Doechii Claps Back At Undeserved Lip-Syncing Accusations
Source: Emma McIntyre / Getty
At this year’s Grammys, Doechii made history both on the performance stage and with hardware that she took home. But despite her qualifications, there has still been doubt sewed on her greatness — and she’s used social media to speak up for herself.
Doechii was nominated for three Grammys and won Best Rap Album for her record Alligator Bites Never Heal, making her the third woman to ever receive the award after predecessors Lauryn Hill and Cardi B. But along with her heartfelt acceptance speech, she also blew away viewers with her live performance. The Grammys presented a medley where several of the Best New Artist nominees had a chance to showcase their skills on stage, and Doechii delivered a powerful performance of fan favorites “Catfish” and “Denial Is A River.”
There have been some social media users who said that Doechii was lip-syncing during the performance, instead of using her live vocals on stage. She took that allegation personally, and it’s tough to blame her for it.
“I can’t possibly get on here and say this calmly or nicely. Y’all are stupid as hell. So slow!” she began in a video she posted on TikTok. “That is my DJ’s voice picking up on the lines that I can’t say because I’m doing a somersault! That entire performance was live.”
@iamdoechii_ Replying to @Michael Villalobos
She pointed out that in the beginning of the performance, her braids can be heard hitting the microphone as she danced and rapped. She added that she was particularly bothered by the accusation because she was fighting illness to deliver the best performance possible.
“I was sick as a dog with bronchitis and the flu, performing my ass off in a straddle on top of human men,” she said. “Worked my ass off to build the stamina for that to play in my face. I don’t lip-sync. Don’t ever f***ing play with me like that. Ever!”
Women rappers are often unjustly criticized for virtually every area of their careers. They’re made to defend themselves against ghostwriting accusations, they’re accused of being too “bitchy” in their business affairs, and they’re called “catty” when engaging in the same back-and-forth lyrical warfare as their male counterparts. But Doechii has weathered even more hate over the past year during her climb to success. A widely circulated tweet in December disparagingly dismissed her work as “Harriett Tubman music,” a clear reference to her dark skin more than anything she said on her records. She was also accused of being an “industry plant” — a phrase used to describe artists who achieved success by way of nepotism, wealth, or industry connections instead of their talent. These lip-syncing accusations are just the latest.
No artist is above criticism, and social media can sometimes make certain critiques appear louder than they really are. But there isn’t much negative to say about Doechii right now. She earned her early success through Soundcloud and TikTok traction, just like many other artists, before signing her deal with Top Dawg Entertainment. And while 2024 was undoubtedly her breakout year, it was far from her start: she had released several EPs and mixtapes before Alligator Bites Never Heal, even earning a platinum plaque for her Kodak Black-assisisted 2023 song “What It is (Block Boy).”
And most importantly for this conversation, Doechii’s Grammys campaign was rooted in memorable live performances. Her standout appearances on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series showcased strong live vocals, limber choreography, dynamic visual presentation, and boundless energy as she made her way from one end of the stage to the other. She has proudly proclaimed herself as a “theatre kid,” and that comes across in both her music and her performances. Artists having hypemen or DJs to add in vocals for them is far from a novel concept, and it isn’t the same thing as lip-syncing. If there’s any area of her art that Doechii has proved her worth in, it’s live performances. The lip-syncing accusations, along with most of the other criticisms that she has received, has felt more like grasping for straws to justify colorism and inclinations to categorize her in ways that don’t coincide with her art.
Even when some fans defend her, they often do so by pigeonholing in the context of boxes they use to critique other women. They say she doesn’t objectify herself, even though she raps about sex too. They praise her for not getting plastic surgery, even though Doechii has admitted to getting “cosmetic enhancements since like 2021.” These tactics have also been used to support artists like Rapsody, categorizations that the North Carolina MC herself has repeatedly pushed back against.
Some would argue that Doechii shouldn’t have even acknowledged the lip-syncing accusations at all, and they’re probably right. But those critiques shouldn’t have been levied against her in the first place.
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