Doja Cat is reconsidering her partnership with the controversial producer who assisted her to break into the mainstream after starting her career mixing up beats and rhymes in her teenage bedroom a decade ago and then exploding up into a global superstar during the pandemic. In a lengthy Rolling Stone profile, Amala Dlamini, a singer by birth, says she no longer plans to collaborate with hitmaker Dr. Luke, while also questioning (and then denying) how much of a hand he had in creating her songs.
The documentary follows the rapper/singer’s rise in 2020/21, including eight of her Grammy nominations this year, and also her past controversial social media posts and her response to those who doubt her hip-hop skills.
But, among the now-familiar stops at her backstory — growing up without contact with her father, shifting to a commune led by jazz legend Alice Coltrane in the Santa Monica mountains with her mother as a child, and then struggles with ADHD — the story delves into an area the star has not previously discussed.
“I haven’t worked with him in a very long time,” she said of Luke, before implying that there’s more to a “lot” of the tracks they’ve worked on together in the past.
After getting some buzz from her early online tracks, Doja — through her producer Yeti — got signed to Kemosabe Records; the RCA imprint is run by Dr. Luke, who has been embroiled in a long-running legal battle with Kesha over her claims that he sexually and mentally abused her during their time of working together. Luke has rejected the allegations and retaliated with a defamation suit against Kesha; Kesha’s case against Luke was dismissed in 2016, but Luke’s countersuit is still active.
Despite the fact that Doja had never spoken publicly about her working relationship with Luke, the two had been linked for almost her entire public career. Purrr!, Kemosabe’s debut EP, was released in 2014, and the single “So High” gained Doja some mainstream recognition. That was followed by several years of creative limbo brought on by Doja’s formerly copious, creatively stifling weed use. Luke’s (born Lukasz Gottwald) court battle with Kesha erupted shortly after Doja joined Kemosabe; a representative for the producer declined to comment for the RS piece and has not responded to Billboard’s request for comment at press time.
Though his career stopped for several years due to his legal battle with Kesha, the formerly high-flying producer was nominated for a Grammy in 2020 for his work and efforts on Doja’s track “Say So” and has three more nominations this year, such as two for his production on Doja’s breakthrough Planet Her album. Saweetie’s female empowerment track “Best Friend,” which includes Doja, has Luke’s writing credits; Saweetie has reportedly stated that she will not collaborate with Luke again.
