Doja Cat defends rap skills after Outside Lands debut: ‘I'm incredible'
The Grammy-winning artist, who headlined the San Francisco music festival on Friday, Aug. 8, engaged in a back-and-forth with X user @playeration after they called out her musical style on the platform.
"Hopefully after Doja drops pop disco album of the century her fans can stop trying to force her into female rap conversations," the X user initially posted on Saturday, Aug. 9, referring to Doja Cat's forthcoming fifth studio album, "Vie."
The genre-bending singer and rapper teased the project, performing her new single 'Jealous Type' during her Outside Lands headlining set Friday. She also hosted a surprise listening party at the soon-to-close queer nightclub Oasis immediately after her Golden Gate Park set.
She had previously told V Magazine that 'Vie' is 'pop-driven.'
The @playeration continued by adding that Doja Cat 'can't be taken seriously as a rapper without ever prioritizing bars, punchlines, wordplay, and storytelling.'
That's when the artist chimed in.
"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," she responded on Sunday, Aug. 10. "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."
When the @playeration replied to Doja Cat, noting that the criticism is 'not personal,' the two engaged in a brief conversation in the thread. The X user explained that they have listened to the 'Paint the Town Red' artist's full catalogue, but doesn't rate her as highly as rappers like Rakim, Jay-Z and Jeezy.
'That's not hate, it's just a difference in what I look for in rap,' @playeration wrote.
Doja Cat replied that she respects their perspective.
'If you haven't been able to find a bar that you can connect with, that's more than okay,' she wrote. 'That's your right.'
The conversation came two days after Doja Cat's Outside Lands debut, during which she showed off her new '80s-esque aesthetic and new track. Though she didn't draw as large of a crowd as fellow Grammy-winning rapper Doechii, who performed on the Lands End stage just a few hours before her, Doja Cat got thousands of her fans moving with hits such as 'Woman,' 'Agora Hils' and 'Boss Bitch.'
Her subsequent appearance at Oasis came at a trying time for the beloved South of Market drag hot spot, which plans to close at the end of the year due to ongoing financial challenges.
'Her people approached us. She wanted to drop her three new songs in a queer venue,' Oasis owner D'Arcy Drollinger, who also serves as San Francisco's drag laureate, told the Chronicle about how the event came to fruition. 'It was such a joyous feeling in the room'
During her post-festival show, Doja Cat previewed portions of 'Vie,' which has no release date yet, and chatted casually with fans from the stage of the 531-capacity venue.
'She was so gracious. Not a single diva moment,' Drollinger said. 'So kind and easy and effortless.'
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