At the 2025 Grammy Awards, Doechii was awarded Best Rap Album for Alligator Bites Never Heal — Cardi B announced the category, gasping excitedly before yelling out Doechii’s name.
Doechii cried as she made her way to the stage and took a deep breath to compose herself before accepting the award.
“This category was introduced in 1989,” Doechii said, through her tears. Holding up two fingers she said, “And two women have won, Lauryn Hill — three women! have won.” The audience erupted in applause again, as Doechii corrected herself, recognizing the historic moment.
It’s true— in 36 years of the Grammys awarding this accolade, the only women to have won are Lauryn Hill, Cardi B, and now, Doechii. Less than one percent of Best Rap Album winners are female.
At the 1997 Grammy Awards, Lauryn Hill became the first woman to win Rap Album for her breakout album, The Score (she also happens to be the first rap artist to win Album of the Year for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1999). Then, in 2018, Cardi B became the second woman, and first solo woman, to win Rap Album of the Year with Invasion of Privacy. We just watched Doechii become the third woman to win this award, and definitely not the last.
“I put my heart and my soul into this mixtape,” Doechii continued in her acceptance speech. “I bared my life, I went through so much, I dedicated myself to sobriety, and God told me that I would be rewarded.”
Five years ago, Doechii was fired from her job and posted on YouTube that she was going to channel her energy into her music. Her hard work paid off.
Since she posted that video to YouTube, the artist has released multiple albums, collaborated with other artists (including SZA and Kodak Black), and risen in the music world. Her earliest exposures were her music used by TikTokers. Just this past December, Doechii was featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk series, making waves in the music world. And the most popular song off of her album, DENIAL IS A RIVER, features Issa Rae. She’s been grinding since 2019.
“Thank you to Hip Hop,” she said, toward the end of her acceptance speech. “The last thing I want to say … I know that there is some Black girl out there, so many Black women out there, that are watching me right now and I want to tell you: You can do it, anything is possible.”
“You are exactly who you need to be, to be exactly where you are,” Doechii finished. “And I am a testimony.”
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