Doja Cat teases return to hip-hop on next album: “I’ve rapped since the beginning”

Doja Cat has teased details of her fourth studio album in a new interview with Elle, noting she will be focused more on rapping than singing this time around.

The cover story with the fashion and beauty magazine charts Doja’s ascent from niche internet figure to a Number One pop artist. While her biggest hits – such as ‘Say So’ and ‘Kiss Me More’ – have mostly focused on her singing, the article notes that the next Doja Cat album will be “predominantly rap” according to her.

While she noted that she has “not started” making the album yet, she assured writer Marjon Carlos that work on the album is “coming up”.

“I have been getting songs and things sent to me,” she said. “Oh fuck, I wish I could tell people. There’s some really cool stuff that I got sent from friends. They’re all working on beats, and I’m giving them notes and they know what I want, so I’m excited.”

Despite her categorisation as a rapper being contested, Doja reiterates her connection to the form during the interview. “I’ve rapped since the beginning, and I really couldn’t even sing that well to begin with — I got a lot better,” she said.

“I use my voice as a tool to create these worlds, and it’s fine if people think that I can’t rap.”

The article also notes that Doja Cat is interested in pursuing both acting and stand-up comedy in the coming years. She described the former as “a massive want” for her, and the latter as her “one hidden passion”. “I get nervous just like anyone else, but it feels like it could be a natural, fun thing to do,” she says of pursuing stand-up.

Doja Cat’s third studio album, ‘Planet Her’, was released in 2021. In a four-star review, NME described the album as “an album that brims with the confidence of an artist embracing her imperial phase”.

“It all adds up to a job well done with more than enough bops to drown out her next social media controversy,” it read.

Since the album’s release, Doja Cat has toured extensively – including appearances at festivals such as Coachella and Lollapalooza. The latter saw her halt the performance due to a fan’s injury.

Earlier this year, she also went back and forth on announcing that she had “quit” music. This was followed by her undergoing tonsil surgery, and later announcing that she would no longer be touring with ‘You Right’ collaborator The Weeknd in order to recover from it.

As far as music is concerned, she is set to appear on Post Malone‘s fourth studio album ‘Twelve Carat Toothache’ next month and will also feature on the soundtrack to Elvis with the song ‘Vegas’.