Doja Cat's Parents: The Singer Has Never Seen Her Famous Dad & Was Raised by Her Mom

Singer Doja Cat was born from a brief relationship her mother, Deborah Sawyer, had with her father, Dumisani Dlamini. She is yet to meet her father as he returned to his home country, South Africa and left Doja Cat and her mom behind in America.

When Doja Cat met Whoopi Goldberg in April 2020, she couldn't help but share that the actress had previously worked with her dad in the movie "Sarafina." With a lowered voice, Doja Cat lamented that Goldberg had met her father when she had not yet spent time with the "good man."

Despite never meeting her father, the rapper does not seem too bitter about it and has pointed out that she is open to meeting him someday. Luckily, her mother did not abandon her and influenced her.

Doja Cat's Early Childhood

Doja Cat was born in Tarzana, California, on October 21, 1995. Her childhood was quite nomadic as she moved a lot with her family. Shortly after her birth, she went to stay with her Grandmother in New York for about five years before moving to Santa Monica at eight. At eleven and a half, she moved to Malibu.

Although her mother is of Jewish heritage, Doja Cat and her family practiced Hinduism in Santa Monica for some time while she was young. However, failure to fit in adequately resulted in their move to Malibu, where the foundations of her career were laid. She initially took ballet, tap, and jazz classes.

Later, she decided to give hip-hop a try and joined a break-dancing crew. Around that time, she also began to make music on her own, uploading some of the songs to SoundCloud. In the meantime, her school life had taken a backseat as she struggled in that area. She eventually dropped out at the age of sixteen.

Doja Cat Was Raised by Her Mother

Doja Cat spent most of her childhood in the care of her mother. Her mother, Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer, was a professional painter who initially influenced Doja Cat to aspire to be a makeup artist. She ultimately decided to follow in her father's footsteps by becoming involved in the entertainment industry.

But the father has pushed back on that criticism saying that he has talked on WhatsApp with his daughter and is trying to mend the bridges between them.

However, her mother and mother's side of the family's influence on her cannot be underestimated. Sawyer was an avid R&B fan which seems to have raised Doja Cat's passion for music at an early age. She said her mother would play songs from artists like Seal, Erykah Badu, and D'Angelo around the house.

Who Is Doja Cat's Famous Father?

Doja Cat's gifts to entertain are believed to have been largely drawn from her father, a famous showman. Her father, Dumisani Dlamini, is a South African singer and actor who gained widespread fame due to his appearance as Crocodile in the protest movie "Sarafina" alongside Whoopi Goldberg.

Doja Cat has pointed out on various occasions that she has no relationship with her father besides similar last names. Her father was not around during her childhood, and he received backlash for that online.

But the father has pushed back on that criticism saying that he has talked on WhatsApp with his daughter and is trying to mend the bridges between them. He left his family because he felt homesick and decided to return to South Africa, hoping his family would later join him.

Doja Cat regrets that her father was not there. She acknowledges that it is better to have all your parents and family around but concedes that it is not something that happens to everyone. To her credit, she did not let the absence of her father and all the trouble that came with it negatively affect her desire and will to be successful.