doechii the don, doechii the fashion icon
a style analysis of emerging superstar doechii
2024 was the year of the musical underdog.
Ex-Disney girl and scorned “homewrecker” Sabrina Carpenter dominated pop, Chappell Roan lived the prophesied rise of a midwest princess, and after a decade of being the underrated pop icon for Internet gays, Charli XCX re-entered the mainstream.
Beyond these white girls (whom I love! and yes, I know Charli is wasian), another rising star sent a shockwave through the music industry this year — rapper Doechii (the don, Doechii the dean, Doechii supreme).
Doechii launched her 2024 musical run with the explosively cunty single “Alter Ego” featuring JT (which sat comfortably at #3 +in my Spotify Top 5). She picked up the pace with her summer Swamp Sessions, a weekly series where she would release a song written within an hour. “NISSAN ALTIMA,” her third Swamp Sessions song, spurred a viral moment; other rappers and musicians in the industry flocked to her comments with praise.
In an Instagram comment, Doechii told a fan she’d turn the Swamp Sessions into a mixtape. In August, the promise came true. Alligator Bites Never Heal released to critical acclaim and fan approval, garnering her three Grammy nominations. Kendrick Lamar, who had his own generational run in 2024, posted her album on his IG story and crowned her “the hardest out.” Tyler, The Creator celebrated her talent on several occasions and featured her on his highly anticipated album CHROMAKOPIA. Doechii’s performances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and NPR’s Tiny Desk prompted many to tap the fuck in to this up-and-coming rap girl.
Her music isn’t the only thing causing people to turn heads, however. Over the past year, Doechii has cultivated a signature chic style (“I’m like Carrie Bradshaw with her back brace on,” she raps in “NISSAN ALTIMA”) and I need to gush about it!
Ahead of her Alligator Bites Never Heal (ABNH) tour, she posted to her Instagram the following “style guides” for those in attendance.
Deeming one style “swamp core” and the other “country club couture” in her accompanying Instagram caption, her current era’s guiding aesthetics become clear. With the help of her stylist Sam Woolf, she strikes a playful balance between both, though has heavily leaned into the latter more recently.
The swamp princess style is hallmarked by revealing clothing (tattered, tight, translucent), camouflage, earthy colors sporting pops of orange and red, eclectically styled or colored wigs, micro shorts, miniskirts, and sheer tights.
Doechii’s preppier look adopted androgynous and masculine silhouettes, a collared shirt a common characteristic of her looks. She flirted with cinched vests, padded shoulders, and ties to form both striking and boxy figures. Dark colors, particularly grey, blue, and black adorned her wardrobe, and stripe motifs added a business prep edge. She wore her hair in various black hairstyles — braids, cornrows, bantu knots — favoring fresh cornrows sealed with an array of brown beads.
Doechii channels 90s hip-hop in ABNH, and her stylist expression echoes the fashion of the same genre. Her Zane Lowe interview look mimics the quirky yet sturdy style of Missy Elliott, complete with a signature newsboy cap. Her affinity for boxy suits matches that of Jay-Z’s, which Doechii credits as inspiration in an interview with Vogue. “It’s so gangster and timeless,” she says.
As Doechii leans into swagged out classy fashion, she incorporates her Florida-girl-swamp influences through “rich colors … deep burgundies and navies and greens and beiges and creams,” Sam Woolf tells Paper Magazine. The swamp permeates in a more subtle way.
Developing a distinct, cohesive style is a key component to establishing one’s artistic identity as a public figure.
Zendaya aided her elevation from Disney kid to A-List by showing up to any event she could get in, turning heads in the fashion industry, and translating that attention into legitimacy for the acting industry (see the ever so famous Twitter caption: models should be grateful Zendaya chose acting). Missy Elliot’s unique, punchy style exemplified the music you could expect from the rapper and thwarted expectations of black women’s dress in the media. Nicki Minaj’s Harajuku Barbie fashion spotlighted her in a rap scene dominated by male rappers, and it encouraged expression experimentation in a generation of young black girls. Fashion can be a tool to navigate the entertainment sphere — particularly as a black woman.
Black women’s presentation is often politicized and scrutinized, and black female entertainers inevitably sign the invisible contract to grace the Internet’s jumbotron. Lurk in Twitter threads, music video comments, and other social media forums, and you are likely to encounter a common critique of the (mostly black) female rap space: too sexy, too sexual, too sexualized, sex sells, can you come up with anything else?
Consequently, when a new female rapper catches the public’s eye, two paths await her: be regarded as another amoral sexual deviant, or become deified in comparison to her so-called overtly sexual peers.
After receiving co-signs from Tyler, The Creator and Kendrick Lamar, a wave of male hip hop fans were introduced to Doechii, and many had taken a liking to her. This liking, however, often came at the expense of her female peers. Comments such as: “Finally, a female rapper who doesn’t twerk!” or “Finally, a female rapper that talks about something real instead of sex!” slowly populated comment sections of Doechii-related content. It is also not lost on me that co-signs from men are often needed to “legitimize” female rappers as “real artists.” Most men would not pay these women any attention if their favorite man did not shout her out first. Many comments from these men fail to praise Doechii without mentioning how these men in relation to her.
And so, I find Doechii’s style evolution in the most recent months particularly curious. Though traces of the swamp princess are still present (her Camp Flog Gnaw outfit during her set or wearing a “pornstar in training” shirt during a Genius interview), I wonder if her adoption of masculine silhouettes, loose clothing that covers her figure, the darker, more “serious” colors are a reaction to this online perception. This perception where her legitimization hangs precariously in the balance and largely depends on the approval of men (both men in hip hop and male hip hop fans). I wonder if this change in fashion is a preemptive response to this perception, a way to prove her place with her clothing before others get the chance to doubt it. I wonder if this change is simply Doechii’s own genuine personal and internal growth being reflected on her style. I wonder if it even matters.
I hope it doesn’t appear as if I’m doubting Doechii’s authenticity, because I don’t doubt it at all. I listened to the album (evidenced by my review!), I’ve watched many of her interviews, and I understand a lot of the journey on ABNH is in fact grappling with authenticity and identifying what is true to yourself rather than what others expect of you. I simply get wary, or perhaps protective, when a black woman enters the spotlight — especially in a male-dominated industry, and especially when they attract male fanbases. Fellow rapper Ice Spice’s comment section (though to be fair, the reason men flocked to her was quite different) after her weight loss is Exhibit A of Men on Some Bullshit: Men will complain about a woman being sexual — or simply being an object of their sexual desire, regardless of whether the woman is intentionally seeking that man’s gaze — but when the sexuality is lost and no longer appeals to them, the men will discard the woman. She is of no use to them. Exhibit B: Doja Cat.
If Doechii expresses her sexuality in a more flagrant way, or simply expresses herself in a way beyond the box others impress upon onto black woman, will the love still be there? Are people truly grateful for the “breath of fresh air” Doechii brings, or is she simply a pawn the choir can use to pit women against each other in their endless discourse? And again — does it matter?
Okay, I suppose this was meant to be about clothes.
I love Doechii’s style, I think she’s incredibly talented, and I’ve been rooting for since I discovered her in 2019 (yes, I am better than all you new fans). Regardless of how public favor may shift, if it even does, Doechii has showcased her confidence in herself, her artistic abilities, and her vision. That’s something that can’t be bottled up and taken away from her. I hope she keeps doing what she does, stuns with more brilliant outfits, and I hope her good fortune spills abundantly into 2025.
