After collaborating with artists like Ariana Grande and The Weeknd, Doja Cat seemingly has joint tracks down to a science. The songs she wrote with other artists were important in boosting her music. She even earned her first-ever No. 1 single for her Nicki Minaj “Say So” collaboration. But Doja Cat says collaborations can also hinder her artistry at a certain point, which is why her fans shouldn’t expect to hear her on many in the future.
Following up on her Planet Her album, Doja Cat sat down with Ebro Darden for Apple Music. During their conversation, Doja Cat explained that, going forward, she only wants to focus on career moves that give her energy.
“Sometimes I do stuff that maybe I don’t feel as excited about. I try not to do that, I do that maybe five, six percent of the time in my career,” she said. “But right now, I’m trying to do what I want to do for the most part. I want to really develop myself and not regret anything. I think I have to think more about what I’m doing now.”
Doja Cat continued that part of her artistic development includes focusing on her solo music and shying away from collaborations in the future:
“I like to say this a lot, but, Michael Jackson and Prince [were] not doing a lot of collabs all the time. They almost have no collabs. You look at that, and you’re like, they were doing fantastic without anybody. I like to, not compare myself — I definitely sound like I’m doing that but I’m not trying to — but that’s my bar. I want to focus on what is best for me. At this time and in this age, everybody is collabing. What happens is that things sound like mashups, like fan mashups. They’ll put Nick’s verse with Meg on ‘Kiss Me More’ or they’ll put my verse on ‘WAP’ or something. I don’t want it to feel like that anymore. I want it to feel very special, and very carefully done. So, I’m trying not to do as many collabs in the future. I think it’s important.”
Listen to Doja Cat’s full interview with Ebro Darden on Apple Music above.
Planet Her is out now via RCA. Get it here.
Doja Cat is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.