Hip-hop fans were gagged this New Year’s with a surprise release from Doechii: a single featuring R&B icon SZA. The song “girl, get up.” claps back at the hate Doechii has experienced in the past year and a half. She exploded in fame following the 2024 release of her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal. This song claims all of her success as her own and looks forward to a fruitful future. Let’s analyze what’s actually being rapped about and referenced as we head into 2026.
Haters Always Hating
Much of Doechii’s career thus far has been dedicated to celebrating dark skinned women and creating space for girls like her in the music industry. You’ve probably heard “Black Girl Memoir” from her 2020 EP “Oh The Places You’ll Go“, where she celebrates musical icons such as Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu.
The Florida Rapper has also been open about the struggles that came with her rise to fame. She went from funny YouTube videos to being the third woman to win a Grammy for Rap Album of the Year for her last mixtape. She rapped about her struggle with addiction, and she says her sobriety influenced much of the record. Despite being open about her sobriety, people still criticize her for using drugs. Conveniently, this criticism does not historically befall her white or male counterparts.
Streamer Adin Ross recently gave Doechii attention, implying that she blew up out of nowhere because of her sexual appeal. He is one of countless internet voices that believe that Doechii is an industry plant, or an artist whose rise to fame is manufactured rather than earned. These claims ignore her decade-long hustle to cement herself as a performer and icon.
Once you get any conspiracies around your career, that’s just confirmation that I’m going somewhere and I’m doing something right.
Doechii, for The Cut
Divine Feminine Energy
SZA’s feature on the single is understated, but crucial to nail the vibe. The song’s New Year’s release set it up to be a hype-up affirmation, and I think SZA is the cherry on top that makes the whole thing.
Her signature gentle, soulful sound makes the repeated chorus a mantra that beautifully opposes Doechii’s direct, matter-of-fact tone. The two women are some of the biggest icons in music today, both breaching the Billboard Top 100 for 2025. I didn’t know I needed this collab of two of my favorite artists, but it set the tone for 2026 perfectly.
One thing about Doechii: she’s a girl’s girl. Her raps prove that she’s a student of hip hop, perfectly emulating a 90’s sound with technically excellent rhymes. However, that doesn’t mean that she’s all brains and no beauty.
She’s a fashion icon, as we saw at 2025 Paris Fashion Week, and she’s not afraid to dance freely onstage. This verse proves that she understands that women in the industry should be free to be both: hot and intelligent. The modern woman knows that misogyny is the true enemy. Doechii seems to agree that tearing down our female peers only hurts us all.
From Rags to Riches
The thesis of the single is clear: Doechii has been working hard, sometimes failing, for her successes in the past years. There’s no reason why she shouldn’t cash in on her success while she continues to grind. She’s coming from her “Nissan Altima,” from her last album, up to a fresh Bentley. She has support from other industry greats, such as Kendrick Lamar, who she references in this verse. Doechii and SZA dedicated New Year’s to reflecting on controversy and success while manifesting future success, and we love to see it.
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