Credit: Spotify

People’s musical tastes don’t tend to remain static throughout their lives. They can, in fact, change from day to day, moment to moment. Our moods greatly shape the music we respond to, which means it’s almost impossible to choose a single song as a favourite. But, certain songs for specific moods? That’s a bit easier to pick for. At least, it is for Doja Cat.

During an appearance on MTV Push in 2020, Doja was given a range of moods and scenarios to consider and was asked to select her favourite tracks that corresponded to each of them. First up was the song that reminds her of being a kid, for which she chose ‘If It’s Loving that You Want’ by Rihanna. Explaining her choice, Doja said, “I used to dance to it in my living room. That was my first, I think, album that I ever got, and I would listen to it every day”.

Next was the best song to listen to before heading on a night out, and she chose Cookiee Kawaii’s 2020 track ‘Vibe (If I Back It Up)’, after which she was again encouraged to return to her youth. The interviewers wanted to know which artist she saw for her first ever gig, and what was her favourite song by that artist? Her answer was a pretty good one, because her first ever gig was the legendary disco group Earth, Wind & Fire.

“I think I got a good seat, and they saw me dancing,” Doja recalled of this impressive introduction to live music, adding, “I think I was maybe six years old or something like that, and they pulled me up on stage. It was amazing.” As for the band’s best song, she, frankly, couldn’t decide. “My favourite song by Earth, Wind & Fire is… all of them,” she said, noting, “They’re really good. I think, honestly, had they not done that, I would not be here today”

For the follow-up, the song that puts her in a sexy mood, she chuckled coyly for a moment, and responded, “It would be ‘Phone Me’ by Che Ecru”. She elaborated on her choice, saying, “He’s talking about a girl, but he’s saying some freaky stuff—and it’s nice and I like it. I know all the lyrics, and it’s wonderful,” before descending into a shy mumble and laughing again.

Then came the big one: Her favourite song to listen to when she’s in love. As she did with the Earth, Wind & Fire answer, she broke the format of the segment, unable to name just one track, she instead chose two: Sabrina Claudio’s ‘Stand Still’ and Lil Mosey’s ‘So Bad’.

The Sabrina Claudio track, Doja explained, is sexy, but it also captures the physical sensation of being in love, like when a person feels butterflies fluttering about inside their stomach. As for the Lil Mosey song, again, it’s the sexiness that seems to appeal to her, but in a different vein. “Something about the Lil Mosey song has that kind of that moody thing to it,” she said, “and it’s also very sexy that song. It just makes me feel sexy and makes me think about…guys.”

We can’t have love without heartbreak, of course, so to end the segment, the singer/rapper was asked to choose which track gets her through breakups. “A song that I listen to when going through a breakup is ‘Off Of You’ by Summer Walker,” she claimed, adding, “I dead-ass the other day was in the mirror, singing it to myself while it was on.” However, it doesn’t make her sad, but actually helps her intentions: “But it makes me feel good singing that song. And just hearing it and thinking about my life and thinking about moving on.”