Becoming the third woman to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap album, Doechii released her first full-length album, “Alligator Bites Never Heal” on August 29th, 2024. The album follows her experiences as a dark-skinned black woman navigating the music industry. Since the album’s release, Doechii has featured on popular songs, such as “Balloon” by Tyler, The Creator and JT’s “Alter Ego.” Doechii’s quick rise to fame is one to be admired.
Raised in a poor, single-parent home in Tampa Bay, self-proclaimed “Swamp Princess” Doechii knew from a young age that she wanted to perform. She pursued jazz and musical theatre in school and gravitated towards anything that could get her onstage and in front of an audience. After a failed fashion business under the motto of “Stay Woke. Stay Black” when she was 18, she decided that music was what she wanted to do.
All the Places You’ll Go
Doechii went from recording Soundcloud demos from her apartment in New York City to releasing her first EP, “All the Places You’ll Go,” in 2020. This EP features the song “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake,” which went viral on TikTok in the same year. Following a mock show-and-tell session, she narrates her experience of growing up poor, discovering her bisexuality and realizing she didn’t fit in with those around her. On the topic of growing up to be a musician, she states, “I am a black girl that beat the statistics.”
The song “Black Girl Memoir” from the same EP follows the inherit trauma of growing up as a Black person, singing, “When I get older, I want the money and power so I can make it go away.” This is a satire on the fact that no amount of fame will get rid of what she dealt with her entire life. She describes her self-doubt in the music industry based on her dark skin tone, stating, “I wish I wasn’t dark so I could look like [Be]yonce.” But, despite her doubts, says, “I can do anything, I could do anything.”
Alligator Bites Never Heal
“Alligator Bites Never Heal” was released on Aug. 30, 2024. Opening with the song “STANKA POOH,” Doechii shares her fears of dying without fulfilling her dream of performing and imagines a reality where she is remembered as nothing but “just another ‘Black Lives Mattered’.”
The track “BOILED PEANUTS” focuses on Doechii’s upbringing in a poor neighborhood in Tampa, Florida. Littered with cultural references, she raps about her legacy as “A dying sunflower leaving a trail of seeds in the 813.”
“DENIAL IS A RIVER,” named for a viral excerpt from “The Wendy Williams Experience,” is framed as a therapy session following her last EP. Doechii and her therapist discuss discovering that her ex-boyfriend was cheating on her with a man, her sobriety and her recent signing with Top Dawg Entertainment. This 90’s inspired “boom-bap” track quickly rose to becoming her most popular song on the album, accumulating over 400 million listens on Spotify as of January 2026.
The track “CATFISH” is a strong pivot from the previous tracks–instead of focusing on her past, Doechii discusses her confidence in her songwriting skills and how she ignores the doubt others may have in her. She refers to those who doubt her as “catfish,” connecting online anonymity with criticism. She ends the last verse with a strong lyric highlighting what she thinks of her competitors: “I’m the hardest rapper, this your motherf***ing training day.”
“BLOOM,” the album’s interlude, is a slower and more emotional song. It features Doechii talking to a woman (assumed to be her mother) about how overwhelmed she is with her music career and how she wishes it could earn her a living. Her mother-figure talks about balance, stating “God made a day twenty-four hours … you do what you can do, and then you go to bed.” The end of the track shows her spiraling, stating, “I just wanna chase my dreams, I just wanna be like ‘Oh my God, f*** everything, … I’m following my dreams.’ … But I can’t, because, b***h, you have to have rent, … you have to maintain things, and that’s just the way of life.”
“DEATH ROLL” also follows Doechii’s insecurity in the music industry as a dark-skinned black woman, highlighting the rampant oversexualization forced on black women in the entertainment industry. She raps about her insecurity of not pandering to the general population, asking, “I wonder what the labels see in a b***h this black?” This theme previously appeared in her song “Black Girl Memoir,” where she more specifically discusses her experience writing about the oppression she has faced.
“PROFIT” follows a similar track of insecurity in relation to race and gender. Doechii once more discusses her worry about not fitting what society and her record label wants from her, reminding herself and those with similar experiences that “They don’t make statues of critics, they don’t make statues of fans.” Ultimately ending with her decision to “Pledge Allegiance to the motherf***ing profit, b***h!”
Ranked Genius Lyric’s 9th best song of 2024, lead single from “Alligator Bites Never Heal” and my favorite track on the album, “NISSAN ALTIMA,” is filled to the brim with self-confidence, sexuality and disdain for critics. Doechii compares herself to well-known bisexual artists, deeming herself “The new hip-hop Madonna [and] the trap Grace Jones.” On the topic of people disliking her, she raps, “Do they love her or they hate her? Either way they spending bands.” She argues that even if people dislike her, they are still spending their time thinking and talking about her, which is a net positive.
The final track, “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” shows Doechii’s self-acceptance as an artist and admiration in herself. The track ends with the figure from “BLOOM” recalling the bible story of Abraham and Lot, reminding Doechii, “Everybody can’t go where you going.”
Doechii’s “Alligator Bites Never Heal” is an album best experienced through listening to it. I do not believe any sort of description I can do is able to do the album justice. Even if rap is not your thing, I believe this album has something for everybody.
