A year full of rising rap newcomers and seasoned vets that delivered a solid soundtrack over the last 12 months. Continue reading…
Doja Cat
Ye And Taylor Swift Received Album Of The Year Nominations At The 2022 Grammys Thanks To A Last-Minute Decision
The 2022 Grammy Awards will see the total number of categories increase from 84 to 86, but that’s not the show’s only big change. The Recording Academy also expanded the number of nominees in three categories: Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist, all of which are going from eight to ten. And as a new report from TheNThe New York Times, that may have allowed some of this year’s big albums — and a number of songs — may not have made the cut otherwise.
As per the piece, both Ye’s Donda and Taylor Swift’s Evermore were absent from the initial list of nominees that circulated before last week’s official announcement. They weren’t the only ones. Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” and ABBA’s “I Still Have Faith in You” received nominations for Record Of The Year, but only after the expansion. The same goes for Song of the Year nominees like Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” and Brandi Carlile’s “Right On Time.” Meanwhile, Baby Keem and Arooj Aftab landed nominations in the Best New Artist category, but only after the nomination.
Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, told NYT the last-minute expansion was done “to make room for more music, more artists and more genres, and to embrace the spirit of inclusion.” He added that artists added to the categories were the ninth and tenth mos-tvoted-for by the Recording Academy’s members. “For us this is all positive movement,” Mason said. “This is us honoring more great artists, more great music, giving artists an opportunity to shine and showcase.”
You can revisit the full list of 2022 Grammy nominees here.
Doja Cat Says She Feels ‘Pressured’ By The Requirements Of Her Career
Before she was a huge star, Doja Cat had a pretty carefree approach to making music — look no further than her breakout viral hit “Mooo!” for proof. However, since garnering a no. 1 hit record with “Say So,” she hasn’t had the time to make goofy tunes for fun, as she recently revealed during a live stream with her fans. She said that she hasn’t had the opportunity to “make music willy-nilly, have fun, and just jam” for “maybe five years.”
Instead, she says, “I’m doing all this shit that I don’t f*ckin’ wanna do.” For example, “I don’t want to take f*ckin’ pictures,” she says. “Like, yes, planning a photoshoot is very fun,” but having to actually get made-up and pose for several hours a day seems to be wearing on her (something that was hinted at in her guest appearance on Lil Dicky’s Dave, on which she played herself and portrayed the busy schedule that keeps her from being able to “jam”).
In actuality, she says, she would rather spend her time doing other things. “I feel pressured to do sh*t like that,” she says. “I don’t want to do that. I want to be home. I wanna make music. I wanna play f*ckin’ video games.”
However, prioritizing her career has more than paid off for the jokester. Her song “Get Into It (Yuh)” was recently featured in a Taco Bell ad, leading to speculation she’s got more partnership announcements on the way, she’s clearly having a lot of fun with fashion, and she’s been redefining pop music as she accumulates new listeners by the day, popping up on new festival lineups all the time, and becoming a sought-after featured artist even as she becomes more choosy with sharing her verses.
Still, if she really is feeling run down from “never not working,” as she once put it, a vacation may be in order — sooner rather than later. She’s waited this long for stardom, I’m sure that her fans will be more than willing to wait for new music if it means she gets a well-earned, much-deserved break.
Rappers We’re Most Thankful for This Year
Showing love to some of hip-hop’s best. Continue reading…
Post Malone, Doja Cat, And Pearl Jam Are Headlining Lollapalooza Stockholm 2022
The Lollapalooza global festivals takeover is in full effect. After a successful flagship function in Chicago this past July, Lollapalooza began announcing its 2022 international slate with bills led by Foo Fighters, Miley Cyrus, The Strokes, and Doja Cat in Brazil and Argentina next March. Then in July, Pearl Jam, Imagine Dragons, David Guetta, and ASAP Rocky will be atop the lineup at Lollapalooza Paris. But it doesn’t stop there.
The second annual Lollapalooza Stockholm in Sweden was announced today and it’s set to go down from Friday, July 1st through Sunday, July 3rd, 2022 at Gårdet, a sprawling park in the heart of the city. Ahead of their Paris appearance, Pearl Jam will also be headlining the Stockholm affair, along with Post Malone, The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Doja Cat and Swedish pop sensation Veronica Maggio. There’s definitely an effort to incorporate Swedish talent on the bill with confirmed appearances from producer/DJ Alesso, reggae-hoppers Timbuktu & Damn!, pop star Tove Lo, singer Benjamin Ingrosso, electro-pop duo Jubël, and more. Other lineup highlights include Jack Harlow, Italian rockers Måneskin, Polo G, Modest Mouse, and Haim.
Tickets go on sale November 25 and you can get them, along with full lineup info and more, at here.
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Doja Cat Uses Her Song Placement In A Taco Bell Ad To Campaign For The Return Of Mexican Pizza
Doja Cat, who had a huge year with the release of her third album Planet Her, is trying to leverage her influence to bring back a beloved fast-food menu item: Taco Bell’s discontinued Mexican pizza. Last year, Taco Bell cut the menu favorite in an effort to streamline its gargantuan selection (and save over 7 million pounds of paperboard in the process). The move was met with general outcry on social media as fans mourned the loss of the topping-stacked tortilla in a box.
Please @tacobell bring back Mexican pizza and spicy potato soft taco. I’m asking you nicely first.
— Ric Nast (@DojaCat) September 3, 2020
At the time, Doja Cat was one of those who lamented the pizza getting axed, “asking nicely” for the fast-food giant to reconsider. However, in the past year, Doja has apparently accumulated some goodwill at Taco Bell corporate — or, at least, at Taco Bell’s ad agency — landing her song “Get Into It (Yuh)” on the company’s new commercial for its Double Steak Grilled Cheese Burrito. In the ad, a geeky cosplayer (SAGA!!) appears to have met their match, until the infamous Taco Bell sound effect prompts a late-night snack run instead (surely, they could have done both, but I digress).
k this commercial is perfect
@tacobell pic.twitter.com/p6W8E0Bc0L
— the real slim rachie (@yorachel__) November 18, 2021
Doja, seizing the opportunity, tweeted, “Hey @tacobell, just heard my song in your commercial… I’m a #TacoBellPartner now. So where’s my Mexican Pizza?”
Hey @tacobell, just heard my song in your commercial… I’m a #TacoBellPartner now. So where’s my Mexican Pizza?
— Ric Nast (@DojaCat) November 22, 2021
When a fan answered, prompting her to speak to Taco Bell’s “Chief Impact Officer,” who is a friend of Doja’s — it’s Lil Nas X, by the way — the Taco Bell account responded in typical personified corporate account fashion: with a the three-emoji string of eye-mouth-eye, implying… well, there are a lot of potential definitions, but in this case, it seems to be a sanguine interest in the topic being discussed.
Talk to their Chief Impact Officer.
I believe that he’s a friend of yours.— Paul M (@PtrMkasa) November 22, 2021
— Taco Bell (@tacobell) November 22, 2021
Of course, that only opened the door for more of Doja’s meme-ready shenanigans, as she hit Taco Bell with that infamous three-letter acronym, “WYD?” When the response turned out to not be “rolling out those delicious Mexican pizzas,” though, she dismissed her new playmate, telling them to “STFU” until further notice.
— Ric Nast (@DojaCat) November 23, 2021
— Ric Nast (@DojaCat) November 23, 2021
Could this be the beginning of the return of the Mexican Pizza menu item? Wouldn’t it be a weird way to begin the rollout? And isn’t “weird” pretty much Doja’s (and Lil Nas X’s) whole brand? And how does Rico Nasty — Doja’s good friend who occasionally goes by the alter ego “Tacobella” — figure into all of this (they’ve swapped profile pics for the past week or so)? I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out. Fingers crossed for a “limited-time” sort of deal, a la Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hottie Sauce” collab with Popeyes.
French Montana, Doja Cat, And Saweetie Are All For Some Freaky Fun On ‘Handstand’
It’s been nearly two years since French Montana delivered an album to the world with his last being 2019’s Montana. Luckily for fans of the rapper, that streak is officially over as Montana returns with his fourth album, They Got Amnesia. The project seems to be a response to those who forgot the hits he contributed to hip-hop over the past decade, which include “Pop That,” “Unforgettable,” “Marble Floors,” and more. A bright moment on They Got Amnesia comes when Montana recruits Doja Cat and Saweetie for “Handstand.”
The track is a bouncy effort that finds the trio indulging in some freaky fun. Montana, Doja, and Saweetie each flaunt their sexual prowess as they request and receive attention from those around them. As for the rest of They Got Amnesia, French Montana delivers 21 songs for the album that also sees appearances from John Legend, Rick Ross, Kodak Black, Pop Smoke, Lil Durk, Fivio Foreign, Fabolous, 42 Dugg, Coi Leray, Ty Dolla Sign, Latto, Lil Tjay, and Moneybagg Yo.
As for Doja and Saweetie, the former recently passed Drake for the most monthly listeners on Spotify while Saweetie dropped her Icy Season special on Amazon.
You can press play on “Handstand” in the video above.
They Got Amnesia is out now via Epic Records. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
French Montana’s ‘They Got Amnesia’ Tracklist Features Drake, Doja Cat, John Legend, And More
Maybe you saw the Squid Game meme floating around last week jokingly asking people to name five feature-less French Montana tracks. The Twitter trolls can cool their jets, because when French Montana releases They Got Amnesia, his fourth full-length album, on Friday, they’ll see that 10 of its 20 tracks have no featured guests. And while the Bronx rapper took it upon himself to respond, he doesn’t have anything to prove as a singular force.
That being said, the tracklist (below) for They Got Amnesia dropped today and the list of featured guests is eye-popping and shows how well-respected of a collaborator he is across the spectrum. In addition to the already released “Panicking” with Fivio Foreign, the album will feature appearances from Rick Ross, Doja Cat, Saweetie, John Legend, Pop Smoke, Drake, and a whole lot more.
They Got Amnesia is out 11/12 via Coke Boys, Bad Boy, Epic. Check out the full tracklist below and pre-order it here.
1. “ICU”
2. “How You King?”
3. “FWMGAB”
4. “I Don’t Really Care”
5. “Splash Brothers” (feat. Drake)
6. “Touch The Sky” (feat. John Legend & Rick Ross)
7. “Mopstick” (feat. Kodak Black)
8. “Stuck In The Jungle” (feat. Pop Smoke & Lil Durk)
9. “Panicking” (feat. Fivio Foreign)
10. “Handstand” (feat. Doja Cat & Saweetie)
11. “The Paper”
12. “Tonight Only”
13. “Didn’t Get Far” (feat. Fabolous)
14. “Business”
15. “Push Star” (feat. Coi Leray)
16. “Striptease” (feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Latto)
17. “Bag Season” (feat. Lil TJay)
18. “Prayer” (Skit)
19. “Appreciate Everything”
20. “Losing Weight”
Bonus: “FWMGAB Remix” (feat. Moneybagg Yo)
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Doja Cat Is Having More Fun With Fashion Than Anyone Else
Throughout their nearly four decades as an awards show, the MTV VMAs have historically been a way for musicians to experiment with their style. Lady Gaga’s 2010 raw meat dress became one of the most-recognizable pop culture moments, and who could forget Lil Kim’s purple pasties at the 1999 VMAs red carpet? As someone who thrives at the intersection of hip-hop and pop genres, Doja Cat has definitely taken a page out of Gaga and Kim’s playbooks when it comes to her own style. Whether she’s delightfully draped in chiffon or wearing an actual stool on her head as a hat, Doja toes the line between shocking and playful — proving she’s having more fun with fashion than anyone else in music.
When it comes to her style, part of Doja’s shock value success comes from her commitment to a concept. It’s been an important part of her artistry from her breakout moment and is abundantly clear from watching her music videos, performances, and eyeing her show-stopping red carpet looks. Throughout her career, Doja has leaned into cat-like looks to go along with her namesake, caught disco fever with the ‘70s-inspired outfits following the release of her No. 1 track “Say So,” and gone out of this world with a futurist approach to her ensembles surrounding the era of her latest album, Planet Her.
Doja’s videos make it clear she has stayed true to an aesthetic from the very beginning. She fully leaned into the title of her song “Moo!” in a video that became her first viral moment. The green screen-backed visual saw the singer dressed head-to-toe in a cow-print outfit and sipping on a strawberry milkshake while she shouts, “B*tch, I’m a cow.” Her outfits in the video to “Bottom B*tch,” a song which samples Blink-182’s “What’s My Age Again?,” brought pop-punk into a new decade by taking style elements from Spencer’s-obsessed teens like mesh tops and neon beanies while adding a modern twist with stringy corset tops and a patterned two-piece set. Fast-forward a few years and most of her videos to the tracks from Planet Her now revolve around an extraterrestrial theme. She and SZA were giant femme fetal space dwellers in “Kiss Me More,” while Doja transformed into a seductive, green, metropolis-living alien in her “Need To Know” video.
Doja’s conceptual style also plays a major role in her live performances. She played up the feline-lover origins of her moniker with her Vevo Lift performance of “Say So” in 2020, which added campy elements to distinctly classic styles. Her wig was bobbed and curled in the style of Marilyn Monroe, while its hot pink color and fuzzy cat ears made it her own. Her accompanying outfit was a Garo Sparo bodice with a sweetheart neckline cut to mimic the Playboy bunny cocktail waitress outfits-turned popular Halloween costumes. But instead of being made from satin, Doja’s outfit was cut from hot pink furry cloth, once again nodding to her cat-like look. “There’s something mysterious about the concept of a ‘crazy cat lady,’” she said in an interview alongside the performance. “I took that symbol and applied it to my character, Doja Cat.” When it came to her recent 2021 performance at the Balmain Fashion Show in Paris, her concept was a bit more open-ended. Rather than formatting her look after an animal, the singer said she wanted her look to give the energy of “sexy garlic.”
Doja has long positioned herself as a fashion boundary-pusher, so she is always right at home on the red carpet. In fact, some of the singer’s most experimental looks happened at award shows. When it comes to the VMAs, Doja hasn’t held anything back. When she took the virtual stage in 2020, the singer showed up in an ensemble that can only be described as a sexy fish, complete with lit-up genitalia. A year later while hosting the ceremony, the singer accepted a VMA award in a head-to-toe padded quilt dress designed by Thom Browne that Doja compared to a colorful worm. “I never thought I’d be dressed as a worm while accepting an award,” she said.
Her “sexy fish” VMAs outfit is, to no one’s surprise, not the only look Doja has worn that draws attention to her… nether regions. At the 2020 AVN Awards, aka the “Oscars of porn,” the singer showed up in a skin-tight mesh bodysuit that sparsely covered her crotch in rhinestones. The look expertly combined the disco-inspired era “Say So” with the theme of the night, an outfit her stylist would later call her “Cher moment.”
Whether she’s posing in a glittery merkin, accepting an award dressed as a neon worm, clomping around in massive chicken claw-like shoes, many of her wildest outfits have one thing in common: they were designed in collaboration with her stylist, Brett Alan Nelson. While Doja has always had her own style, there’s no denying that Nelson has helped take her fashion to the next, sometimes bizarre, level. As a central part of Doja’s team since 2019, Nelson is drawn to over-the-top, theatrical styles. “She and I get each other so well,” Nelson said about his work with Doja in an interview with Vogue. “We bicker like brother and sister, but I know her, sometimes better than she knows herself. She’s down to have fun, take risks, and she trusts me, which in my industry, that is the best thing a creative could ever ask for.”
How Black Female Singers Like Normani, Chlöe Bailey, And Doja Cat Are Redefining Pop Music
Black women in music have long been considered R&B and hip-hop to fit the music industry’s expectations of ‘urban’ marketing, but current acts are pushing back against the standard and broadening pop music through inclusivity. For artists like Victoria Monet, Chlöe Bailey, Normani, and others, Black female singers are redefining pop music through sheer confidence in their songwriting capabilities, production, and visual aesthetics — proving that there’s room for more than one woman at the top.
As history tells it, Black female artists who play fair weren’t always the norm. For women in the music industry, there’s pressure to stay relevant amidst newers acts in the face of ageism, sexism, body dysmorphia, and aggressive online targeting. Prior to her untimely death in 2001 — and before the social media era — Aaliyah was arguably the standard for R&B-turned-pop experimentation, trading baggy jeans for hypnotic maturation on her final, eponymous album. 2001’s Aaliyah was a masterclass in Y2K futurism and dulcet, self-assured vocals that would influence fellow millennial pop artists and the next generation of progressive Black female artists.
Molded by Aaliyah’s impact are a slew of Black female vocalists including Kehlani, Normani, and Tinashe — the latter who’s been outspoken about genre barriers for Black women. In a 2017 article in the LA Times, the singer Tinashe leaned into unfair comparisons amongst each other:
“It creates this competitiveness, even among fan bases,” Tinashe added. “People feel they can’t be a fan of Kehlani and me. It’s confusing, like why not be fans of whatever you like? Why does there need to be this rivalry approach? We don’t do that with male artists.”
Defeating critiques that Black women belong on rhythmic and urban charts, Tinashe made a grand return to the pop sphere on her sultry 2019 effort Songs For You, released shortly after her leave from RCA Records. As her first album as an independent artist, Songs For You reached #1 on the iTunes Albums chart upon its release, the second independent artist to do so since Frank Ocean released Blonde in 2016. Helmed with critical acclaim for its pop experimentation and largely considered her best album to date, Tinashe took Songs For You into the virtual world on VR platform Wave in livestream concerts at the beginning of the pandemic last year.
In August arrived Tinashe’s fifth studio album 333, where the singer further explored VR, alternate realities, and spirituality in music and visuals for singles “Pasadena” and “Bouncin’.” Through a streak of daring eclecticism and a history of collaborations with electronic producers Kaytranada, Wax Motif, and MAKJ, Tinashe eschews naysayers who limit her to R&B, pushing boundaries of the pop genre.
Dispelling recent allegations of a rivalry with Tinashe over a seductive photoset is one-half of vocalist sister duo Chloe x Halle, Chlöe Bailey. Adding an umlaut to her forename and blonde highlights to her already-signature locs, Bailey dismissed skeptics with her long-awaited debut solo single “Have Mercy,” which was released in September. Lauded for its upbeat production and being a curve-embracing anthem, fans drew comparisons between Chlöe and mentor Beyoncé, who signed Chloe x Halle to her company Parkwood Entertainment in 2015. As fans await Chlöe’s next single, “Have Mercy” has already made rounds on televised performances from last month’s 2021 MTV Video Music Awards to The Tonight Show, making Chlöe pop’s next breakout star.
Controversy surrounded Chlöe’s debut performance at the 2021 MTV VMAs after Normani voiced her disappointment with the telecast for allegedly choosing Chlöe to be the only Black woman to perform that night. In 2019, Normani graced the VMAs with a high-energy performance of “Motivation,” and sought to return to the awards show following the release of her latest single “Wild Side.” After fans petitioned for Normani’s appearance at the show, the singer delivered with a cameo by Teyana Taylor in a sultry homage to Janet Jackson’s 2001 concert performance of All For You track “Would You Mind.”
Once a member of girl group Fifth Harmony before they disbanded in 2018, Normani is on her second act. Poised to release her upcoming solo debut with multifaceted potential, the singer spoke with Allure about being an all-encompassing artist:
“My purpose in this work that I do is for other people that feel like they have Black women figured out. There’s so many layers to us, there’s so many textures, there’s so much that we’re capable of doing,” Normani says. “Yes, I can throw ass. But I can also give you a proper eight-count, and I can do ballet, and I can do contemporary dance. If I want to sing this pop ballad, then you’re going to love it! While you see my Black face!” Period.
Like Normani, Victoria Monét was once in a girl group, but later carved her own lane as singer-songwriter for a decade prior to releasing her 2020 debut album Jaguar. A longtime collaborator and songwriter for Ariana Grande, Victoria Monét entices listeners through her unapologetic soundscapes of femininity, self-love, and sensuality. While Jaguar was largely an homage to 1970s funk and disco, Monét reintroduced the throwback era to Gen-Z fans, especially in her Jaguar live session that premiered in March.
Becoming a DIY internet sensation for her 2018 meme-inspired visual “Mooo!,” pop act Doja Cat has led the crusade of oddball artistry since her humble SoundCloud beginnings. Landing a joint deal with RCA Records and Kemosabe Records in 2014, Doja Cat’s rise to stardom wasn’t instantaneous, instead having to refine her rap-fueled spunk to craft a mainstream sound. By 2020, her sophomore album Hot Pink shot to No. 9 on the Billboard 200 despite being released a year prior, thanks to her viral dance-worthy smash “Say So.”
As host of the 2021 MTV VMAs — and even taking three Moon Person trophies home — Doja Cat’s third album Planet Her exemplifies celestial pop, celebrating womanhood and diverse instrumentation from urbano to dancehall. Still embracing her online antics, Doja Cat hasn’t had to compromise her personality for stardom, recently becoming the new face of PepsiCo for its 50th anniversary.
Through charisma and sleek full-packed quality, the new generation of Black female acts continue to uphold pop by changing the tides of the genre with determination. The future couldn’t be more exciting.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.