In a nod to her Florida roots, Doechii, the self-appointed “Swamp Princess,” has been making waves far beyond the marshy borders of her home state.
Within a five-year span, she’s evolved from a teenage YouTuber, performing a blend of covers and original tracks — to a 26-year-old Grammy Award winning artist.
And now —she’s Billboard’s 2025 Woman of the Year.
She’ll accept the award during the annual Billboard Women in Music Awards on March 29 at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California — joining an exclusive club of previous honorees that includes Madonna, Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.
“Doechii has quickly gained recognition in the music industry for her bold creativity and impressive talent,” Hannah Karp, editorial director of Billboard, said in a statement. “With her genre-blending sound, Doechii is redefining what it means to be a trailblazer in the music industry.”
From Swamps to Stardom: Doechii’s Banner Year and Historic Grammy Win
Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesIt’s no exaggeration to say it’s been a banner year for the Tampa-bred rapper, singer and songwriter. Not only was she named as outstanding new artist at the 2025 NAACP Image Awards — but the Associated Press called her 2024 mixtape, ““Alligator Bites Never Heal,” one of the best albums of the year — and that same album earned her three Grammy nominations, including best new artist, best rap performance and best rap album.
On Feb 2, during the 67th annual Grammy Awards, she took home the Grammy for best rap album — a historically male-dominated category that just two other female artists, Lauryn Hill and Cardi B, have ever won.
Doechii on Redefining Rap & Pushing Boundaries
Doechii, whose real name is Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, grew up in Tampa, Florida. Into fashion and music, she posted her first YouTube video at the age of 16, singing a rendition of “Do you Want to Build a Snowman?” with two friends.
However, it was her 2020 song “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake” that caught the music world’s attention — with the song’s video going viral on TikTok — and one line, “Why don’t you introduce yourself to the class?” inspiring a trend in which social media users shared an old school photo of themselves, only to reveal the “glow up” of what they look like now.
That success led Doechii to become the first female rapper to sign a contract with Top Dawg Entertainment in a joint venture with Capitol Records in 2022.
Rather than feel pressured into making cookie-cutter hits to please the masses, Doechii says she embraced her unique creative vision, pushing the boundaries of genre to craft music that is both authentic and innovative.
“I don’t like making music just for a moment,” she recently told The Cut. “I like to make music for therapy, for an inner experience, an inner purpose, and not just for an algorithm.”
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Swamp Princess to Music Royalty: Doechii Crowned Billboard’s Woman of the Year