Entertainment Music Pop Music Doja Cat Channels 'Bad Bitch' Sandy in Must-Watch 'Grease' Cover as She Talks Nicki Minaj 'Dream' Collab "My dream is to have her on something that will be perfect for her that she's passionate about," Doja tells PEOPLE of Minaj By Tomás Mier Published on September 10, 2021 06:55PM EDT Get into it, Doja! Taking it back to Rydell High School, Doja Cat is releasing her inner Sandy thanks to a new commercial for Pepsi's new Soda Shop release. In the video, the songstress — who is set to host the MTV VMAs this Sunday — covers several iconic Grease songs, including Olivia Newton-John's beloved "You're the One That I Want." "It was very interesting. I saw it in my mind while we were in glam. We were getting the hair, and makeup and the outfits," she tells PEOPLE. "When I saw the actual rough cut of everything, it was exactly how my mind envisioned it, and I am so, so happy about how it came out." For Doja, channeling her inner Sandy is something that she's done since she was a child — even in her relationships. "I absolutely applied that energy to my relationships, maybe it's not the greatest idea," she says with a laugh. "I don't know if it was healthy or not, but I felt that it was okay to say, 'Hey, punk, I don't care about you' when it comes to relationships and a guy wants to play with your heart." Courtesy Pepsi Nicki Minaj and Rihanna Reunite! The Music Queens Pose Together with Beaus Kenneth Petty and A$AP Rocky "She's iconic," she adds. "Sandy is a bad bitch and we know it." Another bad bitch Doja Cat loves is Nicki Minaj — who recently revealed on Twitter that she was nearly going to join Doja's "Into It (Yuh)" but ultimately "didn't think I could bring anything to it." "My dream is to have her on something that will be perfect for her that she's passionate about, that I'm passionate about," says Doja, who included Minaj on a remix of "Say So." "A lot of the time, things are rushed with me. I don't know how it gets to that point, but I think that sending Nicki the perfect song can happen and I think it will happen. I'm very excited for that, but I absolutely agree with her about having the right song for her." "That moment will be an extreme turning point in my career that will just make everyone very happy. I think a lot of collaborations feel forced with some people — everyone's collaborating, remixing, and blah blah blah, and it gets nowhere, or it does okay, but I think Nicki is very formidable. Just a fantastic rapper and fantastic performer," she adds. "She needs better than just okay, so it's perfect. Her whole direction in it is the way it should be." In a recent interview with Missy Elliott for Interview Magazine, Doja revealed that she often doesn't sing about her life often, but that she's getting "more personal" on her upcoming album. "I've accepted that I have a hard time being vulnerable, but I think that this is definitely a very personal project, and I am capable of that," she says. "I just think that I get scared sometimes to write about my personal life because I don't want people to think that I'm like, 'Hey, feel bad for me,' I don't know." RELATED VIDEO: Doja Cat Makes MTV History Becoming First VMA Host to Also Be Nominated for Video of the Year "I like to write in an abstract way, where people can relate to what I'm saying, and make their own story out of it," she adds. When talking to PEOPLE, Doja revealed that she had spent seven hours doing contemporary modern dancing and "out of this world movements" ahead of her VMAs performance. So much that "my body is killing me," she says. "I feel like I'm f—ing dying." "The thing is, I'm having fun. It's awesome, and it looks very good," she explains. "I'm very excited but it's hard, and it's not something that I do often at all. It's very interesting, but it hurts. It's worth it. It's worth the pain." Along with the performance, she's gearing up for hosting the show after being named best new artist last year. "I am terrified. I don't know what I am going to do. I don't know what I'm going to say, but I know it's going to be interesting, and I'm excited. I might wear a chair on my head for a hat for that," she says. "That's the fun part — we don't know what's going to happen, and we're constantly going in blind, but that's all right because we're going to make the best of it." Doja Cat's new collaboration with Pepsi comes as the soda company announces their new, throwback Soda Shop flavors cream soda and black cherry and celebrates the 50th anniversary of Grease. "Working with Pepsi on this remake of 'You're the One That I Want' has been surreal," said Doja Cat. "It's such an iconic song and brand, so to have the creative license to put my own spin on it for the launch of Pepsi-Cola Soda Shop was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; I had to be a part of it."