INDIO, United States —
Doja Cat brought
headbanging, flames and the devil herself to Coachella’s main stage Sunday
night, serving a headliner-worthy performance for her solo debut at one of the
world’s most watched music festivals.
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Performing for thousands of screaming fans during
the final hours of the first weekend’s slew of featured artists, the
26-year-old dealt her hits in addition to dropping new material: her
forthcoming track “Vegas”, which samples the classic “Hound Dog”, is slated to
feature in Baz Luhrmann’s film “Elvis”.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, the performer spent
years in relative obscurity but caught industry attention on the music-sharing
site SoundCloud.
In 2019, she burst onto the global scene with her
sugary disco track “Say So”, whose glossy music video was an ode to SoCal in
all its warmly lit, poolside glory.
But the version Doja Cat delivered Sunday was a
rock-forward, punk-tinged rendition, striding across the stage as she
rap-growled out the originally bubble-gum bridge.
Donning thigh-high lace-up boots in iridescent pink,
she wore a yellow mini that just grazed her thighs and a studded harness bra
top with glittering flames.
The singer-rapper gripped her mike with a spiked
elbow-length glove, daring the crowd to take their eyes off her as they jumped
when she demanded they jump, screaming all the while.
Lasers, flames, shots
Doja Cat, born Amala Dlamini,
is the daughter of an American painter and the South African actor, composer
and producer Dumisani Dlamini.
US rapper Doja Cat performs onstage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, on April 17, 2022.
She dropped out of school at 16, devoting much of
her time to scouring the internet for beats and instrumentals she then crafted
into her own songs.
Doja Cat is beloved for her stagecraft, producing
hits both radio-friendly and TikTok-set. But mostly, it is her complete and
utter willingness to go there that’s made her a household name.
She has fostered an image as one of music’s
oddballs: a sexy, space-age, shimmering artist with a sharp sense of humor and
social media power that has seen her swiftly skate past controversy even when
she unleashes unfiltered – and sometimes offensive – gaffes.
Sunday’s performance was fresh off of her first
Grammy win, which she took home for “Kiss Me More”, her collaboration with SZA
that was the ubiquitous soundtrack of 2021.
The set was highly polished but still unafraid to
get weird, with a plethora of outfit changes – all of them barely there, all of
them booty-baring.
For her crescendoing rendition of “Tia Tamera” she
brought on rap’s punk rebel
Rico Nasty, the latter snarling in a devil costume
as she leered and pranced across the stage.
Earlier the stage had gone dark before Doja Cat
emerged in a zebra-print two-piece hot pant set with sashaying knee-high boots
that lent an air of Elton John.
“Go down, go down, go down, down, let me see you go
to town,” she trilled, a group of dancers dressed in Grinch-esque costume
gyrating around her.
Doja Cat closed the night with lasers and
pyrotechnics, leading her dancers in a raucous, leaping final frenzy – but not
before everyone onstage took shots.
“Coachella!” she shrieked.
“Thank you! I really can’t believe we’re here.”
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