Doechii Tells JT Why Nobody Touches the Swamp

Doechii is on her own tip. After signing with Top Dawg Entertainment and blowing up the Billboard Hot 100 last spring with her nostalgic R&B hit “What It Is (Block Boy),” the self-proclaimed swamp princess is ready to level up, haters be damned. Someone who can relate is fellow Floridian and City Girls rapper JT, who not only hopped on a single for Doechii’s highly anticipated debut album, but hopped on this call, too.

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DOECHII: Hi JT!

JT: Hi baby!

DOECHII: How you doing? 

JT: I’m just at home, chilling. What are you doing? 

DOECHII: Same. I’m throwing away clothes and cleaning up the house for the new year. I’m sleepy though.

JT: You’re in L.A.? And you’re sleepy already?

DOECHII: I don’t know why I’m so tired. I just want to nap all day.

JT: Well, you deserve it. You work hard. Okay, I’m going to start off by giving you a congratulations on all your success. I’m a fan and I’m not a fan of many people, but I fuck with your music, your look, and everything you have going on. So we’re going to hop into these questions. “What It Is” went viral on TikTok and it was your debut on the Hot 100. Wait, I thought “Persuasive” was?

DOECHII: Nope. “Persuasive” didn’t chart.

JT: It didn’t? I feel like the best fucking songs do not be charting.

DOECHII: [Laughs] Yeah.

JT: Do you feel like, with that being such a viral success, people look at that as your sound?

DOECHII: I think so, because it reached so many people, and when new fans come, they expect you to keep doing that specific thing. It’s interesting that I went viral with that song because I don’t think it really shows my rap ability at all. But it’s still a good pop song, so it’s a bittersweet feeling.

JT: Well, I feel like “Persuasive” is your sound because that’s how I discovered you. So, you champion female empowerment and you say that you are the Black girl who beat the statistics. Do you feel like you constantly have to prove yourself as a Black girl into alt, and do they push you to a certain sound?

DOECHII: A dark-skinned girl like me, I’m doing a whole lot better than people expect me to. As far as boxes and shit, I don’t do that. I jump from genre to genre. I’ll be making a rock song, then I make a pop song, then I make this, that, and the third. I don’t think I have to be super deep in all of my songs, but I also don’t have to be superficial all the time either. It’s a balance.

JT: You emerged crazy big this year, with the style, the hair, the makeup. Then I read a tweet and somebody was like, “I love her style, but I wish it matched her music.” I feel like they say the same thing about me sometimes, and I’ll be like, “Damn. Why do people feel like you have to make a certain type of music to express yourself visually?” Are you a Tina Turner fan?

DOECHII: Yes.

JT: Because I remember your performance at Billboard Women in Music awards, and when I be seeing you, I be like, “Okay, I got to get my shit together.” [Laughs] You’re so good at what you do. You channeled the Tina Turner.

DOECHII: Thank you. But JT, you can perform your ass off. You know how to make people feel it and you don’t even have to do too much.

JT: Thank you, babe. So being a girl from Florida, do you feel like it’s harder to make it?

DOECHII: I do, especially coming out of Tampa. People expect a certain sound to come out of Florida. I love that sound, but I’m not that sound. Plus, people don’t pay attention to Florida as much. They pay attention to L.A., New York, and Atlanta.

JT: The City Girls and Doechii is probably the last people to make it, female-wise, out of Florida.

DOECHII: Yeah, in forever.

JT: So you’re the first female rapper signed to Top Dawg Entertainment. It’s a great fit for you. I feel like them even choosing you to be the first female rapper on the label, it shows a good sign of Top believing in you. And we are the first girls on QC [Quality Control], so we got so much in common, like for real, for real.

DOECHII: Yes. Wait, can I ask you something?

JT: Yeah.

DOECHII: How do y’all navigate working with all men and it’s just y’all two?

JT: I’m going to be completely honest. We came in around the same time as Lil Baby and a lot of people on the label felt like we were trash and did not want us on their fucking label. At first I was such a fan that I didn’t know. I was coming in excited, and then it was, like, “These girls really ain’t going to go that far.” A lot of people felt like, why the fuck are they taking a chance on us or even putting us on a label that was so hot at the time.

DOECHII: Did it make y’all go harder? 

JT: We didn’t have to go hard because we was so good culturally and people was gravitating to us. They was from Atlanta, so they didn’t get the lingo yet. I don’t take it personal because now that I’m a veteran, sometimes when P [Quality Control CEO Pierre Thomas] signs people, I be like, “What the fuck is that?” 

DOECHII: [Laughs]

JT: You just be a little defensive with your label and what you work hard for because the artists also build the label.

DOECHII: That’s true.

JT: So why do you call yourself the Swamp Princess?

DOECHII: It’s a cute way to say I’m from Tampa. Miami is more city to me and Tampa is more like a little trailer trash area. But I like that aesthetic. I just wanted to pop my shit and be like, “I’m the princess of my city.” It’s cute and nobody touches the swamp aesthetically, so I was like, this is a perfect lane for me to take over.

JT: Okay, so the CFDA [Council of Fashion Designers of America] named you the one to watch next year. That’s major.

DOECHII: I didn’t know that.

JT: Well now you know.

DOECHII: That’s really cool. I feel like it is right on point. Because next year, I’m turning up the heat and I’m going to try a lot of different things. I want to eventually get to a place like Rihanna, where she’s known for her fashion as much as her music.

JT: You are already doing that to me. How was the tour with Doja?

DOECHII: That was really, really good. I toured with SZA, which was also really good. But the tour with Doja was fire because it was longer and she’s so nice and her crowd fits my aesthetic. I got a lot of experience and I was performing my ass off.

JT: Okay, so before I keep going, is there anything you want to touch on? You could just tell me some stuff. Have you ever been to jail?

DOECHII: I never been to jail. I want to go to jail so bad.

JT: Why? What the fuck? No, you do not.

DOECHII: [Laughs]

JT: You know growing up in Florida is crazy. That is a fucking state of its own. I don’t even think it’s a part of the U.S. So I always got to ask people, how did you grow up?

DOECHII: Okay, so growing up in Florida was dangerous but fun. I was nothing like my environment, I was nothing like the people I was around. I was this weird girl. I was really into rock and I love alternative aesthetics, but when you grow up in the hood in Florida, that’s weird to people. And so it made me a target and it made me have to learn how to defend myself. I got into a lot of fights when I was younger. That phase kind of helps me with my rage music, which is why I be screaming a lot in my music. But other than that, it was very fun. I was always out doing hoodrat shit. I love doing country things. I love going fishing, I love going to the beach. I love shaking my ass in the club, driving fast, getting drunk, and fucking people. I love it all.

JT: Oh, wow. Okay. You’re a real Florida girl. So 2024, what are your goals? 

DOECHII: I want to start off with a collab. Hello?

JT: Are you ready to tell them about the collab? Because I’m so excited. This is for the girls. People are always comparing us and I feel like this is going to be so cute.

DOECHII: I think so, too.

JT: And when you sent me the record, girl, I was like, “What the fuck? She think I can make a song like this?” But thank you for challenging me. I’m very hesitant when I make music. I’m a perfectionist. I want that shit to sound good when I send it back.

DOECHII: You killed it. I haven’t told anybody this, just my team, but you know when you have a song for so long, you get sick of hearing it? So I didn’t really like it, and I was just sitting one day. I was like, “You know who would slide on this? Somebody unexpected.” There was a lot of names that was thrown out, but I was like, “No. JT.” Because you balance it out. It’s something about your essence and your energy. You literally made me re-love this song all over again. And I wanted to know, do you have an alter ego?

JT: I wouldn’t say I do. But when I’m a City Girl, I’m on my bad bitch. And then when I’m home I’m so nerdy. My boyfriend say it all the time. I’m so homebody and I’m very introverted. I really, really, really don’t like to be perceived. A lot of people call it insecure, but it’s not that. It’s just sometimes when I go certain places and I be around certain people, my energy feels so tainted. And when I leave, I feel disgusted for a long time. I don’t be doing stuff that I really don’t want to do for money.

DOECHII: You like to protect your spirit.

JT: Yeah. That’s where the emo side comes in, or the darkness.

DOECHII: I love it.

JT: Me too. But I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s an alter ego because I’m an overall bad bitch. That’s why I always say I don’t understand why the genre has to match the looks. But the question I want to ask you is, how do you be so confident just getting on Instagram with no makeup, shaving your hair off ? One day you scared the shit out of me. I said, “Doechii, delete this.”

DOECHII: [Laughs] You did!

JT: Because I hate to be perceived so much that I am so fucking glamour, girl.

DOECHII: Yeah, you are.

JT: I need a filter. I need to be glammed up all the time when I’m in that bag. So when I see you doing it, I be like, “Doechii, what the fuck are you doing? Do you know they are going to attack us as Black girls?” I admire that at the same time. I be like, “Doechii is so fucking fire. She don’t give a fuck.” The glam be hitting, the hair be hitting, and you go wipe that shit off.

DOECHII: [Laughs]

JT: So what makes you so fearless and cunt? You’re a cunt bitch. 

DOECHII: Thank you. This is going to get a little deep, but I’m going to die one day, and I’m not finna be worried about what the fuck y’all think about anything. If I feel like having my lashes off, I’m going to take my lashes off, but I still want to pop my shit on Instagram. Everybody feels empowered in different ways. I love the women who feel empowered when they look perfect, because honestly, I don’t have the patience for it. But with me it’s, like, “I don’t even fucking know y’all losers and I make more money than you anyway, so I can look however the fuck I want.” I’m a millionaire, so I don’t really give a fuck.

JT: I used to have that attitude. I feel like that’s very Florida. We grungy and we don’t give a fuck. I had that energy when I first came out and then I felt like I got judged so much that I had to become this doll for people to leave me the fuck alone. Even though I’m the most comfortable when I’m home looking a mess. That’s why it’s good to be with a person that accepts you for who you are. I’m always able to be free at home.

DOECHII: That’s true.

JT: That’s why I don’t like the internet. I be like, “I can’t get on this bitch. I got to check my teeth before I talk.”

DOECHII: They’re so stupid.

JT: That’s what makes you so raw. I’m like, “How the fuck Doechii get on this bitch with one of her regular eyes and one contact?” That is the level of cunt I wish I could be. So when you performed at the BET Awards in the beach scenery, how was that? Was that your idea?

DOECHII: The setup was my idea, but looking back, I don’t like it. I would’ve went more cunt. I was lost at that time. I didn’t really know what direction I was going in. I was trying to fit BET’s aesthetic instead of trying to cater to myself. It didn’t feel like me.

JT: Do you feel the same way about “Booty Drop?”

DOECHII: Definitely. I’m from Florida. I don’t have no business fucking with no Jersey beat. I’m not a fucking Jersey girl.

JT: That’s why I asked you about the BET performance, because I feel like you felt more at home on the Doja tour and you feel more at home when you’re in your cuntness. I feel the same way about myself. I love my crazy glam, but sometimes I get judged a lot. They be like, “Ah, that’s ugly.” And then I look back months later and I be like, “This is the best fucking shoot I ever did. These bitches could never do what I do and switch it up how I switch it up.” I feel like you got that power.

DOECHII: Thank you. I want to comment on that too, JT, because I be seeing the comments when you do your more alternative looks, but I want to let you know all of it is cunt. I think that who your fans are now, they’re not used to that.

JT: Yeah, that’s the thing, breaking barriers. And I’ve been getting opportunities, after opportunities, after opportunities. I took a break at the end of the year because I’m like, “I don’t want to look like no model for too long. I want to put my music out.” So that’s my problem. That’s why I asked you about how you see yourself align in the music with the looks because, bitch I rap like a hoodrat. And then I want to be wearing contacts and fucking alt.

DOECHII: Exactly. What are you really looking forward to next year? 

JT: I’m going to do my first solo project. So I’ve been in the studio just being so free, for the first time. Like literally keep changing the beats to the fucking songs and being so fucking bossy. I’m looking forward to being in control and putting out music that I actually want to hear myself and not aiming to be so commercialized.

DOECHII: Okay, well congratulations. You deserve it, girl. Let’s kill this shit. Period.

JT: Wait, one question before you leave. Are you a Khia fan?

DOECHII: I love her.

JT: I wanted to ask that because I fucking love all Florida women rappers, like Jacki-O and Khia. So I’m like, are you a Khia fan because I feel like she should get her flowers in this interview right here.

DOECHII: Alright, let’s give Khia her flowers, even though she be mean sometimes.

JT: [Laughs] Yeah, you be mean sometimes, auntie.

DOECHII: Well, thank you. Y’all have a good day.

JT: You too, babe. Alright, text me, Doechii.

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Hair: Malcolm Marquez using As I Am at Opus Beauty. 

Makeup: Dee Carrion using Blend Bunny Cosmetics. 

Nails: Karen Jimenez using Apres at Opus Beauty. 

Production Management: Gustavo Hernandez. 

Photography Assistant: Joey Abreu. 

Fashion Assistant: Iris Palma. 

Location: Edge Studios.