ET spoke with the singer ahead of her hosting and performing duties at the VMAs, taking place Sept. 12.
Doja Cat is ready for her hosting debut at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.
The "Say So" singer is going to summon the "innermost energies" of her being to put on the best show for viewers. As she told ET's Lauren Zima, hosting the VMAs has allowed her to embrace her creativity.
"It's been great and I think just the idea that I won last year -- and I'm happy for that. I don't need any more -- I think after that I feel like I've kind of done the most that I could," Doja said about going from VMA winner to host. "But I'm always very excited to go that extra mile and bring it to another area of my creativity. My family, they're very excited. My friends are very excited."
Doja's strategy for the show, she relayed, is "to be pessimistic," she explained with a laugh. "So that when things go right you're like extremely happy!"
"I'm excited, I'm happy that this is happening and I'm happy that I'm able to express myself in a different way with a different style," she added. "I've been doing a lot of hip-hop and I'm down to explore other facets. It's gonna be exciting for my fans."
As for her opening monologue, she teased that she knows "zero things about it."
"The world will never know until it happens at that exact point," she cracked before adding, "There are some big surprises in store. They're gonna be crazy, it's gonna be fun! My head's gonna explode."
Doja is also ready to bring her style A-game, sharing that her stylist wants her to have "24 hundred, million, thousand, billion, trillion outfits for one day."
"We're not. I'm gonna try three outfits maybe, something like that you know," she shared, before giving some insight into her performance that night. Doja confirmed that there will be no special guests joining her on stage, but did note some songs she will be singing.
"I'm very excited. It's gonna be a solo performance. I have an extended version of 'You Right' that's on the deluxe album of Planet Her, so I'm gonna be performing that," she said. "And then we have another song we'll be performing, really trying hard not to spoil. But 'Been Like This' will be the first song and we're gonna do kind of like a more serene, like, zen-feeling but very intense at the same time. This whole performance will be very emotionally intense. [That] is what we're striving for, but very beautiful."
The 25-year-old is also up for six awards at Sunday's MTV VMAs, including Video of the Year and Artist of the Year.
As for how she will react if she takes a Moon Person home? "I will be like 'D*mn, Jesus!' I'm very, very happy that people are supporting and enjoying what I'm doing," she acknowledged.
In lead-up to the VMAs, Doja also debuted a video where she covers the classic tune from Grease, "You're the One that I Want." Check it out:
See Doja and a slew of artists at the 2021 MTV VMAs, taking place Sunday, Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on MTV.
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