Doechii’s Historic Grammy Win Is Bigger Than Rap

It’s not very often we give the Grammy Awards credit for getting it right when it comes to rap. Since formally recognizing the genre, the Recording Academy has contributed to a few rap upsets over the years, from Macklemore’s infamous 2014 Best Rap Album win over hip-hop greats (Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake and Kendrick Lamar) to Nicki Minaj’s Best New Artist loss to Bon Iver in 2012.

Surprisingly, there were no controversial rap snubs at the 67th annual Grammys Awards Sunday evening after Kendrick Lamar swept half the categories with his “Not Like Us” anthem (which also won Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Music Video).

There was another significant win that night: Doechii’s “Alligator Bites Never Heal” took home Best Rap Album, marking the third time a female rapper (and the second time a solo female rap artist) has won the lauded category.

The first-time Grammy winner, who was also this year’s most nominated female rapper, was overcome with emotion when Cardi B (fellow Best Rap Album winner) called her onstage to receive her award, a tribute to the hard work she’s put into this chapter of her career and to those who paved the way.

“This category was introduced in 1989, and two women have won— three women have won,” the 26-year-old rapper tearfully corrected herself: “Lauryn Hill, Cardi B and Doechii.”

In a historic sense, there’s much to rejoice about over Doechii’s groundbreaking win. Aside from the rare recognition of women in an otherwise male-dominated category, there’s also the fact that this year’s Best Rap Album is technically a mixtape. However, you’d never guess it from how much intention went into Doechii’s soul-baring project, born out of the pressures of crafting a debut album.

Doechii has released a handful of projects over the last five years, including 2020’s “Oh the Places You’ll Go” and 2022’s “she / her / black bitch,” but none have had a profound impact like her deeply personal “Alligator Bites Never Heal.” The lyrically rich offering unflinchingly tells Doechii’s own story, which includes unfiltered confessionals like “Boiled Peanuts” and the therapy session standout “Denial Is a River.” The vulnerable project also defies norms in how it dismisses the hip-hop paradigm that tends to confine female hip-hop to either pussy rap or conscious rap — as if both sides of the spectrum and anything in between can’t exist simultaneously. Doechii honors both and then some.

That versatility on “Alligator Bites Never Heal” yielded Doechii three Grammy nominations for Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Album (she also earned a separate nod for Best Remixed Recording), and secured her first win.

For the multitalented rapper, this Grammy victory symbolizes a dream finally realized years after she made a plan to become a music superstar. However, this win goes beyond reaching new historical heights for rap or women in hip-hop. It marks a barrier-breaking moment for everything else Doechii represents and what, sometimes, rarely gets recognized on this grand stage.

There’s her musical innovation, with how she blends, bends, and dabbles in different genres. Then there are her visionary instincts: She has curated world-building live performances. And there is her undeniably fearless voice, a vessel she uses unapologetically to speak truth to power and push hip-hop to the next level.

In everything she does, Doechii consistently represents Black women, too — those of us striving to show up authentically in a world that subjects us to racism, sexism and other trauma simply for being ourselves. With her recognition from the Recording Academy, though, Doechii proves that true originality, when captivating and compelling, can and will be rewarded — the color of your skin be damned.

“I know that there is some Black girl out there — so many Black women out there — that are watching me right now, and I want to tell you: You can do it. Anything is possible,” Doechii insisted in her Grammys speech.

“Don’t allow anybody to project any stereotypes on you that tell you that you can’t be here, that you’re too dark, or that you’re not smart enough, or that you’re too dramatic or you’re too loud,” she added. “You are exactly who you need to be to be right where you are, and I am a testimony.”

There’s another group of people Doechii’s Grammy win hits home for: proud Floridians, who also got a special shoutout in the Tampa native’s speech on Sunday.

“There is so much culture in Tampa,” the rapper acknowledged. “Whenever people think about Florida, they only think about like Miami, but Tampa has so much talent. Labels, go to Tampa. There is talent there.”

Doechii’s heartfelt declarations show that she grasps the magnitude of her Grammy win — both for herself, the people her album speaks to, and how it will eventually open doors for others. Whether that’s sharing the spotlight with her DJ/hype woman Miss Milan — think this generation’s Salt-N-Pepa and DJ Spinderella, or Busta Rhymes and Spliff Star — or uplifting female rap every chance she gets, Doechii knows she’s going places and she wants to bring others along for the ride.

You could say that “Oh The Places You’ll Go” wasn’t just the beginning of Doechii’s music career — it was also a prophecy of everything she would achieve. As she raps on the EP’s breakout hit, “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake”: “I am a Black girl who beat the statistics / Fuck the opinions and all the logistics, haha.”

Beating the odds is one thing. Parlaying a Grammy win into continued success is another. And with a Best Rap Album gramophone under her belt, fans and supporters alike are already wondering what’s next for the self-proclaimed Swamp Princess.

Good news: She has a plan.

There’s the promise of her forthcoming debut studio album, which will arrive later this year, according to Variety. There’s also a new single, “Nosebleeds,” which the rapper released hours after clinching her Grammy win: “Everyone wanted to know what Doechii would do if she didn’t win,” she raps on the track. “I guess we’ll never know.”

And thankfully so, because Doechii is on track to become one of music’s next major phenoms, possibly one of the biggest of her generation. With a Grammy in hand and the weight of her potential on her shoulders, the rap star seems ready to shatter even more glass ceilings. What those future breakthroughs will bring is another exciting mystery — one that’s waiting to unfold.

The world may have just woken up to Doechii’s genius, but it’s clear: This is only the beginning.