'Tampa has so much talent.' Rapper Doechii shouts out Florida fans ...

Show Caption

Hide Caption

Doechii rocks Grammys red carpet with tie and dress combo

Doechii is anything but business casual for the Grammys red carpet.

Entertain This!

While 2024 saw a lot of successes, 2025 might be Doechii's year.

The Florida native rapper just scored her first Grammy Award during Sunday's ceremony, making history as the third woman to win "Best Rap Album."

"This category was introduced in 1989 and three women have won — Lauryn Hill, Cardi B and Doechii! I put my heart and my soul into this mixtape," Doechii said in her acceptance speech.

"I bared my life, I went through so much, I dedicated my life to sobriety and God told me that I would be rewarded and that He would show me just how good it can get."

Her third mixtape "Alligator Bites Never Heal" dropped last August and was critically acclaimed by many, with the rapper growing more and more popular by the minute. From trending TikTok audios to performances on late-night talk shows, Doechii was everywhere.

In November 2024, she was nominated for three Grammy Awards —"Best Rap Album," "Best New Artist" and "Best Rap Performance" for her song "Nissan Altima." She also performed a medley of her two songs "Catfish” and “Denial is a River."

Here's who Doechii is and her acceptance speech for her first Grammy Award, in which she shouted out Tampa creatives and her Florida fans.

Which Grammy Award did Doechii win? See acceptance speech with Florida shoutouts

Doechii didn't just thank her mom, she brought her on stage with her, holding her hand through much of her acceptance speech and speaking through tears. Cardi B, a former winner of the same Grammy Award and one of the three women to accept it, introduced Doechii to the stage after revealing she won.

And in her acceptance speech, Doechii shouted out her Florida fans, the state and the city that she's from, emphasizing that talent in Florida exists outside of Miami and is often overlooked.

"I have to thank God, I need to thank my beautiful mother for coaching me. I want to thank my label, my engineer Jayda, for everything she did. My fans, to the swamp. There’s so many people out there who probably don’t know who I am. I call myself the swamp princess and that’s because I’m from Tampa, Florida," Doechii said.

"There’s so much culture in Tampa. Whenever people think about Florida, they only think about like Miami, but Tampa has so much talent. Labels, go to Tampa. There’s talent there, okay?"

She also received a standing ovation, immediately following a call out to all Black women and girls who think that they can't accomplish their dreams due to stereotyping.

"The last thing I want to say: 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," she said.

"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 not smart enough, or that you’re too dramatic, or that you are too loud. You are exactly who you need to be to be right where you are, and I am a testimony."

What song did Doechii perform at the Grammys in 2025?

Doechii not only won her first Grammy Award on Sunday, she also gave her first Grammy performance.

She performed her songs "Catfish" and "Denial is a River," both from her Grammy Award-winning album "Alligator Bites Never Heal."

Her performance was sandwiched between performances from fellow nominees for "Best New Artist" Benson Boone and Teddy Swims. If you're wondering, Chappell Roan won the award for "Best New Artist."

Doechii's performance also received a standing ovation and cameras showed industry titan Jay-Z and SZA both standing, smiling and clapping for the Florida-born performer.

Who is Doechii? Where is Doechii originally from?

Jaylah Ji'mya Hickmon, known professionally as Doechii, was born on August 14, 1998, in Tampa.

And the 26-year-old Floridian triple threat (singer-songwriter-rapper) has seen a meteoric rise to fame in the last few years, with 2024 being a particularly good year for her. According to IMDb, Doechii was nominated for three iHeart Radio Awards and three (2025) Grammy Awards last year alone.

In August 2024 she dropped her latest album, titled "Alligator Bites Never Heal," which would go on to earn her first Grammy in 2025. Her collaboration with pop icon Katy Perry on the track "I'm His, He's Mine" also earned her praise last year.

In an interview with Acclaim Magazine, she said she started off writing poetry, before turning to music as a teenager.

Since her debut in 2020, she's performed at several big music festivals like Governors Ball and Coachella, won the Rising Star award at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music Awards, headlined for fellow rapper Doja Cat on her worldwide tour and more.

Why is Doechii named Doechii?

What, exactly, does Doechii mean? Urban Dictionary says it means to express excitement or approval. Other reports claim it is a cultural tool to protect against misfortune.

According to Hickmon, it's completely made up. She told Vulture she was a bullied, shy child growing up; however, it changed when she entered sixth grade. That's when "Doechii" was invented.

“It literally just came to me,” she told Vulture. “Jaylah might’ve been getting bullied, but I decided Doechii wouldn’t stand for that … My whole attitude was different. It stuck.”

She also refers to herself as a "Swamp Princess" and refers to her fans as "Gay-tors." 

What song made Doechii famous?

It depends on who you ask or if you consider how well a song charts as the test for success.

Following the release of her first EP "All The Places You'll Go" in 2020, she shot to fame online with her song "Yucky Blucky Fruitcake" a year later. The sudden attention came from a viral TikTok trend where users shared old photos of themselves to a line from the song that says "Doechii, why don't introduce yourself to the class?"

However, she wouldn't see a place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart until 2023, when she released her hit "What It Is (Block Boy)." The song features another popular Floridian rapper on the track: Kodak Black. Suddenly, she was launched into another level of fame after that song caught flame online as well.

"I think it entering the Billboard charts and being one of the most popular songs in America right now... It’s really cool," She told Acclaim about the single. "It’s my first achievement. That’s been a really joyous moment for me and my team."

When did Doechii start rapping? When did Doechii get signed by TDE?

Doechii started by posting covers to YouTube and Soundcloud in 2016, along with a few of her own original songs.

She released her first single, "Girls," on Soundcloud in 2016 under the username Iamdoechii. A few more singles followed that, before her first mixtape, "Coven Music Session, Vol. 1," released on May 15, 2019. Two more EPs quickly followed — "Oh the Places You'll Go" (2020) and "BRA-LESS" (2021) — and inspired a major record label to make her a "first."

In 2022, Doechii became the first female rapper to join Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), signing a joint partnership with TDE and Capitol Records.

Is Doechii on tour for the 'Alligator Bites Never Heal' album?

Sadly, you just missed her! The Tampa native went on a 12-city tour in the fall of 2024, hitting her hometown in November.