9 Most Shocking Revelations From Doja Cat’s Vogue Cover Story

Chloe Malle’s Vogue just dropped their April cover and this month the glossy is fronted by none other than musician and fashion provocateur Doja Cat! The issue includes some very cool photos by Willy Vanderperre (styled by Carlos Nazario) and a sprawling 4000-word profile by Liam Hess that touches on a whole bunch of stuff from Doja Cat’s past and present — from her restrictive upbringing to her toxic relationship with social media. These are the things that most stood out to us.

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1. Her pre-show ritual involves Johnnie Walker Blue Label whiskey.
“I’ll have one shot before a show if I’m feeling good…that’s the goal,” she tells Vogue‘s Liam Hess. “High spirits and positive thoughts.”

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2. She sometimes takes steroids to make it through her shows.
“Obviously they’re not great for you,” she says. “They make you feel like the Hulk.”

3. She’s still signed to Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe Records.
She signed in 2012 — before Kesha sued Dr. Luke in 2014 for sexual assault, battery, and emotional abuse — and continued to work with him through 2021.

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4. Her friends call her Alama or Ami.
Her stage name may be Doja Cat, but her given name is Amala Dlamini.

5. She grew up at a Hindu ashram in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Her parents moved her there when she was six and she spent years adhering to strict rules, attending meditations, and wearing modest clothing.

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6. Her best friend seems to be her hair stylist Jared Henderson.
Not only is he with her on set and througout her tour, he’s also her favorite person to hang out with when she’s home in LA. “You’re the only person that I drive all the way up the 101 for,” says Henderson.

7. She goes online to seek out criticisms of herself even though she knows it’s unhealthy. 
“Artists in general…we can be quite critical of ourselves,” she says, but when she sees a comment criticizing something she was already insecure about she feels validated, if unhappy. “That’s a moment of, See, I was right… You feel you’re more in control in a sense. ‘I’ve got it all figured out. I can’t sing. I’ve got it all figured out. I am ugly. I got it all figured out. I got cankles’… It’s a useless way to spend your time. It doesn’t do anything for you other than entertain a part of you that was built during your childhood, a part of you that is stuck in the past.”

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8. Her favorite part of her current relationship: “I love when they leave.”
“This is what therapy has done for me,” she says. “It’s allowed me to be away and be at peace without being like, ‘I need tarot cards. I need an answer. Text me.’ I don’t do any of that anymore. It’s very nice.”

9. Her favorite fashion brands right now are Phoebe Philo, Khaite, and Proenza Schouler.
That’s right, the artist with the cat prosthetics has turned into something of a minimalist. “It’s just as exciting as when I was wearing cat ears and go-go boots and crazy, silly, whimsical stuff.”

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