Editor's Note: This post was originally published in December 2024 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
Turns out that two very impactful artists inspired Doechii’s Thursday night performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Following her performance of “Denial is a River” and “Boiled Peanuts” off her Alligator Bites Never Heal mixtapein which the TDE artist, alongside two dancers, had their braids connected while making syncopated moves together, Doechii took to Instagram to speak further on the performance — including how the late
MF DOOMand
Solangeinspired it.
“This one is for hip-hop,” Doechii said on X. “I felt heavily inspired by the lineage of hip-hop and how it contributes to who I am today. This is my first self-choreographed performance, and one of the most important things I wanted to highlight was my connection to black women through hip-hop. With the help of hair artist Malcom Marquez, we were able to make this symbolic art performance come to life in just a short week.”
She then gave a special shoutout to DOOM, Solange and Carlota Guerrero, a Spanish photographer, filmmaker and art director.
“This is my take on the future of hip-hop. This is Blackness. This is luxury. This is history,” she added.
Doechii’s Colbert performance comes right as her NPR Tiny Desk Concert dropped on Friday.
Backed by a full band, the Florida artist’s almost 25-minute set included “Boom Bap,” “Catfish,” “Nissan Altima” and more.
In an interview from last month, Doechii revealed that the breaths she takes at the end of “Denial is a River” were inspired by famed beatboxer Doug E. Fresh.
Doechii has become somewhat of a live-show darling. Her stunning performances for NPR and the Late Show broke the ground for her to perform at the 2025 Grammys in February as well. On the Grammy's stage she peformed "Catfish" and the now iconic "Denial is River."
Her biggest production yet, she went all out for the Grammys. Several outfit changes and some incredibly coreographed moves, her set was show stealer.