Doja Cat‘s last album, Planet Her, arrived in 2021. She’s since made various remarks about the direction that her new material might take. Most recently, the singer and rapper said that a punk record could be on the cards. “I want to explore punk. But not pop-punk. I feel like we have enough pop-punk artists right now,” Doja said during an interview with Variety.
“And if there needs to be more, then let there be more, but I don’t think I’m the one to do it,” she continued. “I want to explore more of a raw, unfiltered, hardcore punk sort of thing. It’s just something that I’m doing for my own personal fun – getting some drummers and guitarists together. And I don’t even know if that’s gonna make it out there.”
Doja Cat – ‘Need to Know’
Elsewhere in the interview, Doja said that British rock band IDLES are her favourite band of the last year, and that she’s a huge fan of the Beastie Boys – who began as a punk outfit before crossing over to hip hop. “Rap is punk and punk can be rap,” Doja said during the interview. “It’s really a beautiful set of genres that you can twist, and I think people get it.”
Doja Cat wouldn’t be the first rap artist to embrace hardcore and punk influences in recent years. Rico Nasty‘s affinity with the genre can be heard throughout her abrasive early mixtapes and debut studio album, 2020’s Nightmare Vacation. And – as Doja alludes to in her interview – there have been numerous pop and rap artists leaning into pop-punk, Machine Gun Kelly being the most notable.
Further Reading
Doja Cat Teams Up With Taco Bell For A Cover Of Hole’s ‘Celebrity Skin’
Doja Cat Releases ‘Vegas’ From Soundtrack To Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’
Watch Doja Cat and SZA Perform ‘Kiss Me More’ at the 2021 BBMAs
