Doja posted an IG story Tuesday where she explained she had no regrets about ripping her rabid fanbase for calling themselves "kittenz" -- she actually referred to their social media rejection as a weight lifted off her shoulders.

She wrote, "Seeing all these people unfollow makes me feel like I've defeated a large beast that's been holding me down for so long and it feels like I can reconnect with the people who really matter and love me for who I am and not for who I was."

The clarification coincided with Doja's Harper's Bazaar cover story where she further vented about fans to Angie Martinez, saying ... "My theory is that if someone has never met me in real life, then, subconsciously, I’m not real to them. So when people become engaged with someone they don’t even know on the internet, they kind of take ownership of that person.

She adds, "They think that person belongs to them in some sense. And when that person changes drastically, there is a shock response that is almost uncontrollable ...  I’ve accepted that that’s what happens."

It's also clear Doja's fine losing some of that fan induced-pressure. As she said in Harper's ... "I put my wigs on and take them off. I shave my head or my eyebrows. I have all the freedom in the world."