Coachella 2022: Doja Cat’s Choreographer Confirmed Her Performance Was Inspired by Nicki Minaj
Grammy-winning rapper Doja Cat is known for her over-the-top performances and unique persona behind the music. But despite how laidback she may seem, Doja is a hard worker, and is highly dedicated to her music and her performances. So when she had the opportunity to perform at Coachella, she had to deliver a show that fans would never forget.
Doja Cat’s rise to fame
Doja Cat has been releasing music for the better part of a decade, but the California-bred rapper’s mainstream breakout came in the past few years. Her 2018 debut album Amala introduced her to audiences with songs like “Tia Tamera” and “Mooo!” Her 2019 follow-up Hot Pink showed that she was an artist with massive potential for success across several genres, with hit singles including “Juicy,” “Rules,” “Cyber Sex,” and her No. 1 song “Say So.”
In 2021, Doja released her third album, Planet Her, to widespread acclaim. The lead single, “Kiss Me More,” won Doja her first-ever Grammy Award, and she continued her pop-rap domination with songs like “Need to Know,” “Woman,” and “Get Into It (Yuh).”
Doja Cat performed at Coachella
As one of the hottest new artists in hip-hop of the past few years, it’s only natural that Doja Cat received a prime performance spot at Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.
Doja Cat performed all of her hit songs throughout her set. But she didn’t do it without putting on a show: just like with her other performances, she incorporated drama and choreography into her numbers.
Doja Cat’s choreography paid tribute to Nicki Minaj
When Doja Cat started performing “Get Into It (Yuh),” she was standing on one leg while she grabbed her other behind her head. The pose resembled one that Nicki Minaj did in her music video for her 2012 single “Stupid Hoe.”
The choice to include the move was no accident. Doja’s choreographer, Fullout Cortland, confirmed on his Instagram Stories that it was indeed a tribute to the “Anaconda” rapper.
“Did y’all peep the Nicki Minaj reference in Doja Cat performance last night?” he wrote with side-by-side photos of the two artists. “If we gonna pay homage, we gonna do it right.”
Nicki Minaj and Doja Cat teamed up for the ‘Say So’ remix
As someone who looked up to Minaj for years, Doja has spoken openly in the past about how much Minaj means to her. “It’s pretty obvious that I’m in love with everything Nicki Minaj has put out into the world,” she once told Billboard. “You have your Janets and your Beyoncés. I look at [other artists’] projects and performances and go, ‘Wow, I hope one day I get to that point.’”
In 2020, Minaj blessed Doja with a guest verse on a remix of her smash single “Say So.” The song ended up reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming both Nicki and Doja’s first No. 1 hit.
