The Grammys Were Worth It for Doechii’s “Nosebleeds” Alone

Doechii’s 2025 Grammy win for Best Rap Album was, as she noted in last night’s acceptance speech, just the third time a woman had taken home the award, after Lauryn Hill with the Fugees in 1997 and Cardi B in 2019. That says more about industry obstacles for women rappers—prejudices ranging from misogynoir to colorism—than about the quality of their work: How is it possible, for instance, that Missy Elliott never won that trophy? As Doechii said to young Black girls watching at home: “Don’t allow anybody to project any stereotypes on you… tell you that you can’t be here, that you’re too dark, or that you’re not smart enough, or that you’re too dramatic, or you’re too loud. You are exactly who you need to be to be right where you are.”

The Tampa rapper has been on a tear of star-making performances lately. Even if you were dazzled by her appearances on Colbert and Tiny Desk, and had an inkling of what might come, her Grammys slot was still jaw-dropping in its artfulness and scale. Then there’s the fact that she had “Nosebleeds,” a song dropped mere minutes after the ceremony ended, locked and loaded to debut for the win—any win—she imagined herself landing. The timely release strategy speaks to her beautiful, pure self-belief, and the way she harnesses it for her wildly creative cadences. With a rubber-band beat by Danish producer Jonas Jeberg, the track serves as a kind of epilogue to last year’s instant classic “Denial is a River,” beginning with her harried breathing exercises that close the earlier single. 

If “Denial” was a chronicle of life’s chaos, this is the comeback track after getting her shit together. She paints another visual that puts you right in her mind, imagining herself walking to the stage and accepting her award while also narrating her internal monologue. She’s also showing off her agility, flipping between points of view on each bar as she zigzags her flow. When she stops the song to deliver an acceptance speech, thanking “Mommy, Blake High School, and all the bitches I surpassed,” her braggadocio can hang with the best of ’em (the end of that bar is “I knew it”). She references Kanye West’s 2005 Best Rap Album speech, mirroring the unmuddled bluster of a talent on the come-up. Her style on “Nosebleeds” is deeply rooted in hip-hop tradition, recalling 1980s playground freestyles while carving out her own new path. This also, excitingly, includes a sweetly sung outro about paying her dues over a fizzy drum’n’bass beat. 

Last November, the Tampa journalist Cleveland “PapiCleve” Rowe asked Doechii what advice she might give to her younger self. “I literally have no advice for myself,” she said, looking directly into the camera. “I ate that. That little girl is exactly who she needed to be, to be here right now. I’m fucking perfect. I ate that. No notes. Ten outta ten.” It’s characteristic of Doechii to cap off a win with another win, and it’s becoming clearer that her only real competition is herself.