Doja Cat’s Pop Art

It was only during the pandemic that the internet took hold of us, right when Amala Dlamini, better known as doja cat, Became a world pop star. Dlamini, 27, was born in Los Angeles and spent time with her mother as a child Hermitage Founded by Alice Coltrane. But it also belongs to a connected generation whose creative DNA is defined not so much by a record collection as by a stream of songs, sounds, clips and memes. He’s Been Making Music For Nearly A Decade, But He Has Disruptions Mainstream i build 2019 finals say so, an excellent disc mix, Hip Hop and vibration stink Which became an unexpected sensation on the eve of imprisonment, generating a viral directly from the dance on Tiktok.

Since then, they have had more successes, tours and a Grammy Award for Best Interpretation Pop Duo. kiss me moreCollaborating with SZA on her album planet his of 2021. launch in june Attention, first volume of your new album scarlet, Which will be accompanied by his first tour of concerts this autumn.

Dlamini sat down with rap legend and entrepreneur Angie Martinez to talk about art, fame, and how to find your way on Instagram and in real life. This interview, along with an accompanying photo and video session, will precede the SAG-AFTRA Huelga.

Harper’s Bazaar: Find and say the word ‘icono’: ‘a personality or thing regarded as a representative symbol or worthy of respect.’ I thought, do you see Doja yourself that way?

Doja Cat: don’t see me there I believe that I deserve the love and respect of the people I love, and I believe that respect means different things to everyone. I don’t go to clubs. I don’t expose myself in real life. But on social networks and television. I project my image onto these screens.

HB: Are you inspired by the way people perceive it?

Eddy: I love positive comments. I appreciate it even more when people talk about things the way people do Naughty Trying to put people down or malign people… Some of my most emotional moments were when my fans defended me and other people. It’s fighting for something that’s real, like expressing myself and doing what I want to do. They defend it, so I really appreciate it. the haters there will always be…

HB: There’s always people who have things to decide,

DC: Es el don y la cursa de ser conocida, ¿verdad?

HB: I love your new theme Attention. Show your face and rap.

Eddy: This is a kind of introduction of the time to come. This new album is more introspective, but it doesn’t fall into boredom. Because I understand that people also want music that they can listen to when they are stressed. I don’t want to hear about everyone and every single problem in my life. So I want to tell stories, but I also want to create good rhythm. I think this project is a really fun game to play with my rapist skills and talk about what happens to me in life. But I’m not giving up on what was, my side is more pop.

HB: He is also a very visual artist.

Eddy: I control this aspect of things more and more. Right now I’m kind of obsessed with fashion, where I go into my closet and pick the most random, rarest thing that doesn’t go together, and it’s mixed with other things that even that don’t match. Try to do something that is meaningful. It is like potato puree. Some would say it’s a more modern Harajuku. This is a bit punk. It’s experimental, no doubt about it. And very intense. It has gothic inspiration and many dark elements. I go in a dark direction when it comes to images and fashion, because I have a lot of repressed emotions and anger. I carry it inside and I want to express it with beauty. Makeup and these things are turning into a fun project for me. Lately I’ve been playing with prostheses a lot…

Diotima Dress. Cartier pendant. Pendientes de Tachuales from Doja itself. Rings Panthère de Cartier.

HB: The cat prostheses I wore at the Met Gala were fabulous.

Eddy: It was the first thing that came to my mind: ‘I want to be a human cat.’

HB: Whenever people do things like grooming their head or eyelashes, they go crazy. This excites your audience a lot.

Eddy: My theory is the following: If someone has never met me in real life, I feel, subconsciously, that I am not real to them. So when people on the Internet come back… it’s not obsessive, but if someone comes back to someone they don’t even know, in a certain way, it’s like they appropriated that persona. have taken. I think this person belongs to him in a certain sense.

HB: What are you working on? Is there a larger scale objective?

Eddy: I’d like to work on other kinds of projects: making clothes, doing makeup, maybe. There are things on Instagram that inspire me so much, there are so many new creators I want to collaborate with. I want to find out the performance.

HB: Is acting an important part of your career?

Eddy: I would love to make films that I believe in. I’ll have to keep the music on for a while, but I’ll love it. I would also like to participate in an action film. I love John Wick.

HB: Is there room for love in your life?

Eddy: I love love. I’m one of those people who has one quote after another, but now I’m in a moment where I’m very committed and in love in a different way than before. I think I have evolved. I’m learning to love myself, so the way I want others is very different. I don’t feel like a lost teen. I feel like a woman doing her own thing.

This article appears in the September 2023 issue of Harper’s Bazaar España, available on newsstands August 18. Both the photos in this report and the interview were taken prior to SAG-AFTRA’s call for Huelga.

Peluquery: J be ready. Makeup: Frank B for LoveScene. Manicure: Saikia Trinis. Production: A Thirty Eight Production. Set Design: Philip Hemmerle. Thanks: Buttercup site.