Doja Cat Defends Her Position as a Rapper During Fan Debate: ‘Please Stop Trying to Downplay My Ability’

Doja Cat defended her position as a rapper over the weekend when someone on social media sparked a debate of what she should be classified as.

X user @playeration wrote on Saturday (Aug. 9), “Hopefully after Doja drops pop disco album of the century her fans can stop trying to force her into female rap conversations.” Doja said in her recent V Magazine cover story that Vie, her upcoming fifth studio album, is a “pop-driven project,” while the publication also pointed out that she’s still rapping on much of the album. The same X user doubled down in a subsequent post by writing, “Sorry to inform you guys but you can’t be taken seriously as a rapper without ever prioritizing bars, punchlines, wordplay, and storytelling: the very things that make rap what it is.” They later claimed they asked four different members from Doja’s Kittenz fanbase to share “their best Doja bar and it’s CRICKETS.”

“You don’t listen to or read enough of my writing to be able to make this claim. I’m alright at what I do and sometimes I’m incredible,” Doja replied in the same thread. Please stop trying to downplay my ability it feels like you’re doling out criticism with no constructiveness based on something that’s deeper than just the topic of music.”

The X user @playeration continued emphasizing how examples of Doja’s punchlines and wordplay would justify her position as an MC, but the Grammy-winning artist was purposefully resistant to providing such because “part of me feels like you will immediately shoot it down. What I intend with my work is for the listener to choose what they rock with and what they don’t,” she wrote back. “You have to give me a chance if you’re going to make criticisms about the entirety of my raps. You have to listen. You have to read. If you don’t read or listen how will you know. I shouldn’t have to sit here on twitter and give you a simplified, snipped, deconstructed, and without insulting you, DUMBED down version of my writing for you to be able to hear what hundreds of thousands and lets be honest, millions of people are recognizing as adequate rap bars. You aren’t stupid. Listen to my music.”

The same X user claimed they’ve listened to Doja’s full catalog and are excited about her upcoming Vie tracks “Jealous Type” and “Take Me Dancing,” the latter of which she previewed over the weekend at an after party at the San Francisco drag nightclub Oasis following her headlining set at Outside Lands on Friday night, Aug. 8. Doja debuted the former track during her festival performance. X user @playeration later cited Rakim, Jay-Z and Jeezy as their “frame of reference” when it comes to rappers, which Doja understood and respected.

“Jay Z is a great writer and so is Rakim and Jeezy you have great taste. 😉 Thank you for opening up about that,” she wrote. “If you’ve listened to every single song off of every single album I’ve made I appreciate that. If you’ve haven’t been able to find a bar that you can connect with, thats more than okay, that’s your right. Thank you.”