Doja Cat: The Paver of the TikTok to Billboard Pipeline

How Doja Cat harnessed virality to build staying power in a competitive pop music landscape

Ever since Doja Cat appeared in our for you pages years ago, it was clear that she possessed true starpower. A descendant of genre-bending legends like Gwen Stefani, Missy Elliott and Fergie, Doja has built a career on eradicating boundaries. Her keen awareness of meme culture and the algorithm keeps us hooked, while her refusal to play it safe in the studio and IRL cements her as one of the most exciting artists of the moment.

Early Career

Doja Cat began uploading music onto SoundCloud in the early 2010s before being signed to RCA in 2014, when she dropped her first EP Purrr! In 2018, she released her debut album Amala which included tracks like “Go to Town” and “Candy,” which gained traction online and laid the groundwork for her signature sound.

Later in 2018, she released an absurdist video on YouTube called “Mooo!” which really can’t be explained… that introduced her to the internet at large.

Rise to Stardom

The following year, Doja Cat’s sophomore album Hot Pink which did numbers on the charts and online, with “Say So” dominating TikTok and the Nicki Minaj remix reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Rather than fading after a viral hit, Doja leveraged the moment. Planet Her (2021) was a blockbuster era with multiple global hits (“Kiss Me More,” “Woman,” “Need to Know”) and a Grammy win. By the time Scarlet arrived in 2023, she’d proven she could pivot into darker, rap-driven territory and still hit No. 1 with “Paint the Town Red.”

Main Pop Domination

Planet Her was a study in versatility, blending disco, Afrobeats, and R&B influences into one of the defining pop-rap albums of the decade. Its commercial success elevated Doja to global superstardom, making her a festival headliner and industry fixture.

In 2023, Doja Cat released Scarlet, an experimental rap album that pivoted from her pop-leaning sound. In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, she described “Scarlet” as an alter ego that represents rebirth. This persona showed a side of Doja that is more rage-driven and disruptive as opposed to her internet-savvy, laid back POV from previous albums. Critics were split, but the commercial success was undeniable: “Paint the Town Red” became her second Billboard Hot 100 No. 1.

The Chaos Factor

Being chronically online enough to achieve virality almost guarantees a complicated digital footprint, and Doja is no exception. In 2020, old clips of her participating in public chat rooms resurfaced and sparked allegations of involvement in alt-right spaces — which she denied, clarifying they were not white supremacist communities.

Additionally, she has a complicated relationship with her fans, not unlike her contemporaries Chappell Roan, Cardi B and Nicki Minaj. She clashed with them online on multiple occasions including famously mocking their chosen fandom name, “Kittens.” The drama hasn’t derailed her trajectory, but it’s made her one of the most polarizing figures in pop.

New Era Incoming: Vie

Last Thursday, Doja Cat released her latest single, “Jealous Type”, which marks a bold return to funk-pop, with cinematic visuals and retro flair, evoking the vibes of Prince and Janet Jackson.

Her upcoming album Vie arrives September 26, 2025, produced with Jack Antonoff/Y2K, offering a fresh direction that reinforces Doja’s artistic growth. Where Scarlet thrived on disruption, Vie promises a more pop-forward, romantic direction — proof that Doja’s knack for reinvention knows no bounds.

The Queen of Reinvention

Doja’s trajectory embodies internet contradictions: absurd yet serious, campy yet calculated. She proudly carries the torch of the pop/rap crossover icons before her but makes it distinctly chaotic, authentic and perfectly Gen Z.

She is proof that audiences are hungry for artists who take risks, embrace the mess and aren’t afraid of reinvention.