I think I thought I could do her makeup.
So I slapped on some blue eyeshadow.
Feel like every mom has one blue eyeshadow
that you should never touch.
And I did just that.
And I found her red lipstick.
And I think I did both of the same makeup looks
on me and her.
And yeah, it was a hot mess,
but it was probably pretty cute.
If I could describe "Planet Her" in three words,
I would probably say,
"It's for girls." (laughs)
I definitely think that I get categorized
in a lot of different ways.
So people will be like, "Oh no, you're a pop girl."
"No, you're a rap girl."
"No, you're a pop girl."
I feel like this project is that.
It's gonna be more rap oriented.
Being MTV's Push Artist,
it feels like people are listening,
and they enjoy what I'm doing.
And I feel like that was a worry of mine from the beginning.
I'm kind of still learning what I can do
and getting better at it every day.
So to see people recognize that is beautiful.
And I feel like that's what that means.
For any newer artists
who are doing well in the scene,
I would tell them, don't overthink it.
Stay hydrated and (laughs) believe in yourself.
I feel like I used to overthink a lot, for sure.
I think right in the beginning I was,
but now I feel more comfortable 'cause I have a system
in which I write and sing.
I feel like back then when I was touring,
I didn't have songs that I thought about
as far as having it be a live performance song.
I feel like a lot of songs are very mellow
that I've made in the past
or aren't as developed or evolved.
And I feel like this time,
I thought about that a little bit more.
I wanted my sound to feel a little bit more major
so that when we're on stage, we feel that energy,
and everybody else watching feels the same.
So yeah, I'm excited to play those songs.
And man, if it's at the end of the year or next year,
I don't care, as long as it comes.
I made a tweet recently when I was...
I think it was maybe 2:00 AM.
I don't know when it was, but I know I had nothing to do,
and it's kind of been haunting me forever.
So I remember I tweeted...
I tried to make a hybrid of every female pop star or rapper
that there is today, and it turned out to be...
It was Dojickiminegantheyonce Grandizzorihannaperry B.
I think.
There's a "za" in there for SZA.
But yeah, that's my concoction.
Well, that's it for me.
Thank you. I appreciate you very much.