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Tampa-born rapper Doechii wins 'Best Rap Album' at Grammy Awards

The Floridian is now the third-ever woman to win the award
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Tampa native Doechii just took home her very first Grammy Award.

The Blake High School graduate won "Best Rap Album" at the 67th Grammy Awards for her album "Alligator Bites Never Heal." She is only the third woman to win the award.

During her emotional acceptance speech, the 26-year-old gave a shout-out to "the swamp," saying she "calls herself the swamp princess" because of her hometown pride.

"Tampa has so much talent. Labels, go to Tampa, there's talent there," she said. The next day, Feb. 3, Doechii surprised fans with a new single celebrating her win titled "Nosebleeds."

Her win was a full-circle moment for her former music theory teacher at Blake, Carmen Griffin, who remembers her simply as Jaylah.

"I remember having a conversation with her and told her, 'Jaylah, listen, if you learn these things now, in the future you want to be a singer-songwriter, that's less money you've got to pay someone else,'" Griffin said. "And apparently, that didn't fall on deaf ears."

ABC Action News caught up with Doechii when she returned to Florida last summer.

"It feels incredible. I love being back home, the weather, the highways, just the scenery," she said in 2024. "I think when I was younger, I romanticized my city a lot, and so it always feels like I know just like this fantasy. No other place feels better than my home."

Doechii is the first female rapper signed to Top Dawg Entertainment, alongside big names like SZA and former labelmate Kendrick Lamar. Despite moving to Los Angeles, she still incorporates Bucs gear and 813 numbers into music videos that have garnered millions upon millions of streams.


For Black History Month, ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska sat down with two Black photographers. Both use their images to inspire and educate.

Behind the Lens of ‘Black Excellence’: The journey of two photographers