(Kemosabe/RCA)
There’s a pugilistic force to the rapper’s lyricism as she takes on her diehard fans’ sense of entitlement, but even amid some experimental production, she starts to repeat herself
From the start, hip-hop has thrived on conflict. Between the ostensibly lighthearted insults of battle rapping to the internecine feuds that range from jokey to fatal, it’s hard to think of another musical arena so riven with rivalries and disputes. They occur with such frequency that Doja Cat spends a couple of verses on her fourth album declining to take part. She has, she claims, risen to the top “with no confrontation”, despite attempts to pit her against Nicki Minaj: “I never gave a F,” she snaps. “Go stir the pot, bitch”.
You might receive this in boggling disbelief, given that in recent months Doja Cat has opened up a whole new frontier in hip-hop conflict: even in the rap world, going to war with your own fanbase feels extraordinary. It started in the summer, when fans questioned her choice of boyfriend – social media star J Cyrus, who has been accused of emotional abuse – and escalated very quickly. “I NEVER WILL GIVE A FUCK WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT ME… GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDDANCE MISERABLE HOES,” the rapper wrote in response, disparaging the hardcore supporters who call themselves Kittenz – “get off your phone, get a job and help your parents with the house” – suggesting they deactivate their fan accounts, calling them “creepy as fuck”. She lost more than 500,000 Instagram followers, an experience she compared to “defeat[ing] a large beast”.