Doechii, the new queen of rap: “I’m not the prey of anyone”

After Lauryn Hill and Cardi B, the time has come for Doechii. The singer -songwriter and rapper of Tampa, Florida, has just won a Grammy for best rap album for his mixtape “Alligator Bites Never Heal”. She has been the third woman since 1989, the year of introducing the prize, as she recalled herself from the stage of the Los Angeles Arena, to have triumphed in this category. In the delivery speech of the recognition, moved, Doechii immediately paid homage to Lauryn Hill and Cardi B, who historically preceded it. Born in Tampa twenty -six years ago, she is nicknamed “Swamp Princess”the “Princess of the Paludi”, with reference to her place of origin, but also to the attitude of those who are not afraid to get their hands dirty. A multifaceted artist from the many facesall different and intriguing, who reverberate in melodies and flows between the classic and the contemporary. On the one hand, in fact, There is his side from the 90s MC with sharp punchline and tight interlocking, on the other a delicate R&B style, almost twilightbut with non -trivial melodic turodes.

Last year he published his first mixtape entitled “Alligator Bites Never Heal”a breath of fresh air in the Rap Game, who immediately attracted several spotlight on her. An attention that has turned into three nominations: Ai Grammy 2025 (“Best Rap Album”, “Best New Artist” and “Best Rap Performance”), in performances in top television programs such as “Tiny Desk” and “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert, as well as Superstar endorsement such as Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, Beyoncè, Sza, Tyler the Creator and the Hollywood actress Elle Fanning. Doechii emanates an overwhelming grit, which also emerges in the title and cover of the disc, where it is portrayed sitting in a chair with an albino alligator in his hands: “I am not the prey of anyone, I was born to be a predator,” said the artist in an Instagram post. The disc tells a process of rebirth and rediscovery.

“The alligator It performs a rotation maneuver known as ‘rolling of death’ to immerse and dismember its prey under water – said Doechii – Last year I fought with what looked like an implacable rolling of death in my life. A dance of drowning in my own vices, I fought the divergences with my label and a torpor that broke me. In my research on the attacks of alligators, I discovered that a common thread in each surviving story was the ‘rebellion’ to that same attack. If you don’t rebel, you can’t hope to survive. This mixtape is my revenge“. The project came out for The Losangeline Top Dawg Entertainment label (TDE)founded in 2004 by Anthony Tiffith, who over the years has brought rapper to the team such as Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q and Szawith which Doechii has built an excellent feeling over time. After moving to Los Angeles with TDE he published several singles until he gets to this mixtape that earned her the Grammy. What affects his way of telling himself is also the ability to talk about pain and his ghosts without giving up irony.

“Denial is a River”one of his most powerful songs, is an example. He talks about the betrayal of his ex -boyfriend with another man (And for this the song was also accused in a totally misleading and stupid way of homophobia) and then describes his constant ascent to fame, in contrast with an industry that goes more hunting for Tiktaker than artists. It is raw and vulnerable, but also presents a narrative witty and funny. “I chose a humorous way to talk about dark things, I think it was important to do this – he explained to Rolling Stone USA – This was my goal: to suffer at the beginning of the disc, heal in the middle and celebrate at the end. I transformed my vulnerability, through music, into force, rebirth. The public, in my songs, recognized my not to have remained superficial, the being gone deeply and the rising “. Dodging the reader’s lethal bite.