Doechii Named Billboard’s 2025 Woman of the Year
The honor follows a huge year in which the Florida rapper won a Grammy and an NAACP Image Award.
Doechii’s glow-up continues. Billboard has named the Florida rapper its 2025 Woman of the Year, the latest milestone in her streak of breakout success. The award will be presented at Billboard’s annual Women In Music event, taking place Saturday, March 29, at YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California.
Doechii was previously honored as the Rising Star at the 2023 Women in Music event. She becomes the third woman to follow up the Rising Star award with a Woman of the Year win, joining Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. Besides those two superstars, previous Woman of the Year winners include Karol G, SZA, Olivia Rodrigo, Cardi B, Billie Eilish, Selena Gomez, Madonna, and Taylor Swift.
“After receiving the Billboard Women in Music Rising Star Award in 2023, Doechii has quickly gained recognition in the music industry for her bold creativity and impressive talent,” Hannah Karp, editorial director of Billboard, said in a statement. “With her genre-blending sound, Doechii is redefining what it means to be a trailblazer in the music industry. We are honored to celebrate Doechii and cheer on her continued success!”
Doechii’s Woman of the Year honors follow other recent major accolades. On Feb. 2, Alligator Bites Never Heal won Best Rap Album at the Grammys, making Doechii the second solo woman (following Cardi B) and third woman overall (factoring in Lauryn Hill’s win as a member of the Fugees) to claim the award. During the Grammys telecast, Doechii performed a medley of “Denial Is a River” and “Catfish” that was widely hailed as the best performance of the night. “Doechii is so ridiculously talented that she almost seems to be playing the game on easy mode when she does any kind of televised performance,” Stereogum’s Tom Breihan wrote in a review of the performance. Later in February, Doechii was named an outstanding new artist at the 2025 NAACP Image Awards.
Alligator Bites Never Heal was a critical sensation, earning rave reviews from outlets like Rolling Stone and AllMusic Guide. The album has been a steady commercial success as well, climbing to No. 14 on the Billboard 200 and spinning off Hot 100 hits “What It Is (Block Boy)” and “Denial Is a River.”
