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The Ones: Doja Cat’s “Tia Tamera” [ft. Rico Nasty]

Doja Cat and Rico Nasty in “Tia Tamera” video
Doja Cat and Rico Nasty in “Tia Tamera” video, directed by Roxana Baldovin


Doja Cat’s “Tia Tamera” [ft. Rico Nasty]

Can there be redemption for a Milkshake Duck... or rather a Milkshake Cow? Last year, After LA-based artist Doja Cat caught the attention of the internet with her bovine-inspired “Mooo!” song and video, getting laughs just by interpolating hip-hop classics from the literal perspective of a cow. But quickly after it went viral, the excitement surrounding the goofy track and its irreverent creator was tainted by unearthed homophobic tweets and a defensive non-apology. Though she eventually gave a more acceptable mea culpa, the moral dilemma remains: Does she deserve forgiveness? Is it OK to continue supporting Doja Cat? These complicated questions have re-emerged following the release of Doja Cat’s new song “Tia Tamera,” featuring Rico Nasty.

Acting as if the drama that ensued after “Mooo!” never happened, Doja continues her comedic streak on the “Tia Tamera,” rolling off one colorful metaphor after another. The song’s absurdist hook is enough to elicit a couple giggles since it’s largely based on Doja comparing her boobs to identical twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry… but that’s not where the references stop. Elsewhere, she alludes to Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion, calls Wiz Khalifa a “skinny legend,” and compares herself to a string of iconic black women: Nia Long, Aaliyah, and Venus and Serena Williams. “Tia Tamera” is a joke track, but it’s also a clever crash course in black American pop culture.

In the correspondingly wild ’90s-core video, Doja and Rico dress up in technicolor outfits, pretending to be contestants on the Nickelodeon show “Double Dare” and watching rapper Ka5sh (of “I’m Depressed” fame) get slimed! But the best part is when the duo recreates the elaborate hairdos rocked by Halle Berry and Natalie Desselle-Reid in B*A*P*S*. It’s the kind of surrealistic camp that lines up squarely in the lineage of Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott visuals.

“Tia Tamera” is endless nostalgia-fueled fun, clashing with the moralistic murky waters that fans and critics have to swim through to potentially enjoy it. But Doja is just another example of an artist with a questionable past that listeners now have to consider, made doubly complicated by the tendency for “cancel culture” to hold black women disproportionately accountable for their mistakes. “Tia Tamera” may be a bop, but it’s not necessarily Doja Cat’s redemption.
