June 11, OVO Hydro: The past few months have seen the US star become a bonafide festival headliner. On the first night of her UK arena tour, Doja’s rap packs more heft than her poppiest hits Make no mistake about it: you may look at Doja Cat , but you cannot touch. In the opening-night set for a string of UK arena dates, the LA-born artist raps, sings, twerks, and eye-contacts her audience into ecstasy, shrouded by flames and numerous hay bales apparently made from hair.
And yet throughout it all, she remains at an artfully controlled distance, pausing only once to directly address her crowd. “I won’t sing Hilary Duff this time”, she quips, referencing her attempt at Manchester’s Parklife to rally a nonplussed Gen Z crowd into a nostalgic singalong. “I’ve learnt my lesson there.
” In the last few years, Doja’s rise to arena-level fame has been fraught with several teaching moments. She’s been outspoken about social media and mental health, about parasocial relationships with fans, and about her decisions to use her fourth album ‘Scarlet’ to show that whilst she can do ‘cash grab’ R&B-pop with the best of them, her heart – and talent – truly lies in rap. In this spirit, her show begins with a pretty impeccable run.
‘Skull & Bones’, ‘Acknowledge Me’, ‘Shutcho’ and ‘WYM Freestyle’ blow most rappers’ entire pyro budget in a scene-setting 15 minutes. Before ‘Demons’, a giant braid descends from the ceiling, with a mic hanging fr.