Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, professionally known as Doja Cat, (Born: 21 October 1995 , Age: 28 years old) is an African-American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer.
Blessed with a velvety smooth voice, Doja Cat is a popular Black American singer who is making quite some waves around the world with her music. Doja Cat, who is also a rapper, songwriter, as well as record producer, started her career as a teenager and has since gone ahead to establish herself as one of the gifted entertainers making a buzz in the world of music. She has won several awards, including the American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Award, and others. She also has three Grammy Award nominations and more nods from other award bodies, making her a force to reckon with.
However, apart from making music and thrilling people with her smooth voice, Doja Cat has also fascinated people with her lifestyle and actions. She has been caught in some controversies over the years and even had to apologize at different times for some of her controversial acts. Her name ‘Doja Cat’ has also caught attention as many have wondered how she came about it and what it means.
Summary of Doja Cat’s Bio
- Full name: Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini
- Nickname: Doja Cat
- Gender: Female
- Date of birth: 21 October 1995
- Doja Cat’s Age: 28 years old
- Ethnicity: African-American
- Nationality: South African, American
- Zodiac Sign: Libra
- Marital Status: Straight
- Doja Cat’s Parents: Dumisani Dlamini and Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer
- Doja Cat’s Height in Inches: 5 feet 5 inches
- Doja Cat’s Height in Centimetres: 165 cm
- Doja Cat’s Weight: 120 pounds
- Body measurements in inches: 35-25-38
- Body measurements in centimetres: 89-63-97
- Doja Cat’s Net worth: $8 million
- Famous for: being a musician
- Doja Cat’s Instagram: @dojacat
- Twitter: @DojaCat
Doja Cat’s Real Name Is Not ‘Doja Cat’
The world knows who Doja Cat is and everyone admires how she has managed to capture global attention with her mind-blowing music. However, not everyone knows what her real name is. For the record, Doja Cat’s birth name is actually Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini. This is the only name she bore until late into her teenage years. It was much later, when she began her career, that she adopted ‘Doja Cat’ as her stage name.
Doja Cat was born in Los Angeles, in the United States of America, and was raised there by her family. The singer was born on the 21st of October in 1995 and is now 28 years old.
How She Got Her Stage Name
The singer actually got her stage ‘Doja Cat’ from one of her cats, as well as her favorite strain of marijuana called Doja. At the time, she was heavily addicted to marijuana and also had some cats as pets. So, when the time came to choose a stage name, she considered her best marijuana strain, Doja, and thought it sounded like a girl’s name. She then added ‘cat’ to it and came up with Doja Cat.
Doja Cat began her career by recording music and then releasing it on the audio distribution platform, SoundCloud when she was still a teenager. She eventually released a song called “So High” on SoundCloud and it caught the attention of Kemosabe and RCA Records, two renowned record labels. She went on to sign a joint record deal with the two labels at the age of 17 and started making music professionally afterward. Since then, she has become successful and endeared herself to millions of fans around the world with her sound.
Doja Cat Was Born Into An Artistic Family
It is noteworthy that Doja Cat was born into an artistic family. Her mother is a woman called Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer, a painter who’s passionate about the arts. Her father, on the other hand, is a man called Dumisani Dlamini. The man happens to be a South African actor, as well as a composer, and film producer who is best known for starring in the 1992 musical film Sarafina. Doja Cat also has an aunt who is a singer.
Because of her love for the arts, Doja Cat’s mother enrolled her in ballet, jazz, and tap lessons when she was just about five years old. This went a long way to shape her love for music. Also, Doja Cat’s aunt helped to give her some singing lessons in order to help her get into a performing arts school. Apparently, she has been surrounded by artistic people from childhood.
She Is Of Mixed Ethnicity
Another interesting fact about Doja Cat is that she is actually of mixed ethnicity. Her mother, Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer, is a Jewish-American woman while her father, Dumisani Dlamini, is a South African man of Zulu descent.
So, Doja Cat is not just an American woman, she also has Jewish and South African blood running in her veins.
She Has Not Met Her Father To Date
Doja Cat claims she has never met her father. While she was growing up, she never saw her father because the man was absent in her life and ever since she grew up, she has not met him too. According to her, her father is mostly all over her Instagram page, praising her and leaving comments on her post but he was not around when she was little and has not been physically present in her life overall.
Her claims went viral and her father was slammed by fans for abandoning his daughter even as a child. However, Dumisani Dlamini spoke up later and denied that he abandoned his daughter. First, he claimed that he has been trying to reach Doja Cat but that her management blocked all the efforts he was making to reach her.
He suggested that they were scared that if he got in touch with her, they may lose her. The man later claimed that his daughter had reached out to him and had even spoken to him before becoming famous.
Are Her Multi-ethnic Roots Reflecting In Her Songs?
Doja Cat is highly admired for her musical versatility which she has shown in the way she creates and the kind of songs she releases over the years. She is also renowned for her ability to sing and rap really well. However, there is no evidence to show that her African roots or her Jewish roots have, in any way, influenced her talent or whether her multi-ethnicity is reflecting in her songs.
Doja Cat is known for her mesmerizing hip-hop music, as well as her crossover-ready pop songs and the touch of R&B that she infuses in her music. She is also known for her electronic-influenced style of music. It would appear that Doja Cat is quite detached from her Jewish and African toots when it comes to music. Also, there is no evidence that she has not made efforts to connect with her African or Jewish roots at the moment.
For now, Doja Cat is very focused on making the music that has brought her to the global limelight and continues to thrill her millions of fans with her unique sound.