Doja Cat Is My Favorite Performer Right Now

Doja has power, Doja has dazzle, but what is she doing with it?

Anyone who follows me regularly will probably be saying “WTF?” after reading this headline. That’s because Doja exemplifies all that I detest in the mainstream music industry, except… that’s not totally true. Yes, I believe her lyrical content and ever-escalating hyper-sexualization is toxic and a danger to society. (Her latest song is called Wet Vagina and I checked the lyrics, there’s no subtext other than an ego-trip.) However, between most of the charting acts of the ’20s, I have yet to be astounded and captivated by any other performing artist in the way and at the level that I am captivated by Doja.

When Doja debuted I brushed her off and paid no attention because I knew it was media I did not want to consume. I still don’t consume it. But my god, I have to give her props for her chops. She is an expert at focused and serious performing. While most artists are doubling down on not taking themselves seriously, Doja is tapping into  higher consciousness to move and present herself in the way that she does. I’ll remind you that this is not excusing the loads of toxicity that comes through that portal she is, but that portal is fiery. It’s no wonder she continues to grow and captivate fans across the world.

Doja Don’t Need Dazzle, She Is Dazzle

I first got a taste of her live show from her performance at the 2024 Grammys.  It took only a few moments to realize (and be honest with myself) that I was captivated. This never happens. It takes  a lot to draw me in because I see through all the fanfare and facade that most artists ride on these days. Not Doja. While her stage show production is explosive, she would not need it to maintain that captivation. It supports her, not the other way around. This is how most recording and performing artists were for most of history. They were the show, while the fireworks, theatrics, dancers and lights were accentuating that which already was. Doja is the dazzle. The dazzle isn’t Doja.

I’m getting to my main point here. I’m constantly critiquing the mainstream for it’s lack of originality and true, from-the-heart expressive artistry. The magic is just gone from most artists themselves these days. Everyone’s just playing the game. Yet, through the recurring muck and blandness of the mainstream, there are still glimmers of that artistry that once was standard. Doja is a glimmer of hope that there is still soul-connecting, intense and gripping performance art to be found in the mainstream. Doja, the artist, is exemplary of the utmost level of skill in the art of recording and performing. Doja has true power inside of her. That is credit where credit is due. Now, I pose this question:

Doja, will you use your power for good?

If you are capable of conveying messages so explicitly and with such vigor and intention, why not use that power to share something truly positive for your listeners? Something from the heart and not the ego? Being the empowered artist you are, I believe it is in you.

Tom Macdonald Had A… Firearm?

My other favorite performer right now is an independent yet hugely successful artist named Tom Macdonald. No, he did not have a farm. He had a dream and pulled himself from the gutter to where he is now; he made it happen.

I discovered Tom on YouTube about a year ago. I think it was his video for the song “Music Industry.” I was again instantly captivated and astounded by his scathing, illuminating lyrics and presence on camera. Tom is intense. He focused. He is aggressive and ambitious. Tom speaks truth to power, but he does it from a place of anger.

I am not invalidating anger, in fact, anger is an important emotion – it’s just misunderstood by modern society and most people don’t have control of it. (I’m only just getting the hang of it.) Tom’s message comes across like sniper. It jumps through the screen and into your mind and/or heart. His messages are productive and illuminating, and I have virtually no criticism of Tom – which I hope helps people understand more of how I perceive and  judge music and artists; I give credit where credit is due, but the straight up hard-truth is that there isn’t a lot of credit due these days. Hence why I am more critical than approving of most mainstream (or generally popular) music.

Still, while this question isn’t for Tom directly, it’s one I ask the world and lately it’s where I see myself fitting in the landscape of music:

Will any artist speak truth to power from a perspective of hope and lightness?

That’s not to diminish or ask to censor anger and darkness. This is a dualistic world. You cannot have light without dark. The universe itself may be of oneness, but this world is not. We have up and down, East and West, yin and yang, light and dark. I want to be the yin to Tom Macdonald’s yang. I want to be the light crusader to Tom’s dark heroism. I believe together, coming from both anger and darkness and light and hope, we can overcome the wholly dark and nefarious forces driving society today. So Tom, will you do a song with me? A song that embodies both anger and hope combined for the greater purpose of enlightening the masses and sounding the alarm that the autocratic, technocratic, bureaucratic, chauvinistic, capitalistic leaders’ days are numbered? If not, that’s cool. I appreciate what you’re doing.

I’m Doing It

I am putting all of my energy and lifeforce into being that figure, that artist, that musical revolutionary; a light crusader in a sea of dark soldiers. To those reading this, I hope you join me. And if not, at least I hope this stirred up some deep or complex feelings about your life, life on this planet and/or how the media and music is playing a much larger role than most realize or want to admit.

Stay rising.

– Chad