Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, otherwise known as Doja Cat is an American rap and pop music artist from Los Angeles, California. Known for her songs such as “Say So” or “Kiss Me More”. She rose to accidental fame after her release of “Mooo!” in 2018. She’s become more and more relevant over the past few years in many situations, most regarding her reputation and the rumors of her religious beliefs and peculiar behavior. Speculation and debate arose based on her possible downfall. Her new single, “Demons” released on 8/31 and both fans and haters are debating over if this is her gradual rise to a new peak in music or her rapid downfall.
In this new era of music, celebrities often try to distinguish themselves and to boost their attention and relevancy by integrating what some might label as demonic affiliation or implied demonic worship into their work. Celebrities use this as a tactic from time to time to also throw shade towards their haters and negative theorists after they are accused of being associated with such things. Smith, Petras, and others all did it because of the accusations and rumors of these celebrities having demonic worship. However, in reality, it's often just poetic and creative irony created by these artists, sometimes fueled by internet rumors or concerns over elements of pop culture. Some celebrities such as Kim Petras and Sam Smith, and others have performed with this sense of creativity as a response to their backlash. Smith and Petras dressed as demons during the 2023 Grammy performance, which caused an uproar with many people calling them evil, demonic, and threatening. Amala followed suit and began to follow this sense of poetic irony in her own work after she began to experience backlash because of her peculiar behavior, but could she be doing it wrong?
Throughout the new era of Doja Cat, several depictions of the devil and occult symbolism were seen covering most of her work. From “Attention” to “Demons”, there's been many sightings of this demonic-like aesthetic. Although Amala’s creativity is strong here, it seems to infuriate a few fans with strong religious beliefs, and others think that she's playing too hard into the role and going overboard. Most celebrities participating in this modern demonic craze have done a singular performance to brush off the speculations and theories surrounding them, but Amala has clearly been doing this for some time ever since late Spring of 2023. Some people think that Amala may be going too far with this situation. Rather than being a one-day thing, it’s been a more widespread situation throughout her work that seems to taint her entire personality and reputation. Although most of it is symbolic to her thoughts, maybe she should at least tone it down and find another way to represent her creativity, rather than this controversial topic, especially since this negative energy is spreading into her work.
The song “Demons” was released on August 31st. From the first few seconds of the song, fans began to realize how wildly different this song is from her older works. Rather than an overall chill or peaceful beat and confident lyrics, the song featured lyrics that some felt as selfish or random paired with a loud, ear-jarring beat. “(Amala’s) older raps and rock-style music like “Attention” or “Celebrity Skin” would still have a laid-back vibe and confident energy, but “Demons” has something I’ve never seen in her previous works. This just doesn't feel like the Doja Cat we used to know.” says a fan. Some people believe that this new release could seal her career's fate, and the chances of this happening are incredibly high.
At first, a large portion of her fanbase ceased after she attended the Schiaparelli Spring-Summer 2023 dressed in a full red outfit, including her own skin after the speculation of her being demonic. Later, “Attention” was released and the music video depicted a strange alter-ego of Doja Cat which many also took as demonic, not to mention the rise of speculation when it came to her being with the Illuminati and other controversial organizations once this strange era began. Then, Amala faced her cancellation after she admitted to not liking her fans, and lastly the disturbing and conflicting work of “Demons”. Although Amala has been more authentic and expressive in her work, it is clear that she is gradually falling to her downfall with the events that keep occurring in her life.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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