US singer Doja Cat (L) and South African actor Dumisani Dlamini. Pictures:dojacat,official_dumisanidlamini/Instagram
US singer and rapper Doja Cat briefly opened up about her non-existent relationship with her father, South African actor Dumisani Dlamini, who she said she’s never met.
However, she gave her father his flowers in the interview.
In an interview with US broadcaster Ebro Darden on his Apple Music 1 show, Doja Cat, whose real name is Zandile Dlamini, opened up about her relationship with her dad.
“No, I’ve ever met my dad,” when the host asked.
When Ebro asked if she’s been to South Africa and whether she has any plans of going there, Doja responded said: “I still haven’t [been]. I rely on my career to just throw me out to places. I don’t find pockets of time in my life. I can fly but I don’t like flying, especially long flights like that.”
Dlamini, who many will know from his work on tv shows such Isibaya and Yizo Yizo, was part of the cast of Sarafina! that was on Broadway in the late 80s. Meeting actor Whoopi Goldberg who was on Sarafina!, Doja said she thought of her dad when she saw her.
“I’m just thinking about my dad because he was in Sarafina, so seeing and meeting you is like crazy,” said Doja a few years ago to Goldberg, who asked her dad’s name, when Doja told her Goldberg was shocked.
“Get out of her…a good man, really a good man,” said Goldberg.
Sarafina! premiered on Broadway on 28 January 1988, at the Cort Theatre, and closed on 2 July 1989, after 597 performances and 11 previews.
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Despite not having an active relationship with her father, Doja didn’t hold back in celebrating her dad’s talents.
“My dad is so good at dancing; he’s a goated (Greatest Of All Time) dancer. It’s unbelievable, there’s this one video that my mom showed me. There’s one of him performing on Broadway I believe, his whole upper body was still but his feet were just like all over the place,” said Doja.
“He has so much ability and talent when it comes to dancing.”
Dlamini shares videos of Doja on his Instagram once in a while. In an interview with Metro FM in 2020 Dlamini said he’s been looking for his daughter for years and was being blocked from meeting Doja.
“I have tried to search for my baby and the company that runs her entertainment has been blocking me. They know that if I could get hold of her, maybe she will disappear from the picture … I know my daughter, wherever she is, is looking for me.”
Doja Cat’s eccentric personality comes out in her social media and also in her art. Some of the imagery and symbolism in her music videos has led people to think she’s a devil worshipper, but she refuted this in the interview.
“Me wearing red is a crime. Like it’s crazy, it’s crazy,” she said about being accused of being a devil worshipper because of how dark her visuals come-off.
One of her video that were cited for Satanism was the Paint The Town Red video, where there are scenes showing her atop the head of a monster, adjacent its horns. The monster in the video is of a drawing she made.
“And people wrote that off as Satanism and it’s literally just a little green guy with horns and I’m standing on his head, where’s the hard,” said the award-winning artist.
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