Doja Cat Revisits Pop on Upcoming Album ‘Vie’

Doja Cat is returning to pop music, but with a clearer sense of purpose and creative direction. In an interview with V Magazine published Tuesday, July 1, the artist explained that her upcoming album Vie is a pop project, even after previously expressing frustration with the genre.

In 2023, she was openly critical of pop, telling V, “Pop isn’t exciting to me anymore. I don’t wanna make it.” She also dismissed her earlier albums Planet Her and Hot Pink as “cash-grabs.” Now, she’s taking a different approach. “I do want to be self-aware enough to admit the fact that this is a pop-driven project,” she said. “I know that I can make pop music, and pop is just that—it’s popular.”

The concept of Vie centers on love, romance, and relationships—not just with others, but also with oneself. Doja described the album as hopeful and future-facing. “[Vie] is very much about love in a way that reflects how I want it to be in the future—my hope, my hopefulness. What I hope it could be.”

While she acknowledged that many songs today focus on heartbreak or being “sick of men,” she said only one track on Vie reflects that sentiment. Instead, the album leans into a broader emotional range and personal reflection.

Although Doja is returning to pop, she hasn’t abandoned rap. She said she’ll be rapping throughout the project and is bringing a deeper understanding of her vocal abilities into the studio. “I have a lot more knowledge of how to use my voice as an instrument, more than I ever have in my life,” she said.

She also spoke about how pop music is sometimes viewed as less serious or less respectable. “It starts to become a bit of a thing that’s viewed as a sport by people who are just bystanders to it, who enjoy it, but maybe also don’t respect it or what it is, which is just music,” she said. “There are some people who don’t see it as music. They see it as if this is some kind of football for girls and gays.”

Rather than chasing hits, Doja is focused on the technical side of her music. “I want to focus more on: how does the mix sound? Do I even need these instruments here? Do I need to recut this verse?” she told V Magazine. “It’s how things sound that makes the music worth listening to. I would not be an artist if I didn’t care, right?”

She also shared a more grounded view of success, saying she’s no longer measuring herself strictly by numbers. “If for any reason a project of mine does a little less good than the last one, I don’t want to be up in arms and upset about it,” she said. “I want to embrace that.”

Vie is expected to be released later this year.