Kash Doll’s ‘The Last Doll’: Reflecting on 10 Years of Growth, Motherhood and Defining Her Legacy
With ten years in the rap game, Kash Doll is finally ready to change her name. The Detroit-based rapper stopped by Billboard‘s NYC office for an episode of Billboard Gaming, just in time for the release of her
The Last Doll album arrival on Friday (Nov. 15).
The Last Doll marks a deeply personal chapter in her life, showcasing her growth as a woman, a mother of two, and an artist evolving beyond the persona that first brought her into the spotlight. The arrival of her daughter Klarity has been a transformative experience, shaping not only her maturity but also her perspective on life. As she balances motherhood with her thriving career, Kash Doll reflects on her journey, using this album as a powerful expression of her personal and artistic evolution.
We faced off with the rapper in several rounds of Mario Kart while discussing the inspiration behind her album, touring, her love for her children, and more.
Congratulations on The Last Doll! What inspired the title?
It’s just growth. It’s where I’m at in life, you know what I’m saying? So, I’m just tired of the doll. I got two kids. I don’t want to be called a doll no more. I’m just over that.
You’re dropping “Doll,” so your new name is just Kash?
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I don’t know yet.
Do you have any ideas on your new name?
I don’t know yet. I don’t know if I just want to be Keisha, because that’s my name, or if I want to be Kash, or Big Kash, or KD, or something like that.
When your fans listen to your new album, The Last Doll how do you want them to feel? What message are you trying to express?
You know, I don’t feel like it’d be a body of work no more. It’s so much just singles all in one project, you know what I’m saying?
Mine is just a body of work, and I want them to see growth, evolution. Like, I’ve been in the game for 10 years, so I just want my fans that have been growing with me to just understand who I am and where I’m at now, you know what I’m saying?
Congrats on 10 years. So, the theme of this album is just growth?
It’s growth. It’s lit, though. The album is crazy. I’mma just be 100 percent for real — like, it’s crazy. I got all types of songs on there. It’s got songs about my kids, you know, I’m singing on there. I got different vibes on there, you know what I’m saying? It ain’t just rap; it’s different genres. I got house music on there. I got songs about mental health and loving yourself — stuff like that. So, it’s just a different me.
What’s your favorite song on the album?
My favorite song? I don’t have one. It’s hard to have a favorite song when all of it is fire. It’s hard.
You have an incredible lineup of features on this album.
Oh yeah, they are. The artists are incredible.
How did you go about choosing the artists?
Once I make the song, I can hear certain people, you know what I’m saying? And I reach out and try to get it done. With “Comfy,” I wanted to remake that from Lil Wayne and Babyface, and so I reached out to Tink, and I wanted her on that.
And we did it. So that’s how that one happened. But most of all my other features — oh, yeah, and “NWA” with Yung Bleu — you know, me and Tracy, we decided we wanted him on a hook. And then we went out there, and we got the hook, and then we did our verses and magic.
You mentioned you have your kids on this album, so I’m assuming this album is deeply personal to you. How did motherhood play a role in your album?
My kids, they just motivated me to make music that I don’t mind them hearing.
Because I make music that I like to hear when I go out and stuff like that. Music I like to hear when I’m riding or when I’m on vacation, you know? Like, it’s a different type of music you want to hear when my kids are in the house, and I don’t have to put a sensor on everything, you know what I’m saying?
So, they motivated me to make a different type of music, even though I’m still her.
Have you played the album for your kids yet?
Nah. Well, Kashton knows his song.
Has it been difficult juggling motherhood and being a music artist?
It’s difficult leaving them. You know what I mean? It’s difficult. It’s hard leaving my kids.
So, do you ever find yourself rushing back home after a day of traveling?
Hell yeah. Hell yeah. I miss them, they’re my babies, man.
You’ve been getting into your acting bag. You’ve been on BMF and Diarra From Detroit. How has acting been for you?
Acting is fun. Acting is just like a little more stable when you’re acting. You know what I mean? Like, you don’t have to travel as much and lose stuff all the damn time when you’re traveling. And, you know, be away from my kids, I can kind of just be in one, at least in one state for like a month or two or three or four, you know? So, I kind of enjoy it. It’s longer hours, though, for sure.
Do you ever see yourself creating a soundtrack for a show or for a movie?
Hell yeah. But mine, I’m gonna do movies. I’m about to do that because I’m about to do my baby shit. I’m gonna do music, and I don’t want to move around and do so many shows and stuff like that, you know? I want to be able to sit down, be with my kids. And I’m not missing Kashton’s games when he starts. So everybody got until he starts school. I’m gonna have my fun, go on tour, and do all that, but when my baby starts school, it’s over.
You’re going on tour soon! What can fans expect from your set?
An experience. It’s my first tour. You know, now I get to do my own stage, setting the light. You know, I get to play all my different music. This is my first time. I’m really excited. Ten years, and this is my first tour. And I’m really mad. I shouldn’t have waited this long, but it’s going to be an experience. You’re going to see a doll at work.
Why did you wait 10 years to tour?
I didn’t. I went on tour before in 2019, but I never did my own tour, and I had finally got another tour in 2020, but then COVID happened. Yeah, canceled the whole tour, and then boom, now we’re here. So it’s cool though. I’m gonna build my touring business. I’m gonna build it. It’s cool. I like to start. It’s a grind. It’s a grind for me.
What’s your favorite place to perform?
Damn. That’s hard. ‘Cause the Bay is a time. Milwaukee is a time. Houston is a time.
You’re also known for your fashion, how has fashion influenced your music?
I don’t know. I don’t know how it will influence it, but I just be being myself. I just be myself. I don’t know how my fashion — I don’t know. Am I fashionable? I just put on clothes.
So, you don’t think you’re a fashionable individual?
People say that but I just say where. I go to the mall every other day. This is like my little alone time and I go to the mall looking bummy. I go in the mall with a hoodie on and a scarf. And I be looking crazy. And I be buying up stuff. And then I have it in my closet for when I’m ready to throw on stuff. You know? But I do like fashion. I love all this stuff. I’m just, I don’t know if I’m good at it. But no, it don’t, it don’t influence my music.
I’m just me. I don’t know what the hell influence me, people trying to talk s—t. I’ll be like, okay, I got something for you. My kids.
What advice do you have for the upcoming female rappers out there?
First of all, I say, be yourself. You know, everyone else is taken. Be yourself. Um, have morals and dignity in the game. You know what I’m saying? Don’t just do anything. Don’t be so thirsty that you’ll drink poison. Because some people be wanting it so bad, you know, that they’ll sign papers. And it’s me. I’m people.
You’ll sign papers, you know what I’m saying? Without having a lawyer, not knowing what’s going on and all these things. Just know, if it’s for you, it’s going to happen regardless. Do not just be desperate for this s—t. And be yourself. That’s what I’ll say, because I wish you might have said that to me earlier, but I don’t know if I would have listened, because experience teaches you things way different from someone telling you, you know what I mean?
Yeah. That’s interesting. I interviewed Ja Rule like two weeks ago. He said the exact same thing: “Be yourself.” Do you feel like some people in the industry now are lacking authenticity?
Yeah. Because they want to do what they think is popping right now, or, you know, what they see that everybody is gravitating to.
But at the same time, it’s like, be yourself, your time will come. Just be yourself. And that’s me. That’s why I stay in my lane, and I just do me, because my time’s going to come. If God wants me to have a time, you know what I’m saying? I’m living in my—maybe this is it. But, however, I’m being myself, and it feels good.
I’m having a good time instead of just doing whatever I think needs to be done to be her, you know, put the work in, of course, but be yourself.
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