未见其人，先闻其声。我站在悉尼库多斯银行竞技场地下室的荧光灯下，保安严密注视着四周。紧闭的门后飘来Doja Cat开嗓练声的旋律：“噢——噢——噢——噢——噢！”她的助理闪身而出，朝我竖起大拇指，领我走进一间如网球场般宽敞的化妆间，黑色丝绒帘幕覆盖着墙壁。琶音练习仍在继续——“啦——啦——啦——啦——啦——啦——啦！”——随后，当我的到来被通报时，Doja丝滑灵动的嗓音骤然转为戏剧学院派式的颤音：“我喜欢性——感——猛——男！”

房间远端角落的黑色仿皮沙发后，一顶鲜艳的Ziggy Stardust风格假发如潜望镜般倏然探出，Doja开始打量我。她身材娇小而健美，走到房间中央，俯身以瑜伽姿势握住脚趾，随即如蚱蜢般轻盈跃入化妆椅。她吸了一口冰蓝色的电子烟，对着镶满灯泡的化妆镜摆出戏剧化的姿势。我在她身旁的椅子坐下，在背景播放列表从Heidi Montag的冷门曲目切换到英国限制级说唱歌手Ceechynaa那首华丽俗艳的单曲时，询问她下午过得如何。“我感染了衣原体、梅毒、淋病和疱疹，”她面无表情地抛出台词，顺手打开桌面加湿器，喷出一团戏剧性的雾气。听起来很忙？“噢没错，”她答道，“非常充实的一天。”

此时距圣诞节还有几周，Doja正在澳大利亚进行她世界巡演的第五场（因需求火爆临时加演第六场），这场巡演旨在推广她于九月发行的第五张专辑《Vie》——这张玩味十足、融合多种风格的专辑巧妙混合了1980年代的R&B、流行乐与放克元素，向Prince、珍妮·杰克逊、华丽摇滚及德国朋克歌手Nina Hagen致敬，凸显了Doja在创作机敏（有时略显无厘头）歌词、打造惊艳旋律以及驾驭双关语密集段落方面的才华。《Vie》的发布伴随着Doja又一次彻底的自我重塑，此次她化身高能量八十年代时尚偶像，身着Claude Montana、伊夫·圣罗兰等品牌的档案珍藏单品。舞台上，她佩戴金色鲻鱼头假发，穿着力量感垫肩外套、动物纹印花服饰，涂抹如Antonio Lopez插画中走出的万花筒般迷离烟熏眼影。

她的发型师贾里德·亨德森（一位被称为@JStayReady的俏皮假发专家）取下她头上的软帽，开始按摩她的头皮。（“得给这颗瓜补水，”他低声念叨。）Doja倾向加湿器；她已经有些不适了。“不知道是旧病尾声还是新染了什么，但这感觉非常……”她停顿片刻寻找合适的词，“烦人.com。”

几小时后，Doja将在15000名粉丝面前完成两小时不间断的演出，几乎无暇饮水。当她踏上阶梯高歌《Vie》中受明尼阿波利斯之声启发的开场曲《Cards》时，全场沸腾。热门单曲接连上演：《Kiss Me More》《Woman》《Paint the Town Red》——这些作品助力她成为史上唱片销量第三高的女说唱歌手，仅次于妮琪·米娜和卡迪·B（Doja的19项格莱美提名已超越二者）。

环顾四周，我注意到Doja的粉丝们头戴毛茸猫耳、彩色假发与牛耳头饰——后者呼应她2018年爆红单曲《Mooo!》。女孩们穿着紧身豹纹短裙，男孩们身着霓虹色露脐上衣，全员妆容精致。在竞技场高层，我看到两位Z世代穆斯林头巾女性正热情跟唱她首张专辑中的《Tia Tamera》，这首歌将《姐妹姐妹》中的双胞胎与Doja身体某个常被炫耀的部位相提并论。

流行表演者的职责是让观众尽享狂欢，即便她本人状态不佳。Doja在此领域的掌控力令人惊叹。“肾上腺素有帮助，”她告诉我，她五英尺三英寸的身躯在化妆椅上蜷缩着。“如果情况不妙，你可以服用类固醇。当然这对身体不好，会让你感觉像绿巨人。昨天我硬撑下来了，所以今天感觉糟透了。”

Doja从齿间扯出一缕亨德森正在修剪的霓虹绿假发丝。她是否将此刻所做之事——以及直至2026年底的漫长巡演日程——视为一场流行演唱会？“我不太确定流行演唱会究竟是什么了，”她回答，同时礼貌地招呼助理要求一杯蓝标威士忌。“如果感觉不错，演出前我会喝一杯……这是目标，”她解释道，“保持高昂情绪和积极心态。”

那么这就是她对精彩流行演唱会的定义吗？逆势而上全力拼搏？“不，”她坚定地说，“我认为流行乐可以承载任何表达。”

几周后，我与Doja的朋友兼长期合作者、艺术家SZA交谈。“她做任何事都处于极高水准，”SZA如此评价Doja，“她的情感表达、舞台表演皆如此。她的精准度、无畏精神、自由灵魂……精准与自由通常难以共存，但在她身上实现了。”

这种无畏精神至少部分源于Doja非传统的成长经历。她原名Amala Dlamini（亲近之人都称她Amala或Ami），父亲是南非舞者兼演员Dumisani Dlamini，母亲是从事平面设计的纽约本地人Deborah Sawyer。两人于九十年代初在Dlamini百老汇演出期间相识，但Dlamini返回南非后，Sawyer带着Doja和她的弟弟搬入威彻斯特郡的父母家。几年后，Doja六岁时，他们再次搬迁——这次前往圣莫尼卡山脉，加入由爵士音乐家兼精神领袖Alice Coltrane领导的修行社区。Doja在那里成长，吟唱印度教赞歌并表演传统印度舞蹈。毋庸赘言，修行生活——严格戒律、每周冥想、朴素衣着——对青春期的Doja并不轻松。她的挫败感最终促使Sawyer举家迁往更富裕的加州橡树公园社区。Doja十六岁辍学，躲进卧室吸食大麻、浏览网络聊天室，同时尝试在YouTube和SoundCloud上发现的节奏上即兴说唱。“我当时完全患有广场恐惧症，”她回忆道，“无法离开家。”

追溯Doja Cat的崛起之路，某种程度上也是梳理音乐产业与互联网之间错综复杂且常具争议的关系。2012年，深陷隐居期的Doja上传了R&B迷幻小调《So High》，引爆博客圈，并由此与Dr. Luke的Kemosabe唱片公司签约（Doja与该厂牌的合作关系仍在持续，但自2021年起未再与Dr. Luke合作——音乐人Kesha于2014年起诉Dr. Luke性侵、殴打及精神虐待）。Doja的首张专辑《Amala》（2018年发行，她后来称因厂牌压力仓促完成）反响平平，直至数月后她自主发布病毒式单曲《Mooo!》——配以她身穿奶牛纹露脐装、鼻孔插薯条的搞笑视频——才开始积累线上粉丝群。第二张专辑《Hot Pink》于2019年问世，其中单曲《Say So》成为Doja最大热单，主要得益于TikTok上病毒式舞蹈挑战使其风靡全球。

当时无人能估量她的受众增长有多迅猛。“这太他妈诡异了，”她现在说道，“我收到了脱口秀表演邀约，收到了童年时常观看的节目邀约。”但她生平首次获得自主权，并在洛杉矶拥有了属于自己的家。“我有钱了，”她说，“有钱的感觉很好，能拥有公寓的感觉很好。这对我而言是真正的解放。”

然而，Doja几乎没给自己时间享受这一切。2021年，她发行《Planet Her》，获得八项格莱美提名，成为年度最畅销专辑之一。彼时，她已感到焦躁不安，并对人们质疑其说唱才华的行为感到恼火。于是，她以叛逆之举剃光头发眉毛，在背部纹上巨大的蝙蝠骨架，并于2023年发布《Scarlet》。专辑包含单曲《Attention》，这首激烈的嘻哈曲目直指任何可能低估她的人。这种刻意大胆的风格是她需要表达的吗？“我认为是的，”她说。

这一阶段紧随又一次重置而来。在快节奏职业生涯中，Doja首次休整，退居洛杉矶郊区。她享受，用她的话说，“隐居生活”——品酒、玩《堡垒之夜》、浏览网络汲取灵感。如今她将这些静默期视为自我关怀的方式。“重新激活我的创意骨骼，”她如此描述。“在家时，我只和我的猫在一起，”她说道，将她的空间形容为“大量黑色、大量哥特元素、大量铁艺，略带粗野主义、工业风及后现代意大利风格”。

“她实际上是一位非常孤僻的明星，”SZA指出，“我认为她有意屏蔽了自身的某些面向。而当她选择展现这些时，那将是一份礼物。”这一特质始终存在，她母亲在电话中告诉我。“她就是如此富有创造力——无论接触什么，都能精通，”Sawyer回忆Doja隐居的少年时期，那时女儿在卧室里自学歌曲创作和音乐制作。“她从头自学了所有这些。她关着房门待在屋里，不断创作。”

或许不足为奇，Doja在最亲密的圈子里最为自在。这包括她的经纪人Gordan Dillard和Josh Kaplan，以及自2019年起合作、佩戴钻石耳钉的俏皮创意总监Brett Alan Nelson（“我最好的朋友和姐妹，”Nelson说，“我愿意为她挡车”），还有她造型团队中的其他几位成员。当我问Doja在家乡与谁交往时，她露出歉意的微笑指向亨德森。“我最喜欢的日子是你对我说‘过来吧，我想打扮一下’的时候。”亨德森边翻找装满发饰的包边笑道：“你是唯一让我特地开车上101公路的人。”

“我非常非常幸运拥有现在的团队，拥有理解我、也理解他们自己的人，”Doja说。次日，团队前往悉尼塔龙加动物园看望考拉。“我们并非言谈一致，着装也截然不同，但我们深爱彼此。我想这是因为我们欣赏这些差异，”她说道，随后从随行美妆大师Ivan Núñez手中接过化妆刷，开始自行涂抹眼影。

那天的原计划是我陪同Doja在酒店晨练。因自觉病重无法训练，她建议改为购物——去她最爱的澳大利亚美妆店Mecca。“加强版丝芙兰，”她告诉我，走出酒店步入灼热的澳洲夏日阳光。她身着皮夹克、荷叶边短裙，舞蹈发带束起黑色卷曲假发，肩挎The Row手袋。Doja引我上车，愉快地说“我们可以当淘气孩子”。

乘车途中，她递给我一颗润喉糖，随即讲述她梦见吞下蠕虫的噩梦。但一到店内，气氛骤变。Doja正欢快地将Mario Badescu面部喷雾加入购物篮，忽见有人远处拍照， visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly visibly 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