It’s been just over a year since Doja Cat’s “Mooo!” swept the screens of millions across the globe. And unless you’ve been living under a rock, the American singer, rapper and producer begs no further introduction. With that said, in case you have in fact been dwelling beneath stone, then you should know that the future of music is Doja’s for the taking. With her 2018 claim-to-fame music video sitting atop 50M views on YouTube, and her most recent visual release for “Juicy,” featuring Tyga, breaking 20M in two weeks, the musician’s growth is unshakeable, having cemented her place through sweet sonics and visuals that pack a punch. As she so bluntly claims over the phone from her apartment in Los Angeles, “It’s only the beginning. I feel like I really know who I am and what I’m doing with my next project.”

The bovine-style music video released last August would eventually flourish into a viral meme. “I didn’t mean for ‘Mooo!’ to get as big as it did,” she admits. “I had more serious music to put out, I’d been working on so much other stuff, but once I put the cow costume on, I had to do it. It was the only way I could get it out of my head,” she explains. Within days of the abrupt upload to YouTube, the video had racked millions of views.

The dairy dreamscape was by no means Doja’s introduction to the music industry. In fact, she had been signed to RCA Records since 2014, after the successful release of her debut single, “So High.” From there, she followed up with several tracks, including “Go To Town,” off of her debut studio album in 2018.

“Before ‘Mooo!,’ we hadn’t really gotten any viral hits, or had any hits, period. We were doing okay, but things weren’t at their fullest potential. That was the most significant part about ‘Mooo!’ going where it did—it allowed all my other work to have a foundation and have a pull.” Taking a moment to consider the past whirlwind year, she reasons, “Since ‘Mooo!’ blew up, it’s been kind of non-stop. I don’t know if it’s really allowed me to reflect, but I feel like I’ve refined my style and refined who I am. I kind of have to have the spotlight on me.”