Doja Cat had previously been reluctant to comment on her work with Dr. Luke, the producer accused of sexual abuse and assault by Kesha, but in a new Rolling Stone cover story, she revealed her feelings toward her collaborator — including that she doesn’t intend to work with him in the future. “I haven’t worked with him in a very long time,†she told the magazine. The rapper and singer, born Amala Dlamini, continued, “I don’t think I need to work with him again. I don’t think I need to work with him in the future. I know that.†Doja Cat has faced criticism over the past few years for her work. As recently as this year, Luke, a.k.a. Lukasz Gottwald, had writing credits on three songs off her album Planet Her, as well as production credits on two of those. And in 2020, her song “Say So†became Luke’s first No. 1 hit since Kesha’s allegations (which he has denied), and has been credited with reviving his career.
Doja further cast doubt on some of Luke’s contributions to her music. “There’s shit that he’s credited for, where I’m like, ‘Hmm, I don’t know, I don’t know if you did anything on that,’†she said. A representative for Luke told Rolling Stone the producer “is very proud of Amala and the work they have done together.†And a followup statement to Rolling Stone, sent by a representative on behalf of Doja Cat, insisted that “the credits on my music are accurate.†The statement added, “I just want to be clear that I have no firsthand knowledge of that being the case and I don’t want to participate in the rumor mill.†The discussion of Luke’s contributions to Doja’s music comes six weeks ahead of the Grammys, where Doja is nominated for eight awards and Luke shares in three of those, including Album of the Year (for Planet Her (Deluxe)), Song of the Year (for “Kiss Me More,†featuring SZA), and Best Rap Song (for “Best Friend,†with Saweetie).
The Rolling Stone cover story also included less-serious new details about Doja, including that Alexis Haines, of “Bling Ring†burglaries fame, used to babysit her growing up, and that she’s developing a cooking show à la Action Bronson’s Fuck, That’s Delicious. Elsewhere in the story, Doja also expanded on her recent, since-deleted tweets that she’s “never not working†and “fucking tired.†She insisted to the magazine she’s “really fine.†“There was a lot of shit going on, and I needed to vent a little bit,†she added. “But obviously Twitter is not the best place to talk about that.â€