Amala (album)

Amala is the debut studio album by American singer and rapper Doja Cat, released on March 30, 2018 via Kemosabe and RCA Records. The album's deluxe version was released on March 1, 2019 and featured her breakthrough singles "Juicy", "Tia Tamera" and "Mooo!".[3] Doja Cat herself has expressed strong disdain toward the record, claiming that it doesn't entirely represent her as an artist.[4] She has also stated that she believes it isn't a "finished album" and that constantly partying and being high on marijuana while recording did not help this cause.[5][6]

Amala
Studio album by
Doja Cat
ReleasedMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Recorded2016–2018
StudioThe Himalayas (Los Angeles, California)
Genre
Length45:13
Label
Producer
Doja Cat chronology
Purrr!
(2014)		 Amala
(2018)		 Hot Pink
(2019)
Deluxe edition cover
Singles from Amala
  1. "Go to Town"
    Released: March 9, 2018
  2. "Candy"
    Released: March 23, 2018
  3. "Mooo!"
    Released: August 31, 2018
  4. "Tia Tamera"
    Released: January 31, 2019

Upon release, Amala was initially a commercial failure, and was largely ignored by critics.[2][7][8][9] Only later in August 2018 would Doja Cat and her existing repertoire gain attention as her novelty song "Mooo!" attained virality as an internet meme.[3][10] Songs such as "Candy" and "Juicy" gained traction and later influenced Amala becoming somewhat a sleeper hit after it debuted on the Billboard 200 chart in August 2019. Amala would rise on the chart to peak at number 138 as Doja Cat released her second studio album, Hot Pink, in November 2019.

Background and release

On March 27, 2018, Doja Cat's label announced the album via Twitter. In addition to announcing the release date of the album, they also revealed the title of the project and its cover.[11] When "Roll With Us" was released in February 2018 as the first promotional single, the album was originally titled Baby.

Singles

"Roll With Us" was released as the album's sole promotional single on February 1, 2018,[12] and entered the Spotify's Global Viral 50 chart upon release.[13] The album's lead single, titled "Go To Town", was released on March 9, 2018 along with a music video.[13][14] Doja Cat further went on to promote the single by appearing on Genius' show "Verified".[15]

A week before the album's release, "Candy", was released as the album's second single on March 23, 2018.[16] Only a year later would the track become a sleeper hit after a dance challenge on the app TikTok went viral in late 2019.[17] Consequently, the single charted in countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, the latter having the song peak at 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming her first solo entry on the chart.[18]

The song "Mooo!" was originally released on August 10, 2018 exclusively to YouTube as a music video. The track would be the first of Doja's to become a viral phenomenon,[19][20] and would eventually surpass over eighty million views on YouTube as of October 2020. The track was subsequently released commercially on streaming services,[21] and would later serve as the first single off the deluxe edition of the album.[22] The second single from the deluxe edition (fourth overall), titled "Tia Tamera", was released on January 31, 2019 as a collaboration with American rapper Rico Nasty.[23] A music video was released on February 21, 2019.[24]

Track listing

Credits adapted from Tidal.

Amala track listing[25]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Go to Town"
  • Tizhimself
  • Yeti Beats[a]
3:37
2."Cookie Jar"
3:19
3."Roll With Us"
  • Dlamini
  • Chahayed
  • Sprecher
  • Powell
  • Yeti Beats
  • Tizhimself
  • Chahayed
3:00
4."Wine Pon You" (featuring Konshens)
Yeti Beats3:39
5."Fancy"
  • Dlamini
  • Sprecher
  • Yeti Beats
  • Doja Cat
2:59
6."Wild Beach"
  • Dlamini
  • Collins
  • Sprecher
  • Elizabeth Paige Getz
  • Terence Coles
  • Troy Nöka
  • Yeti Beats
3:24
7."Morning Light"
  • Dlamini
  • Sprecher
  • Cameron Bartolini
  • Aaron Miller
  • Aaron Harmon
  • Jordan Reyes
  • Yeti Beats
  • Cambo
3:59
8."Candy"
  • Yeti Beats
  • Budo
  • Cambo[b]
3:10
9."Game"
  • Dlamini
  • Adrian Eccleston
  • Sprecher
  • Bartolini
  • Yeti Beats
  • Adrian X
3:15
10."Casual"
  • Dlamini
  • Getz
  • Carlos "Los Hendrix" Munoz
  • Collins
  • Sprecher
  • Troy Nöka
  • Yeti Beats
4:00
11."Down Low"
  • Dlamini
  • Christian Quirante
  • Bartolini
  • Cambo
  • Alizzz
3:31
12."Body Language"
  • Dlamini
  • Bartolini
  • Rytchi Pronzola
  • Richie Beats
  • Cambo[a]
4:05
13."All Nighter"
  • Dlamini
  • Sprecher
  • Doja Cat
  • Yeti Beats[a]
3:13
Total length:45:13
Amala — Deluxe version (bonus tracks)[26]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
14."Juicy"
  • Yeti Beats
  • Tyson Trax
3:20
15."Tia Tamera" (featuring Rico Nasty)
3:32
16."Mooo!"
  • Doja Cat
  • Troy Nöka[a]
  • Yeti Beats[a]
4:45
Total length:56:10

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies a co-producer
  • ^[b] signifies an additional producer

Charts
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australia Hitseekers (ARIA)[27] 10
US Billboard 200[28] 138

References
  1. Mwangi, Elvis (March 7, 2019). "Album review: Doja Cat's 'Amala'". The Anomaly Diary. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  2. Voynovskaya, Nastia (June 26, 2018). "NPR Music's 40 Favorite Albums Of 2018 (So Far)". NPR. Retrieved August 13, 2020. Amala [...] didn't get much attention from critics at the time of its March release
  3. Mench, Chris (August 29, 2019). "Chart Climber: Doja Cat Moves Past The Meme With "Juicy"". Genius. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  4. B Swift (October 15, 2019). "Doja Cat Is Not A Fan Of Her First Album". Hot 96.3. United States. Retrieved October 30, 2020. Event occurs at 3:31
  5. Cho, Regina (November 22, 2019). "Doja Cat Feels Liberated and More Focused Than Ever: 'I'm So Pumped For My Life Right Now'". Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2020. A lot of people liked Amala, and that’s great. However, I don’t think it was a finished album. I was smoking hella weed. I was high all the f--king time and it wasn’t even helping me perceive what was going on musically. I was just really out there partying and it was a crazy time for me.
  6. Penrose, Nerisha (November 11, 2020). "Doja Cat Just Wants to Make Rap Colorful". Elle. Retrieved November 6, 2020. she chalks it up to being high as a kite while recording her first album, Amala. "I had no idea what was going on 90 percent of the time," she admits. "I was young and partying every day and I was enjoying myself a little too much. I was also doing nothing a lot, so that whole era was really a blur for me."
  7. Zhang, Cat (October 30, 2020). "The Mystery of Doja Cat's Unimpeachable TikTok Reign". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 30, 2020. the uneventful release of her debut album, Amala
  8. Janes, DeAnna (February 27, 2020). "Doja Cat Is the Artist Behind This Catchy Song You've Heard on TikTok". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved October 30, 2020. the release dropped with barely a whisper
  9. Bassett, Jordan (August 29, 2018). "Doja Cat, you've been cancelled: how the novelty rapper became 2018's 'Milkshake Duck'". NME. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020. the moderate success of her album ‘Amala’
  10. Tan, Brandon (October 14, 2019). "Doja Cat: There's No Going Backward On Killer Frequencies". Flaunt. Retrieved December 4, 2020. Before 'Mooo!,' we hadn’t really gotten any viral hits, or had any hits, period. We were doing okay, but things weren’t at their fullest potential. That was the most significant part about 'Mooo!' going where it did—it allowed all my other work to have a foundation and have a pull.
  11. RCA Records [verified account] [@RCARecords] (March 27, 2018). "THE WAIT IS OVER! @DojaCat's #Amala album arrives on 3/30" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. "Roll With Us - Single by Doja Cat". Apple Music. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  13. Friedman, Michael H (March 9, 2018). "Doja Cat releases 'Go to Town'". Skope. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  14. Doja Cat (March 9, 2018). "Doja Cat - Go To Town (Official Video)". YouTube. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  15. "Doja Cat "Go To Town" Official Lyrics & Meaning | Verified". YouTube. Genius. June 22, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  16. "Doja Cat Releases New Track "Candy" From Her Forthcoming Debut Album 'Amala' Due Out March 30th Via RCA Records". RCA Records. March 23, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  17. Juarez, Sierra (November 25, 2019). "Teens on TikTok are obsessed with Doja Cat's 'Candy'". The Daily Dot. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  18. "Doja Cat Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. United States. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  19. Pache, Juliana (August 14, 2018). "Doja Cat explains how she made her viral hit "Mooo!"". The Fader. Archived from the original on April 4, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  20. Skelton, Eric (August 14, 2018). "Doja Cat Explains How Her Viral Banger "Mooo!" Came Together". Complex. Archived from the original on November 3, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  21. Hussein, Wandera (August 27, 2018). "Doja Cat will release an updated version of "Moo" on Spotify and iTunes". The Fader. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  22. Rouse, Isaac (March 2, 2019). "Doja Cat Shares a Deluxe Version of 'Amala'". Hypebeast. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  23. Wass, Mike (21 February 2019). "Doja Cat & Rico Nasty Team Up For The Hilarious "Tia Tamera"". Idolator. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  24. Saponara, Michael (February 21, 2019). "Doja Cat & Rico Nasty 'Tia Tamera' Video: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  25. "Doja Cat / Amala". Tidal. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  26. "Doja Cat / Amala (Deluxe Version)". Tidal. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  27. "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing - 30 September 2019 - Issue #1538" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. September 30, 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  28. "Doja Cat Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
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