Dive into the extraordinary journey of Doechii, from a traumatic childhood in Tampa to becoming a Grammy-winning rapper. Discover how she overcame adversity, conquered the music industry, and became a voice of her generation with her unique style and powerful storytelling.
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00:00Wow, that was quite the introduction, Dochi.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're going behind the scenes of the glossy glitz and
00:10glamour of Dochi's music career as we know it today.
00:14This is the story of how Dochi became the Grammy-winning voice of a generation.
00:18Fast forward me, 2023, I'm stacking lots of cheese and making Monty.
00:24Coming from a family of rappers, hip-hop was ingrained in Dochi's DNA.
00:29Her father, an artist going by the name of Snatchitaboss, raised her around music.
00:33Your dad or your uncle, they were rappers too?
00:36Yes, both my dad and my uncle were rappers.
00:39She had drumsticks in her hands before she took her first step.
00:42Her uncle, also a musician, would often be around the house, writing new pieces with
00:47his brother.
00:48My dad does have some CDs out, and he has music on streaming and on YouTube, and my
00:55uncle, I don't know if he ever officially put anything out, but he would rap and record
00:59himself on cassette tapes.
01:01Like a doting daughter, Dochi would rest on her papa's lap while he weaved melodies on
01:05the keyboard.
01:06It isn't surprising, therefore, that once she was a bit older, her grandparents got
01:11her a superstar kit for Christmas.
01:13Performing for her family with a little mic and a fancy stage fit gave her the first taste
01:17of artistic attention, and she was hooked.
01:20I don't know why, do you wanna watch the show today?
01:34What pushed her to pursue music seriously, however, was the influence of her mother.
01:38Growing up in Florida, I just was around a lot of music, a lot of different creatives.
01:44Although her dad was present in her life, Dochi was brought up primarily by her mother.
01:48She was a single mother of three, Dochi and a pair of twin girls, and they moved around,
01:53often in the Tampa area, places like Sulphur Springs, Wesley Chapel, Temple Terrace, and
01:58New Tampa.
01:59Yeah, what do you know about Sulphur Springs?
02:00Well, that's where you're from.
02:02That's where I'm from.
02:03Yeah.
02:04What do you know about Sulphur Springs?
02:05I never talk about Sulphur Springs.
02:06The change of scenery allowed her to absorb the culture of the Sunshine State and its
02:10underground music scene in all its diverse glory.
02:13Local heroes like Trina and Trick Daddy made it into her playlists, and Florida became
02:18much more than the land of swamps.
02:20It's very important.
02:21Very important, isn't it, to Florida?
02:23Trick Daddy.
02:24It is.
02:25Yeah.
02:26We love Trick Daddy in Florida.
02:27I mean, he's one of the hardest.
02:28Him and Trina are, like, our presidents.
02:31Today, Dochi's swamp princess persona is a tribute to what she calls the, quote, organized
02:36chaos of Florida.
02:38Unfortunately, though, Dochi's colorful childhood was marred by some major trauma.
02:44Without a permanent address, she kept changing schools, and kids were not always nice.
02:53She was mistreated relentlessly, mostly for her skin tone, and it was doubly hurtful coming
02:58from her fellow African-American peers.
03:01She once recalled being spat on by a boy and labeled terms she has now come to reclaim.
03:05It was just kind of always used in a derogatory way or, like, in a way to, like, oppress me.
03:11And I found a lot of power in it, in kind of reclaiming it.
03:13However, at the time, such incidents pushed her to the point of wanting to take her own
03:17life.
03:18Thankfully, she survived, and came out of it with a renewed appreciation for and understanding
03:23of life.
03:24Thus, she was reborn as Dochi, a name she etched in her diary, embodying her strongest,
03:29most authentic core.
03:31Like, I'm so unserious, and I'm not committed to one identity.
03:35I think people who commit to one identity their whole lives are psychotic.
03:40I think that is highly dangerous, and I think that you take yourself too serious, and I'm
03:44judging hard.
03:46Equipped with a newfound confidence, Dochi focused all her energy on her passion for
03:51art.
03:52I wrote a song for the talent show, and it just kind of built from there.
03:55Everywhere I went, I just would do music or try to collaborate with somebody with music.
04:00At church, which she was attending at her mother's insistence, she joined the marching
04:04band as a dancer while also singing in the choir.
04:06I was in a marching band when I was younger.
04:09My church had a marching band in Tampa, and I was a dancerette on the team when I was
04:15like 13.
04:17Simultaneously, she was doing step, cheerleading, theater, poetry, choreography, and songwriting
04:24too.
04:25If that wasn't enough, she was also playing the guitar and the piano, learning jazz, mastering
04:30vocal techniques, and so much more.
04:33No wonder when she tried out for the prestigious Howard W. Blake School of the Arts, she got
04:37in despite being based out of the institution's district.
04:40Dochi still has fond memories of how it all started right here at Blake.
04:45We only got to be in the theater when we were performing our songs, and so it's actually
04:49a really special place because I couldn't wait to come in here.
04:52Dochi was well on her way to college, aspiring to be a professional chorister, until the
04:56allure of going indie hit.
04:58I put out my first song when I was in 11th or 12th grade, and it actually blew up on
05:03SoundCloud.
05:05Inspired by a friend, Dochi started uploading her music on YouTube and SoundCloud.
05:10Gigs started coming in from all over Tampa, and she hardly ever turned one down, even
05:14if it was in a strip club.
05:15I think that I had done every show, I did every club in Tampa, and I was looking for
05:20something else.
05:21I wanted people to know about my city, I wanted to learn new things, and I felt like I reached
05:27like a cap.
05:28By 2019, the Big Apple was calling, which meant greater opportunities but a tougher
05:33grind.
05:34Dochi was working multiple jobs, including at a Zara store, as a student advisor, and
05:39a dog walker.
05:40Out of the blue, a creative block stunted her progress.
05:43With a little help from Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way, she got back on track and
05:48released Coven Music Session Vol. 1.
05:51I was just drawn to it for some reason, so I picked it up and started reading it, and
05:57I think, I think it's gonna be a whole vibe.
06:02Finally, Dochi's overnight success moment, which had been years in the making, was in
06:06the offing.
06:07With the release of her next mixtape, Oh The Places You'll Go, came the viral sensation
06:11Yucky Blucky Fruitcake.
06:13Hi, my name's Dochi with two I's, I feel anxious when I'm high, teachers say I talk too much.
06:21It sparked a TikTok trend worldwide, and Dochi with two I's was the name on everyone's lips.
06:27Unsurprisingly, there was a carefully calculated secret to the track's popularity.
06:31Wow, wow Dochi, why don't you tell us what you do in your spare time?
06:37The rap phenom revealed in an interview that she had been analyzing the science of relatability
06:42and resonance for a while as she penned the buzzworthy lyrics.
06:46The key was keeping it real, and it worked wonders.
06:49Day jam, Gen X baby going crazy with the cam, back when I was rhyming on my green X and
06:56Eager to sign the hottest new rising talent, labels started knocking at Dochi's door.
07:01However, one name stood out among the keen crowd, Anthony Moussa Tiffith Jr., aka the
07:06president of Top Dog Entertainment.
07:08It's no formula for nothing.
07:10This Dochi, this Reason, this Cal, this Rayvon, there's four different personalities I'm gonna
07:16deal with.
07:17I'm learning from them the same way I learn and curate with the first ten years of our
07:22label.
07:23In the late 80s and early 90s, D.E., home to artists like SZA, Schoolboy Q, and formerly
07:27Kendrick Lamar, saw in Dochi a multi-talented star.
07:31Almost immediately, Moussa flew her out to La La Land and put her in a recording booth
07:35with producer Cal Banks to test her chops live.
07:39She went dumb on that hoe, you know what I'm saying?
07:42I never like try to force the work.
07:44It's about the experience.
07:46Undoubtedly, she delivered, albeit with a shot of tequila for some liquid courage.
07:51Dochi was made as the Tampa Bred rookie became the first female rapper for the legendary
07:55label.
07:56Her signing was also in partnership with Capitol Records.
07:59My manager called me and she was like, bitch, TDE wants to bring you out, and I was like,
08:03who's that?
08:04And she was like, SZA, Kendrick Lamar, and I was like, get out.
08:09And I went and I made it crazy and I got signed.
08:13At TDE, Dochi could unleash her creativity in an environment that was conducive to her
08:17growth.
08:18It took me a really, really long time to figure out the direction of where I wanted to go
08:24with my music.
08:25It also helped that she had, quote, manifested working with an all-black team.
08:30With Top Dog's powerful backing and co-signs from Lamar, SZA, Billie Eilish, and even former
08:35U.S. President Barack Obama, she was quick to book shows and flex her skills.
08:40From Tyler, the Creator's Camp Flog Nod, to NPR's Tiny Desk Concert, to The Late Show
08:44with Stephen Colbert, and opening for Beyonce and Doja Cat, Dochi was in demand.
08:50Remember old dude from 2019, nice clean dude, did me dirtier than laundry.
08:55Considering how almost each one of her live performances started trending, suffice it
08:59to say, she was eating CDs for every meal.
09:03Dochi's influence expanded beyond music as she solidified her celebrity status, making
09:07moves in the fashion world.
09:09That and her effortlessly cool yet fiery personality earned her a spot as a guest judge on
09:14Season 17 of RuPaul's Drag Race.
09:16And our extra special guest judge, Dochi, now what would your reality show be called?
09:23Ru, I think I'd bring back The Bad Gays Club.
09:27Oh, I wanna be on that!
09:30To add to the hype, her song Alter Ego featuring JT set up a heated lip-sync battle between
09:35Queens' Lexi Love and Krystal Envy.
09:38Not only did the episode rake in the views, the track itself climbed the charts on various
09:42streaming platforms.
09:48Dochi's participation on the show, combined with her openness about her own bisexuality,
09:55made her a favorite in the LGBTQIA plus community, with many queer fans seeing themselves in
10:01her.
10:02I think that sexuality is fluid and I really don't give a damn.
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10:22As the Dochi dominance continued and her impact on pop culture became undeniable, she accomplished
10:27a feat that many artists spend their whole lifetimes vying for.
10:31And the winner is…
10:32See for me…
10:33Alligator Bites Never Here By Dochi!
10:35Alligator Bites Never Here By Dochi!
10:42Her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal won the Grammy for Best Rap Album, making her
10:47the third woman ever after Lauryn Hill and Cardi B to bag the honor.
10:51I put my heart and my soul into this mixtape.
10:55I bared my life.
10:57I went through so much.
10:58I dedicated myself to sobriety, and God told me that I would be rewarded and that he would
11:05show me just how good it can get.
11:09That same night, she wowed the star-studded audience with an epic performance of her iconic
11:13hits Catfish and Denial Is a River.
11:16With such a major milestone behind her, Dochi has no plans of slowing down.
11:20As she moves forward, the rap genius plans on sticking to her guns, being the best, and
11:25inspiring the next.
11:26No questions asked.
11:27I'm a nice-presenting woman.
11:30I'm hungry.
11:31I wanna be the best.
11:33Which Dochi song do you think is the most underrated?
11:36Tell us in the comments.
11:37I got haters, I got fans, I got stans in the stands.
11:38Do they love her or they hate her?
11:39Either way, they spin their bands.
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