All About Doja Cat’s Parents, Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer and Dumisani Dlamini

Creativity is in Doja Catu’s blood. The parents of the Grammy winner, Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer and Dumisani Dlamini, also have artistic careers.

Sawyer is a painter and clothing designer, while Dlamini is an actor and dancer from South Africa, who is best known for appearing in the 1992 film Sarafina! with Whoopi Goldberg.

In the 1990s, Sawyer and Dlamini had a brief relationship before breaking up. Doja Cat (whose real name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini) and her older brother, Raman Dalithando Dlamini, grew up with their mother in New York and California.

“My mom is, like, a ’60s hippie, super, like, laid back with most things,” the rapper and singer said Board 2021. “As far as music and everything, she wanted to be a part of it. She wanted to hear it.”

When asked about Dlamini during an interview with Radio One DC, the “Paint the Town Red” singer said she had never met him before.

“He is an amazing dancer and a great actor. But yeah, I don’t know him very well,” said Doja Cat.

From their shared love of art to their interactions on social media, here’s everything you need to know about Doje Cat’s parents, Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer and Dumisani Dlamini.

Dlamini and Sawyer met in New York

Doja Mačko’s father Dumisani Dlamini.

Dumisani Dlamini’s Instagram

Sawyer and Dlamini met in New York while he was performing at Sarafina! on Broadway, and they had a short-lived relationship, per Rolling stone.

Sawyer filled Doje Cat’s childhood with art

Doja Cat during the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.

Kevin Mazur/MTV VMAs 2021/Getty

Doja Cat revealed during appearance at 2020 VladTV that her mother also has an artistic career.

“She paints,” shared the singer. “She used to paint more, but now she designs men’s clothing. She’s more into computer design, Photoshop and the like.”

Sawyer shared her passion for the arts with her daughter, and Doja Cat mentioned that her mother placed her in several performing arts schools.

“She made me dance and everything,” the rapper said. “When it came to school, I was mostly into performing arts, and I would go to ballet and things like that.”

Outside of school, she was part of a dance team and performed in breakdance battles.

Doja Cat told Board that images of her mother and grandmother informed aspects of her own career.

“A lot of them inspired me to love, to do fashion and visual, experimental things, and I thank them very much for that,” she said. “I feel like it really helped me a lot. They have great taste, a good eye, and that kind of led me in the right direction.”

Like his daughter, Sawyer loves music – especially hip-hop. Doja Cat described her mother as a “hip-hop head”. Hotbox in 2013

“It’s really ironic because, like, I’m Jewish, my grandmother is Jewish, she’s white, and she was never exposed to that kind of music until she started meeting people,” the singer said. “And then she said, ‘Wow, like, I really love this.’ ”

Doja Cat added: “She would play a lot of Erykah Badu, a lot of Fugees, and Jamiroquai and Seal, Earth, Wind & Fire, Alice Coltrane, John Coltrane, a lot of that stuff.”

When the rapper started making her own music, Sawyer encouraged her.

“She was always excited whenever I said, ‘Hey, do you want to come hear this?’ “, said Doja Cat Board.

Doje Cat’s first original song was for Sawyer

The first song Doja Cat ever wrote was for Sawyer. She was 8 years old then.

“I don’t remember how it goes,” she said Board. “I mean, I kind of know, and I’m definitely not going to tell anyone what the lyrics were. I’m kind of ashamed. I do not know why. It’s too mushy for me.”

Doja Cat never met her father

Doja Cat, Dumisani Dlamini.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty; Dumisani Dlamini’s Instagram

Doja Cat grew up in the United States, while Dlamini lived in South Africa. Although the rapper and her father have connected a bit on social media, they do not share a personal relationship.

“I felt confused, a little bit,” said Doja Cat Rolling stone in 2021. “It’s a little weird seeing everyone else with their dad, and you didn’t really have one.”

One of Doja Cat’s childhood friends, Gabrielle Hames, added: “She would always think her dad would come and he didn’t. She would say, ‘My dad is coming, he lives in Africa, he’s just performing,’ and he wouldn’t come.

Despite their complicated dynamics, Dlamini spoke with GQ South Africa about his daughter in 2023.

“I’m so proud of her for what she’s accomplished,” he told the publication. “I’m not surprised, because it’s in the blood.”

Doja Cat and her mother lived in the ashram for a while

When Doja Cat was 8 years old, her mother moved the family from Rye, New York to Sai Anantam Ashram, a community in Santa Monica, California.

“It was very restrained,” said the singer Rolling stone about the experience. “My brother loved it. He had a lot of friends. But I didn’t have many friends. For me it was like, ‘I can’t eat what I want to eat. I can’t really do childish things.’ Like, God forbid you don’t have a scarf on your shoulders.”

But there was also one positive: the legendary jazz musician Alice Coltrane led the community.

“It was amazing for me to be around at such a young age,” she shared with Doja Cat Board. “She would sing and it was amazing.”

Dlamini is an actor

Doja Mačko’s father Dumisani Dlamini.

Dumisani Dlamini’s Instagram

Dlamini has an extensive performing arts resume with over 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry.

While talking to GQ South AfricaDoja Cat’s father opened up about what role he had the greatest honor to play in his career.

“I think Celemba will be in there eHostel“, he shared. “When I got the role of ueHostel, I realized that I was moving to another level of acting. It got to the point where I got my first SAFTA nomination. I said, ‘Thank God I won’t die without being nominated for an award.’ ”

Doja Cat praised her father’s talent while talking to VladTV.

“He’s a dancer. He’s amazing,” she said. “Actually, I didn’t know how amazing he was until, like, yesterday. Like, he’s amazing. My mom showed me a YouTube video of him dancing… It was for Sarafina!”

The singer continued: “He just killed it. It was incredible. But I actually didn’t know she could dance like that ’til yesterday.

Dlamini, who has more than 18,000 followers on Instagram, wrote in his bio that he is a “stage and TV actor”, “MC/Host” and “motivational speaker”.

Doja Cat connected with Whoopi Goldberg through Dlamini

When Doja Cat and Goldberg met backstage at Late Night with Seth Meyers in November 2019, they immediately had something to talk about.

“I’m just thinking about my dad because he was in there Sarafina!. Yeah, seeing you and meeting you is the craziest thing,” said Doja Cat in a video of their meeting.

After revealing her father’s name, Goldberg responded in shock, “Get out of here!”

“Isn’t that crazy?” Doja Cat told her. “And I didn’t get to meet him, but you did.”

Goldberg called Dlamini a “really good man” and then the duo embraced.

Dlamini shows her support for Doja Cat online

Doja Cat during the 2022 Billboard Music Awards.

Mindy Small/Getty

Although Dlamini and Doja Cat are not close, the actor expresses his pride for his daughter on social media.

On July 14, 2023, he posted a video of her giggling and wrote, “WOW LET ME HEAR THE BEST OF THE BEST GOOD LUCKY.”

He also shared a photo of the singer in one of her costumes from her music video “Woman”.

“AFRICAN PRINCESS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUPPORTING YOU GOD BLESS YOU,” Dlamini captioned the December 2021 post.

Sawyer issued a restraining order against her son in January 2024

According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Sawyer filed for a temporary restraining order against Doja Cat’s older brother, Raman Dalithand Dlamini, in January 2024. She claimed that Raman abused both her and the singer on numerous occasions, making them feel “unsafe “. and traumatized.”

The filing also alleged that Raman destroyed some of Doja Cat’s belongings and threatened to kill Sawyer. Both women had temporary restraining orders against Raman since 2017, but they have since expired.

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