Jaylah Ji'mya Hickmon (born August 14, 1998), known professionally as Doechii (/ˈdoʊtʃi/), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Following her 2020 release Oh the Places You'll Go, she rose to prominence on TikTok with the viral success of "Yucky Blucky Fruitcake" in 2021. Signing with Top Dawg Entertainment, in a joint venture with Capitol Records, she released the 2022 EP She / Her / Black Bitch. Her 2023 single "What It Is (Block Boy)" (featuring Kodak Black) marked her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and received platinum certification by the RIAA. Her 2024 mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal garnered generally favorable reviews. Her most popular song is considered to be “What It Is (Block Boy)”.
Jaylah Ji'mya Hickmon was born on August 14, 1998, in Tampa, Florida, where she was raised.[1][2] Her father and uncle were both rappers, though only her father recorded professionally.[3] She also has younger twin sisters.[4] She has described her upbringing as Christian.[5] In 2016, Doechii attended Howard W. Blake High School in Tampa and grew up performing ballet, tap dancing, acting, cheerleading, and gymnastics. She had plans to become a professional choral singer until a friend encouraged her to produce and release her music online as an independent artist.[6]
Career
She started writing poetry and rap in high school, and was making music prior to 2014. Doechii released her debut song "Girls" on SoundCloud in 2016 as Iamdoechii.[7] She once sold hoodies with the phrase "Stay woke. Stay black." in protest of police brutality but received backlash.[8]
One of Doechii’s first projects, Coven Music Session, Vol. 1, was released in 2019, and her debut EP, Oh the Places You'll Go, was self-funded and released the following year in 2020.[9][2] It was described by Rolling Stone as a mix of pop, dance, and hip hop.[10] "Yucky Blucky Fruitcake", a single from the EP released in September 2020, was inspired by her reading The Artist's Way and went viral on TikTok in 2021, earning her attention from record labels. Also in 2021, she released her second EP, Bra-Less; she was featured on Isaiah Rashad's song "Wat U Sed" from his album, The House Is Burning, which she performed with Rashad at the 2021 BET Hip Hop Awards; and was an opening act during SZA's 2021 tour.[11][12][9] In March 2022, she was signed to Capitol Records by Chris Turner (A&R) and Top Dawg Entertainment, making her the first female rapper on the latter label.[13][14] That same month, she released "Persuasive", her first single published through Top Dawg,[15] and appeared as a featured artist on David Guetta and Afrojack's song "Trampoline", alongside Missy Elliott and Bia.[16]
In April 2022, she released the song "Crazy" with a music video.[17][18] Her second EP and her first major label release, She / Her / Black Bitch, was released on August 5, 2022.[19] Her July 2022 performance of her song "Persuasive" was nominated for Push Performance of the Year at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.[20]
Doechii appeared as a guest judge on a January 2025 episode of RuPaul's Drag Race season 17, with her song "Alter Ego" featured in a lip-sync competition. The song's exposure in the episode resulted in significant chart increases across music streaming platforms.[27]
Achievements
Doechii was nominated for Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Album for the 2025 Grammy Awards.[28] She also received several nominations for the 2025 NAACP Image Awards, including Outstanding New Artist, Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album, and Outstanding Album.[29] Variety named her the 2024 Hitmakers Hip-Hop Disruptor of the Year.[30]
^"DIY Class of 2023". DIY. December 2022 – January 2023. pp. 32–35. Archived from the original on November 10, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024 – via Issuu.
^Vujić, Katja (July 14, 2023). "Doechii Can Act, Too". The Cut. Archived from the original on August 1, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
^Madden, Sidney; Carmichael, Rodney; Bulgarelli, Gabbu; Leeds, Sam (March 30, 2023). "'I'm coming to y'all with no armor'". NPR. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
