Before catching sight of Doja Cat, her voice fills the air. Standing under the stark lighting in Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena, security scrutinizes my every move. Her vocal exercises echo through the closed doors: “Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!” Soon, Doja’s assistant emerges, signaling me with a thumbs-up and guiding me into an expansive dressing room, its walls draped in black velvet. The vocal scales continue—“la-la-la-la-la-la-la!”—until, upon my entry being announced, Doja’s voice playfully shifts to a theatrical vibrato: “I like ho-o-o-ot guys!”
In the distant corner, behind a black pleather sofa, a flamboyant Ziggy Stardust wig rises like a periscope. Doja, slight and athletic, studies me before transitioning to the center of the room, bending into a yoga pose and then leaping into a makeup chair, all while drawing from an ice-blue vape and posing in front of a bulb-studded mirror. I take the seat next to her and inquire about her afternoon over the evolving playlist, which jumps from a Heidi Montag deep cut to a provocative track by the British rapper Ceechynaa. With a deadpan expression, she responds, “I caught chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea, and herpes,” activating a tabletop humidifier that emits a theatrical mist. Sounds busy? “Oh yes,” she affirms. “A very busy day.”
Approaching the Christmas season, Doja is in Australia for the fifth—now sixth due to popular demand—show of her world tour supporting Vie, her eclectic, genre-crossing fifth album launched in September. This album is a creative blend of 1980s R&B, pop, and funk, with tributes to artists like Prince, Janet Jackson, cock rock, and the German punk singer Nina Hagen. It showcases Doja’s flair for clever and sometimes whimsical lyrics, catchy tunes, and witty verses. Vie marks another of Doja’s bold transformations, this time embracing high-energy ’80s fashion with pieces from archival Claude Montana, Yves Saint Laurent, and more. On stage, she sports blond mullet wigs, bold shoulders, animal prints, and vibrant smoky eyeshadow reminiscent of an Antonio Lopez illustration.
Her hairstylist, Jared Henderson, also known as @JStayReady and a specialist in wigs, removes a bonnet from her head, massaging her scalp. “Got to hydrate that melon,” he murmurs. Doja moves closer to the humidifier, already feeling under the weather. “Whether it’s the tail end or I have a new thing, I have no idea. But it’s been very….” She stops to choose her words carefully. “Annoying-dot-com.”
