At this point, it feels like Doechii is releasing a new, year-definingly good performance on a daily basis. Today, December 6, it’s her NPR Tiny Desk appearance, making a late-in-the-year play to be one of the best Tiny Desks … ever. Doechii rewired her music, largely off her 2024 mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal, to be more jazz-forward, including saxophone and trumpet. The whole band is in stylish schoolgirl-inspired fits and matching braids, in earthy green colors that are appropriate for the Florida diva and self-declared “swamp princess.†On “HIDE N SEEK,†Doechii sings; on “NISSAN ULTIMA,†she speed raps; on “DENIAL IS A RIVER,†she tells a story; and right at the beginning of “CATFISH,†she growls. The song might be called “catfish,†but Doechii’s got that dog in her.
The Tiny Desk follows a knockout performance of “DENIAL IS A RIVER†and “BOILED PEANUTS†on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on December 5. Doechii performs connected to two backup dancers via their braids, a reference to Solange Knowles. And yeah, you can definitely add “dancing†to the increasingly long list of skills that Doechii has at her disposal.
And both those performances come directly on the heels of Doechii’s performances at Camp Flog Gnaw. Those included a set of her own, during which she brought out SZA for their duet “Persuasive,†and a guest appearance during Tyler the Creator’s set to perform their duet off his new album, Chromakopia, “Balloon.†They’re a matching set of weirdos: Watch Tyler and Doechii simultaneously scream at the sky and try not to join in. Alligator bites never heal, and swamp princesses never disappoint.