Doja Cat may be brimming with confidence, but the hitmaker admits she used to be extremely insecure.
Speaking to the Audible series Origins, Doja reflected on her start in the industry and how her anxiety made her feel insecure.
She recalled going into a fitting and experiencing her first panic or anxiety attack. While she didn’t know what she had, she said she “was terrified.”
“I just sat down with this girl and she sat in front of me. [It] felt a little intense… and I remember her eyes just getting bigger and bigger and I just got so scared,” she recalled. “I could not breathe.”
Doja said she continues to have these “anxiety panic attacks” and explained, “I have full on anxiety.” She noted, “I just think it’s a natural thing that happens to people who are constantly the center of the production.”
“I actually had a problem at one point where I was doing all these music videos… I wouldn’t ask to see the screen,” she said. “I didn’t want to see what I looked like in that shot.”
The singer continued, “I had a really hard time seeing myself in the music video after not being able to see the monitor, and I’d see myself and be like, ‘Oh my God, I approved that? Why did I let myself look like that?'”
So, what changed? She said collaborating with Ariana Grande, Bebe Rexha and Megan Thee Stallion on their music videos gave her confidence a much-needed boost.
“I saw them be like, ‘Let me see, let me see.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s the smartest thing to do!’ Because how the f*** would you know what you look like?” she recalled. “I needed that so badly. Now I feel just so aware.”
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