Florida native singer-songwriter and rapper Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, known best by stage name Doechii, had a historic win at the 2025 Grammy awards earlier this month. Taking home her first Grammy, Doechii became the third woman in history to win “Best Rap Album” for her 2024 release, “Alligator Bites Never Heal.”
While “Alligator Bites Never Heal” is widely considered more than deserving of the award, “Best Rap Album” hardly begins to describe the listening experience that Doechii provides on her 19-track mixtape.
Distinct from many of her infectiously electric songs like “Alter Ego” and “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake”, “Alligator Bites Never Heal” divulges Doechii’s internal monologue rather than catering to the atmosphere around her. Ranging from her intrusive thoughts on opener “Stankah Pooh” to the Therapist character in “Denial Is a River”, Doechii uses the free form of the mixtape to her advantage to explore her own mental health and substance use struggles, her career successes and losses, and her roots as a Florida native.
Tracks like “Fireflies” and “Alligator Bites Never Heal” use Doechii’s experiences growing up in the Tampa area, citing “bare feet in the parking lot/dancing with the car light on” and “fireflies” that are not only the root of her persona as the “Swamp Princess” but also aid in mending much of what she explores in other more internally focused tracks.
Doechii makes it clear that she not only respects her roots but relies on them for growth as a person and artist. In her Grammy acceptance speech 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 that you’re not smart enough, or that you’re too dramatic, or you’re too loud. You are exactly who you need to be to be right where you are—and I am a testimony!”
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