Doja Cat Defends Rap Skills Amid Ongoing Credibility Debate

Doja Cat has firmly defended her status as a rapper amid ongoing debates sparked by social media users questioning her place in hip-hop, especially as she prepares to release her upcoming pop-driven album, Vie. Critics, such as the X user @playeration, argued that Doja cannot be taken seriously as a rapper without prioritizing bars, punchlines, wordplay, and storytelling, claiming her fanbase could not cite strong examples of her rap skills. Doja responded that she regularly uses storytelling, punchlines, and wordplay in about 95% of her music and urged critics to listen more carefully to her work before making judgments. She emphasized that her artistry blends rap with pop and R&B, similar to artists like Nicki Minaj, and that expressing oneself is more important than rigid competition-based criteria. Doja also highlighted influences like Flying Lotus’s Captain Murphy and Atmosphere in shaping her writing and dismissed the notion that being a rapper requires perfection in every aspect. Despite the criticism, fans and Doja herself maintain that she remains a legitimate rapper who simply blurs genre lines in her evolving music career.