熱如火
多知
words by Michael Cuby
images by Kanya Iwana
Doechii has always set intentions for herself.
"I don't know how to explain this, but I just feel very intuitive and I know when I'm ready for certain things," the rapper tells me matter of factly one July afternoon, sitting at home in Los Angeles as she gets her glam done before a busy day of content creation and music making. "I have a very deep spiritual connection with God, so a lot of my intentions are just set from visions that I get."
Take her name, 例如. Born Jaylah Hickmon, the recording artist started going by "多吉伊" in middle school in a bold move to separate herself from her more conformist peers. "我像, you know what? I'm going to be who I am. I'm going to be a superstar and brand myself." Though she "didn't even know what 'branding' was at the time," she knew she was meant to stand out. "I started wearing these tutus and coming up with silhouettes, just implementing my creativity. I started to mold this woman that God kept showing me I would be. And now, I'm her."
Whatever God's vision was, it must have included great success. Over the last seven years, Doechii has risen from the depths of Soundcloud to the upper reaches of the Billboard charts. Though she's yet to release an official debut album, she's already scored collaborations with artists like Janelle Monáe, Ravyn Lenae, and SZA. Doja Cat is a huge fan, as is UGK's Bun B. She's such a hot commodity right now that, when asked to reflect on 2023 alone, she has to pause to refresh her memory. "科切拉音樂節. 我的第一首打榜歌曲. 今年的《告示牌音樂界女性》也是如此, 正確的?" (它是. 她獲得了新星獎。) 到目前為止，設定意圖顯然對 Doechii 有效. 所以當她說, "最終, 如果當人們思考「流行文化」時那就太好了,'他們想我," 很難不點頭表示同意.
在我們打電話的那天, 多吉最新單曲, "這是什麼 (塊男孩)," 在排行榜上達到新的高峰, 越來越接近公告牌榜首 50. 這是她第一首這樣做的歌曲. 這首歌, A "懷舊的" R&B anthem that foregrounds her buttery soft vocals, 是她在饒舌生涯中表現出的強硬押韻的一個支點，就像去年的那樣 "瘋狂的" 但藝術家, Lauryn Hill 和 Erykah Badu 是她的主要靈感來源, 一直是音樂變色龍. 坦帕, 佛羅裡達人的多才多藝是她吸引力的一部分. 這就是她被 Top Dawg Entertainment 注意到的原因, 去年，誰簽下了她，成為他們名單上的第一位女說唱歌手.
Doechii 並不是以主要品牌的抱負開始的. 這位藝術家在就讀表演藝術高中時就開始創作自己的音樂, 她用她從受歡迎的 YouTube 頻道賺來的錢自籌資金項目 "保持清醒, 保持黑色" 連帽衫業務. 但在她在本土取得成功之後 2020 哦你要去的地方 EP (及其在 TikTok 上走紅的單曲 "噁心的幸運水果蛋糕"), Doechii 知道簽約是自然而然的下一步. "我不只是想成為獨立藝術家, " 她承認. "我想成為全球超級巨星。" 儘管引起了多個唱片公司的興趣, Doechii landed with TDE because of its legacy and the creative freedom she felt they provided. "Plus, it's Black owned," she adds. "And that was very important to me."
Shoes by Alexander McQueen
Being on a label made famous for breaking stars like Kendrick Lamar and SZA has, naturally, come with a fair amount of "good pressure." But as a former gymnast, Doechii thrives through regimented discipline. Since signing, she's only expanded her following, gaining new fans with the cheekily titled, five-song EP she / her / black bitch. (The title originated as a joke it's a reference to both Kendrick Lamar's "The Little Homies" production company and Diahann Carroll's infamous line about being "the first Black bitch on television.") She's also become a must see live act. After annihilating the Coachella stage this past April (and the BET Awards last summer), she's now gearing up to open for Doja Cat's highly anticipated Scarlet Tour this fall.
And that's not to mention her work on screen. Earlier this year, Doechii appeared in Earth Mama, Savanah Leaf's critically acclaimed A24 debut about a pregnant mother's struggles with the legal system. Playing the protagonist's super religious (and at times judgmental) best friend, Doechii exhibited a natural radiance on screen though that came as no surprise for anyone who has seen her inventive music videos. "The same way I tap into real emotions on stage is the same way that I tap into them on camera," the artist says of her first acting experience. "I'm just very in tune with my emotions, 我喜歡在表演時實踐它們。"
她在完全忠於自己的同時取得了令人難以置信的成就. 作為自認教科書Leo, Doechii 警察成為 "非常雄心勃勃、忠誠且自吹自擂, 但也腳踏實地。" 人們可以從她公開表達自己酷兒身份的方式中感受到她獅子座般的自信. 即使還居住在 "鄉下人, 種族主義的, 同性戀歧視" 坦帕, 她記得告訴自己, "好的, 女孩, 你喜歡女孩. 誰他媽的?" (她在家鄉認識的唯一酷兒, 馬修, 直到今天她仍然在做頭髮。) And now, 隨著 Doechii 越來越接近主流, 她一直保持著這種態度, 在她的歌詞中自豪地透過她的音樂討論她的雙性戀, 節拍, 和視覺效果, 正如她對舞廳的影響一樣 "有說服力。" "這沒什麼大不了的. I just love who I love and that's it."
小小年紀的她就明白了很多 24 (她幾乎 25, 即使她喜歡開玩笑說她要轉身 21), 但隨著她的職業生涯的繼續，Doechii 還希望完成其他事情. "我願意做娛樂產業的幾乎所有事情," 她直率地說. "一天, 我想指揮. 也許我會走在時尚前沿. 我對任何事情都不抱持封閉態度。" 當被問到五年計畫時, 她提到想要 "在接下來的三年裡，每年都會推出一張專輯。" 在那之後? "休息一年，帶著一張他媽的民謠專輯回來，讓人們生氣，讓它成為有史以來最討厭的專輯。"
我猜她是在開玩笑, 但與Doechii, 人們應該總是期待意想不到的事情. 她在取笑她即將發行的大廠牌首張專輯時也告訴了我這些, 她堅稱仍有望實現這一目標 2023 發布. ("絕對是在我和 Doja 一起巡迴演出之前," 她保證。) "你們都會跳舞. 這將會非常有趣," 她放走了. 不出所料，她對其餘的事情守口如瓶, 只是確認新項目將比她唱片中的其他任何項目更具概念性. 這將是 Doechii 的另一個支點, 即使一件事保持不變. "我不想放棄任何東西," 她說. "但我創建它的意圖非常明確。"
