Moderator Killer Mike says the Tampa-bred rapper is someone “who’s going to change music forever.”<\/p>\n<\/header>\n
Doechii performs at Spotlight: Doechii at GRAMMY Museum L.A. Live on December 18, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRebecca Sapp\/Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tIt was a lit scene inside the Grammy Museum\u2019s Clive Davis Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday evening thanks to an electrifying dynamo by the name of Doechii<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n \t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n\tAs Doechii walked onstage to an ear-deafening chorus of cheers and shout-outs, she was just as psyched as the packed theater as she immediately launched into a rocking and riveting 11-song set. Accompanied by DJ Miss Milan, Doechii powered and danced her way through a mini-concert that opened with \u201cPersuasive\u201d and included \u201cBoiled Peanuts,\u201d \u201cDenial Is a River,\u201d \u201cSpookie Coochee,\u201d \u201cNissan Altima,\u201d \u201cBoom Bap\u201d and the moving yet affirmative \u201cBlack Girl Memoir,\u201d a key audience favorite.<\/p>\n \n\tBefore segueing into \u201cDeath Roll,\u201d an excited yet humble Doechi took time out to directly address the audience, thanking her mom (who was in the audience) and her family, label home Top Dawg Entertainment\/Capitol Records, the Grammy Museum and the fervent fans in the room. \u201cI\u2019m so excited to be celebrating such an incredible year and a new era of hip-hop,\u201d said the current four-time Grammy nominee.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Tampa-born, Los Angeles-based artist was the perfect guest to close out the last edition of the museum\u2019s American Express-sponsored Spotlight program for 2024. The rapper is coming off a banner year, capped by four Grammy nominations: best new artist, best rap performance (\u201cNissan Altima\u201d), best remixed recording (the Kaytranada remix of \u201cEgo\u201d) and best rap album (Alligator Bites Never Heal<\/em>) \u2014 the first female rapper to appear in that category since Cardi B\u2019s\u00a0Invasion of Privacy\u00a0<\/em>in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tPrior to that, the self-anointed Swamp Princess spent the last 18 months cementing the foundation for her career breakthrough, including a performance on the main stage at Coachella; opening for Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s Renaissance world tour; touring with Doja Cat; and collaborating with JT on the popular Eurodance\/hip-hop-fused \u201cAlter Ego. In the wake of releasing her critically acclaimed mixtape Alligator<\/em> in August, she guested on Tyler, the Creator\u2019s latest album Chromakopia<\/em> and performed at his recent music fest Camp Flog Gnaw.<\/p>\n \n\tTaking a brief pause after wrapping her set, Doechii returned for an illuminating and humorous conversation with four-time Grammy-winning rapper Killer Mike. During his initial pre-performance introduction, Killer Mike said in part, \u201cShe is an amazing representation of that swamp called Florida that\u2019s given us talent in the artistic world from sculptor Augusta Savage to writer Zora Neale Hurston. She is a performer; a rapper rapping her ass off at a time where rap needs some rappers \u2026 an artist who I feel is the present, the future \u2014 and who\u2019s going to change music forever.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tKiller Mike speaks with Doechii at Spotlight: Doechii at GRAMMY Museum L.A. Live on December 18, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRebecca Sapp\/Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tHere are five sound bites from the pair\u2019s freewheeling conversation as well as insightful audience questions that touched on Doechii\u2019s childhood, creative process, hard-won confidence and career advice, among other talking points:<\/p>\n \n\tWhat made her put her pure soul into a record: <\/strong>My confidence is truly built and nurtured. I wasn\u2019t always this confident. I wasn\u2019t always in environments that made me feel proud to be a dark-skinned, outspoken girl. So this confidence is truly built behind closed doors. My mother is a single mother of three girls, and she always told me I was the most beautiful girl in the world every single day. I\u2019d leave that home environment with so much confidence, and then I would go to school and get bullied a lot. Eventually, I made a choice that I refuse to be anything but happy. I made a choice that I was going to be myself no matter what it took, no matter what anybody said about me. And that confidence I bring with me on this couch right now is the same confidence that I decided to pour into this project. I wanted to give people an audiovisual experience of what it\u2019s like living in my skin, being in my life, what my brain moves like, what I think about, what I\u2019m afraid of, what I love. And that\u2019s also why I am extremely honored to be representing female rap in the hip-hop album category.<\/p>\n \n\tHer ultimate goal: <\/strong>The end goal, beyond the accolades, the money and everything, is I want the world\u2019s next icon to be inspired by me. I feel like they\u2019re out there. They\u2019re watching my interviews, studying me and listening to my music. They\u2019re watching me. So I have to be free. I have to try my best. I have to show up, because I just feel it. She\u2019s out there watching me. And I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s me that\u2019s watching me or if it\u2019s literally somebody, but that\u2019s what is driving me: somebody needs this.<\/p>\n \n\tStaying determined while navigating her career pathway<\/strong>: Well, one, it\u2019s in you. It\u2019s not on you. When I said that I want to be the best, it comes from a place of truly healthy competition. My family is very competitive so I\u2019m extremely competitive in a healthy way. I talk about this often, but I miss that competitive sportsmanship in hip-hop where everybody wanted to be the best lyricist. They wanted to tell tstories in the dopest way. And they would battle each other through rap, because it makes you stronger. It makes all of you stronger. Like oh, he just did a double entendre. I\u2019m gonna do a triple. I\u2019m gonna do a quadruple. I like that. I want to be the best at my craft. I love this genre. I love music. I like making it.<\/p>\n \n\tBreaking down her writing process: <\/strong>A lot of my writing process, at least for my brain, is I have to move quickly. If I don\u2019t move fast enough, doubt will come in and it\u2019ll slow me down. If I don\u2019t move on to the next line, I\u2019ll be like, \u2018Oh dang, that line wasn\u2019t cool. Let me redo that again.\u2019 So I like to literally time myself. I\u2019ll set a timer for one hour and whatever you get that hour, that\u2019s what you get, baby girl. Then you\u2019ve got to move on. It forces you to be in the moment. It forces you to trust yourself. And I also tell myself this all the time: I have the right to suck right now. I have the right to not say something that\u2019s cool, the right to be vulnerable, to be corny, whatever. I have the right to be whoever I am in this hour. Then I must move on.<\/p>\n \n\tAdvice to creators crafting their careers while dealing with real life: <\/strong>Every creative reaches this point: \u00a0you have to eventually choose your art. You have to choose your art over whatever thing there is. If it\u2019s a relationship that\u2019s distracting you, you need to choose your art. I choose to record today. I choose to post today. I choose to keep going. I choose to instead of invest my money in that, I\u2019ll invest my money in singing lessons. It\u2019s all about your decisions at the end of the day. And I know it sounds cliche, but seriously, as a creative, you have to choose yourself over and over. Don\u2019t allow yourself to come up with excuses that will stop you. You do whatever it takes, and you continue to work on yourself. Then when you get the thing (you\u2019ve been working toward} there\u2019s a whole other battle. And you have to choose yourself again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \t![\"music](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/doechii-grammy-spotlight-1-2024-billboard-1548.jpg?w=942&h=623&crop=1\")
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