Doja Cat has called out internet trolls making negative comments about her natural hair.
The rapper, 28, recently addressed critics in an Instagram Live after she had shared a close-up image of her curly hair for her forthcoming single, “MASC”. Speaking to fans, Doja Cat – real name Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini – slammed comments comparing her natural hair to “carpet” or “sheep’s wool”.
“I’m seeing a pattern. I’m seeing a consistent pattern in my comments section of people saying is my hair pubic hair, is it carpet, or is it sheep’s wool,” she said on Instagram Live, per Pop Crave. “And it’s not even questions… some people are being like, that’s what it is.”
Despite an ongoing movement encouraging Black women to embrace their natural hair texture, the “Paint The Town Red” rapper said she’s noticed comments from critics comparing her natural 4C hair pattern – which is characterised by tight curls and dense coils – “to sheep and pubes and carpet and popcorn and s*** like that.”
“We gotta move forward. Let’s move forward. Let’s grow,” she encouraged her followers. “I can’t tell you what to do. I’m not your f***ing parents. I don’t wanna say too much.”
This isn’t the first time Doja Cat has faced negative remarks for her appearance. In 2022, the “Woman” singer was forced to respond to online trolls after she shaved her head and her eyebrows. After debuting the major hair transformation, she shared her joy over her new look and told fans that she’d “never felt so f***ing happy”.
However, days later she claimed that those who criticised her hairstyle were only concerned with her being attractive sexually. “I won a Grammy and travelled the f**king globe, I’ve had a #1 and I went platinum. I make hit after hit after hit and you all want me to look f**kable for you … go f**k yourselves,” Doja Cat wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The “Say So” singer explained in an Instagram Live that she decided to shave her head because she “never liked having hair” and often felt frustrated with wigs, especially when having to exercise in the hair pieces. “I, like, don’t like having hair. I never liked having hair. I cannot tell you one time, since the beginning of my life, that I’ve ever been like: ‘This is cool,’” she told her followers. “I just do not like to have hair.”
She revealed that her wigs would constantly “start sliding and peeling off of my head” when she worked out, and that she was surprised it took her this long to shave her head.
“I’m really liking this… I’ve never felt so f***ing happy… It’s very funny how much of an effect taking my hair off my head has positively influenced me,” she continued, adding that her new hairstyle would allow her to enjoy activities such as swimming, surfing, and exercising without having to worry about her hair.
“This is just better, it’s a lot better,” she added.