Doechii performs “Catfish” at Sunday’s Grammy Awards. The Tampa native later won best rap album for “Alligator Bites Never Heal.” Photo: Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
If you hadn’t heard of Doechii, you probably have now.
Why it matters: The Tampa-born rapper’s rising star went meteoric at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, when she became the third woman ever to win best rap album — and every Tampeño should know her story.
State of play: “Labels: Go to Tampa. There’s talent there,” the self-proclaimed Swamp Princess said in her acceptance speech, and soon the love was flowing both ways.
Catch up quick: Doechii, 26, broke through on TikTok with her 2020 single “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake,” which helped land her record deals with Top Dawg Entertainment and later, Capitol Records.
Flashback: Born Jaylah Hickmon, she grew up in a family of “country Southern people,” she told the Times. “Like, typical boiled peanuts, frozen cups, candy lady, pickled eggs.”
- She changed her name in sixth grade after years of bullying, writing “I am Doechii” in her diary, she told Vulture in 2022. “Jaylah might’ve been getting bullied, but I decided Doechii wouldn’t stand for that s–t.”
- She went to the arts magnet at Howard W. Blake High for choral singing and dabbled in choreography, jazz and guitar.
Between the lines: Her Floridian upbringing inspires her music — just look at the album that won her last night’s Grammy, “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” featuring Doechii on the cover with an albino alligator in her lap.
- Gators, like Florida, are misunderstood, she told the Times. “Gators have become my favorite animal because people hate them so much. … They’re very intelligent animals and people don’t realize it.”
- Another source of inspiration is the LGBTQ+ community and her own queerness, she wrote in Billboard last year for Pride month.
What she’s saying: “As a bisexual woman living in Tampa, Florida, during the early 2000s, I stood out from the perceived norm,” she wrote.
- “My creative work is heavily influenced by both my Florida roots and the vibrant LGBTQ+ community … I draw inspiration from my memories of resilience and artistry of drag queens in Ybor City and the energy of ballroom culture in NYC.”
Fun fact: The albino alligator from her album cover is real, and her name is Coconut, the rapper told Variety in December.
What’s next: She’s working on an official debut solo album that’s set to release this year, she told Variety in December.
- Hopefully, that means a tour with a stop in her hometown. Until then, give her new single “Nosebleeds” a listen.
- “Stepped out the swamp to the motherf–kin’ stage,” she raps in the post-Grammy Awards surprise release. “Cut my mic off ’cause I’m ’bout to misbehave. ‘Will she ever lose?’ Man, I guess we’ll never know.”
