Doja Cat has transformed from being a viral hit into a Grammy-nominated artist in just a couple of years. She managed to take advantage of her online presence and gain worldwide fame successfully even during a global pandemic. Here are some key takeaways from Doja Cat’s breakout story.
Her first video went viral
Doja Cat’s debut single ‘So High’ was initially self-published on her SoundCloud. It gathered the attention of several leaders in the industry, and she got signed with a record label that helped her launch her music album.
A studio version of the song was then re-released with a music video which was a viral hit. The video continues to be one of her most viewed videos on her channel, currently clocking over 44 million views. The song also went on to be featured on the TV series ‘Empire’. This led to her gaining a lot of popularity and following across various platforms.
She parodied herself and created a viral meme
A lot of her success can be attributed to her viral YouTube video – ‘Moo!’ in August 2018. A song created in under a day using a wacky cow costume, a green screen and some absurd graphics, ‘Moo!’ has everything you’d expect in a viral meme.
The song is an extreme earworm that can remain in your head for days. She initially just dropped a snippet of it on Twitter, which gained enough responses from her followers that she published the whole video on YouTube. Creating this demand via Twitter was key to the video going viral almost instantly.
She deciphered what music goes viral on TikTok
It isn’t a mere coincidence that all of her songs go viral on TikTok. Her music has unique hooks and repetitive sequences that instantly get retained in your memory, much like how nursery rhymes have repetitive music to make kids learn them easily. All of her songs, especially ‘Say So’ and ‘Kiss Me More’ have been used in millions of TikTok videos.
She included famous TikTok trends in her music videos
‘Streets’ was extensively used in the popular ‘Silhouette challenge’ trend, and Doja Cat even went on to recreate the trend in her official music video for ‘Streets’. TikTok star Haley Sharpe, who created the now famous ‘Say So’ dance was also featured in the official music video of ‘Say So’. By doing this, Doja Cat acknowledged the popularity of her songs on TikTok and used the trends skillfully in the music videos.
As she continued dropping more bops, Doja Cat also collaborated with other famous artists and featured in their songs. Some of her earliest collaborations were with Anne-Marie, The Weeknd and Ariana Grande. She truly leveraged her reach in multiple social media platforms to become who she is today. Her unique journey has paved the way for many more aspiring artists worldwide.
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(Header image credit: dojacat via Instagram)