When Doechii takes the stage at West Holts on Saturday night, she is introduced to us as Doechii the don, the dean, the supreme. Before the hour is out, no one in the audience will be left in doubt as to the Grammy winner’s mastery of her craft, or how much work she has put in to achieve it. But at the same time as flaunting her natural ability, Doechii is also eager to show her working and the paths she used – and her debut UK festival appearance is all the more mesmerising for it. The 26-year-old performer’s schoolgirlish styling – giant lockers, rows of desks, Doechii’s long braids and exceedingly brief kilt – is immediately obvious as a feint: she may be a relative newcomer to the scene, but she is no rookie.
The videos playing either side of the stage bring the set’s concept into focus: Doechii (real name Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon) is leading us, step by step, through the steps necessary to become a hip-hop master – from how to distinguish between “good bars and GREAT bars”, to understanding “the aspect of flow” and the importance of genre.
The overarching suggestion is that Doechii is the total package, and she makes it hard to argue with: she is pure power, head-to-toe sinew, as tightly coiled as a snake and just as hard to tear your eyes off. Doechii spits, she lunges, she sprints the length of the stage and seems to hardly pause for breath throughout the entire show.
Should you catch yourself wondering where this force of nature sprung from, she’s eager to tell you, peppering her set between snippets of Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Missy Elliott and even Daft Punk. It not only adds richness to the show but also places Doechii within a musical lineage, identifying her as an artist who swotted up on the greats, then found a spin uniquely her own.
After Bullfrog, the screens switch from black-and-white to vivid colour, and Doechii launches into Boiled Peanuts, defined by its irresistible, cackling refrain – the crowing “ha ha ha” of a victor who knows herself to be head and shoulders above the competition. That triumphant glee extends into Nissan Altima: Doechii is held aloft by her posse of backing dancers, swinging her braids like the imperious head cheerleader.
The show’s pace is so relentless, the choreography so precise and the Doechii’s flow so airtight that all the crowd can do is hold on and hope for dear life to be carried along. With her freestyle over America Has a Problem, from Beyoncé’s Renaissance, Doechii challenges anyone who dares fancy themselves her competition to step up: “I see a lotta bitches, I don’t see a lotta stars / I hear a lot of rappers, I don’t hear a lot of bars.”
The follow-up nod, in that song, to the Barbz – Nicki Minaj’s famously fanatical fanbase – makes Doechii’s most obvious comparison explicit, but not only does she match Nicki’s impeccable flow, she also bests her stage presence. Nicki’s never been known as much of a performer, whereas Doechii runs the length of the stage in heels and throws her body around like it’s another special effect at her disposal. Through Alter Ego, she’s flirtatious, casting coy glances over her shoulder, then antagonistic, spitting fire from a low squat position. Doechii’s association with alligators, appearing on the cover of her album Alligator Bites Never Heal, is apt: they share the same implacable ferocity, bared teeth and glint to the eye.
A dance break involving umbrellas adds to the spectacle, but slightly obscures the school of hip-hop through-line. The show restores equilibrium with Persuasive, Doechii’s track with SZA – obviously performed tonight without her, but with such force that you don’t feel the absence. Doechii’s back and forth with her DJ/hype woman Miss Milan adds to the party atmosphere; by the time she launches into Nosebleeds from atop of a giant pair of speakers with her dance troupe way below, the crowd is hanging on her every word.
From that apparent peak, the highs only continue with an X-rated performance of Crazy and a rendition of her hit Anxiety that blasts the sample, Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know, with heavy distortion. For all her immense technical ability and precision, there’s actually something quite metal about Doechii in her commitment to spectacle. On top of all that, she has a strong, clear voice, capable of acrobatics but not inclined to launch into them just for show. On GTFO, she spars with her dancers, then the camera; for Catfish, she shows off her vocal timbre, descending into a guttural, bristling growl.
It is brilliant, but unrelenting; a reprieve from all that intensity arrives with Denial is a River – Doechii’s Salt-N-Pepa-esque, gossipy hit about a cheating partner and the narrator’s own self-deception. It’s presented within the educational framework of tonight’s set as an exemplar of “the art of storytelling”, and more than delivers on that promise: Doechii is relaxed, self-deprecating and conversational with Miss Milan. You could happily watch her riff in this register for hours.
As it is, Doechii concludes her “school of hip-hop” with a rousing rendition of Boom Bap, then skips off stage. It might seem anticlimactic – West Holts seems to be left slightly reverberating by her sudden absence – but it’s in fact one last lesson: a true master knows to always leave the crowd wanting more.
