For Doechii, the grind never stops. It’s 9.45pm in Los Angeles and the rapper and singer – real name Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, but better known to her online following as the “Swamp Princess” – is speaking over Zoom from her studio, hard at work on new “soul-baring” songs even though she just finished performing an unplugged gig at a local park to 150 of her most devoted fans.

“It was probably the most intimate performance I’ve ever done, so I’m in a really great mood,” she says with just the faintest hint of exhaustion, her beaded braids jangling playfully against her vintage Hysteric Glamour blue denim jacket.

The 26-year-old is enjoying a moment of well-earned success, thanks to her outlandish personality, manic creativity and globe-conquering ambition. Her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal – a raw and introspective burst of free-form expression, released in August – was just featured at no. 9 on Rolling Stone’s list of the best albums of 2024. Earlier this month, she was nominated for four Grammys at next February’s ceremony, including best new artist and best rap album, becoming the first female artist up for a best rap album nod since Cardi B won in 2019.

This year, she’s also suddenly become every pop star’s go-to feature artist, collaborating with Banks (I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend), Tyler the Creator (Balloon, where she delivers a verse as delightfully unhinged as Nicki Minaj’s on Monster), and Katy Perry (I’m His, He’s Mine).

“I became a Katy Perry fan when I first heard California Gurls, that was one of my favourite records. So when they sent me the song I was like, ‘I can do this. I can easily kill this song’,” Doechii says. She did, and even stole the pair’s performance at this year’s MTV VMAs.

It’s been a year, to say the least. But Doechii’s had such glow-ups before, including last year when her single What It Is (Block Boy) became a chart and radio sensation, even in Australia where it went platinum. That experience is at the heart of Alligator Bites Never Heal, a mixtape that grapples with career confusion and the artistic struggle between creative expression and stardom.

Judging by the careerist self-doubt on opener Stanka Pooh (“What if I make it big?”) and the outright derision aimed at her hit track on the spectacular Boom Bap (“Even the mums know What It Is… Well, what the f— is it?” ), it’s fair to say that Doechii’s conflicted about the song’s pop success.

“Um yes, I would describe it as conflicted. I was unpacking it,” she says. “It’s one of those records that is so good and so pop, but I didn’t feel like I was able to put a lot of me into it so it’s kind of bittersweet. I’m grateful for the massive success of it and that it did so well, but I wish I would have had a different introduction. But had I not had that, I wouldn’t be where I am.”

‘I’m not the person that’s like #realrap over pop. I think artists should be able to do whatever they want to do.’

If you’re looking for a pop hit on Alligator Bites Never Heal, best to look elsewhere. As a reaction to her breakout, Doechii’s run the opposite direction: for the most part, this is #realrap, from the menacing drive and horrorcore aesthetics of Bullfrog and Catfish to the character-work and storytelling on Denial is a River and Death Roll.

“With this mixtape I really wanted to tell my stories and be vulnerable, because I felt like I’ve been in a space where I wasn’t ready to be so introspective, even though I desperately wanted to be,” Doechii says. “For a while I was just focused on making music for moments, or making music for the club, that I lost the importance of making music just for me, for therapy.”

Even then, it’s not so simple. Boom Bap, for example – with its ironic “rap, rap, rappity-rap-rap” opening – is a piss-take of the idea that #realrap is somehow more authentic or valuable than a pop track; it’s the sort of self-chiding ridicule that adds deranged layers to Doechii’s music.

“I have no problem with pop records at all, which is why I don’t regret anything about What It Is and it doesn’t mean that I’m never gonna make a pop song again. I’m not the person that’s like #realrap over pop,” she says. “I think artists should be able to do whatever they want to do. But at the end of the day as long as I have balance and I can put my heart into my music, that’s what’s important to me.”

Raised in Tampa, Florida, Doechii’s earliest performances were in the church choir. Its influence is there in the neo-soul and gospel of Hide N Seek, as well as in the gorgeously idiosyncratic Fireflies, a sultry celebration of her bisexual identity (in a piece for Billboard earlier this year, Doechii explained feeling marginalised growing up in the South, “until I found my sanctuary online”).

Although her vocal dexterity and forward-thinking sonic palette often earn comparisons to Nicki Minaj and Azealia Banks (the queer club-inspired anthem Nissan Altima), she found musical inspiration as an art-school teenager in singer Hayley Williams of Paramore.

“Paramore was my first introduction to rock music,” Doechii says. “I know that rock music is popular but where I grew up in the South, in my culture and my radius, it wasn’t so popular. But she kind of changed my life and my perspective, and I learned about different types of music through Paramore. It made a huge impression on me and my style.”

In 2020, she had her first brush with musical success – and major label interest – when her single Yucky Blucky Fruitcake went viral on TikTok. True to form, on Alligator Bites Never Heal’s Denial is a River, she chastises her early fame: “Now I’m making TikTok music? What the f—?” she raps.

Was she already conflicted about her success at the first stop? “Mm-hmm,” Doechii says with a wry smile.

Among the interested labels was Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), renowned as the home of Kendrick Lamar (he was the label’s second signing in 2005). In 2022, Doechii became the first female rapper signed to TDE.

“Being signed to a black-owned label is very important to me, and also I believe that TDE is kind of the core of hip-hop culture,” says Doechii. “There’s a lot of great legacy rappers on this label, and so I carry that with pride and joy. I take it very seriously.”

Doechii’s label bosses also cop a few shots on Alligator Bites Never Heal, some of the too many cooks she perceives as messing with her masterplan (“My label hate the direction I’m goin’, they knock my shit, stick to the plan and ignore ’em,” she raps on Profit).

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“That’s less about the label and more me processing my art being a commodity, but also doing it for my spirit and for therapy,” she says. “At the end of the day, I want to be successful, I want to make hits! But what I’ve been navigating is, okay, what path do I want to take? Do I want to build up my pen and become an artist who can tell a great story and have it resonate with a mass amount of people? Or do I want to not really tell many stories, make something catchy and do that?

“Both are okay,” she adds, “it’s just about the path you want to take. I think I’ve figured out I’m best when I’m telling the truth and being honest and baring my soul in my music. That’s who I’m meant to be. And if that takes a longer time to get somewhere, that’s fine with me.”

Alligator Bites Never Heal is out now.