Doechii’s Billboard Woman Of The Year 2025 Award Speech: A Powerful Statement On Women In The Music Industry

Doechii delivering her powerful Billboard Woman of the Year Award speech, inspiring women in the music industry.

Doechii’s 2025 Billboard Woman of the Year speech was a firestorm. Accepting the award on March 29, she declared, ‘We are the creators, the executives, the innovators—just as central as the men. Clock it.’ Fresh off her Grammy win for Alligator Bites Never Heal, the 26-year-old rapper celebrated women’s power in music, spotlighting their leadership and creativity amid a shifting industry.

On March 29, 2025, the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California, buzzed with anticipation as the Billboard Women in Music Awards unfolded. Hosted by Emmy-nominated actress Laverne Cox, the star-studded event honored a lineup of influential women shaping the music landscape. At the heart of the night was Doechii, the 26-year-old rapper from Tampa, Florida, who accepted the prestigious 2025 Woman of the Year Award. Her acceptance speech was a raw, electrifying moment that didn’t just celebrate her own rise—it shone a fierce spotlight on the role of women in the music industry, blending personal reflection with a bold call for recognition and equity.

Doechii’s journey to this moment is nothing short of remarkable. Just two years ago, in 2023, she stood on the same stage to accept the Rising Star Award, dancing so hard she “danced her shoes off,” as she recalled with a smile during her 2025 speech. Now, she’s only the third woman to leap from Rising Star to Woman of the Year, following icons Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. Her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal snagged the Grammy for Best Rap Album in February 2025, making her the second solo woman to win that category after Cardi B, and the third overall with Lauryn Hill.

This win, paired with her Outstanding New Artist title at the 2025 NAACP Image Awards, cemented her as a force. But her speech wasn’t just about her—it was a rallying cry for women in an industry that’s often sidelined their contributions.

A Full-Circle Moment with a Purpose : Doechii

Doechii took the stage after an introduction from collaborators Jayda Love and DJ Miss Milan, her energy palpable. “I cannot believe it was just two years ago I stood on this stage right here and accepted the Billboard Rising Star Award,” she began, her voice warm yet commanding. “That moment reflects how I approach my career—always go full out, always go hard, and always be fab.” She thanked her family, God, and the women on her team and at Top Dawg Entertainment/Capitol Records, calling the honor “a full-circle moment.” But then, she pivoted to something bigger.

“This is our motherf—king night to rightfully come together to acknowledge each other, support each other, and to celebrate,” she declared, her words met with roaring applause. “We are the creators, we are the executives, we are the innovators who are just as central to this industry as the men. Clock it.” Posts on X captured the moment’s intensity, with users like

@ladidaix quoting her: “It’s not an agenda. It’s God.” Doechii wasn’t just accepting an award—she was staking a claim for women’s rightful place in music, challenging the narrative that their influence is secondary.

Women as Central to the Industry

Her speech tapped into a long-standing tension in the music world: women’s contributions are often undervalued or overlooked. Since Billboard’s Women in Music event began in 2007, it’s aimed to correct that, born from women “tired of not getting their seats at the table or the credit they deserved,” as Doechii noted. She positioned herself as a “fierce ally,” emphasizing that events like these are a “necessity” to amplify women’s voices. “It is not a button. It is our brain. It is not a machine. It is our leadership. It is not a conspiracy. It is our vulnerability,” she said, dismantling stereotypes that reduce women’s impact to gimmicks or tokenism.

This resonates deeply in 2025, a year already buzzing with conversations about gender equity in entertainment. Take the trending feud between Kendrick Perkins and LeBron James, sparked by Perkins’ critique of LeBron’s podcast co-host choices on Mind of the Game. Perkins’ comments veered into racial dynamics, questioning why LeBron picked Steve Nash and JJ Redick over Black former teammates—a debate that quickly escalated on X.

While not directly tied to gender, it highlights the scrutiny and bias public figures face, a pressure women like Doechii also navigate. Her speech pushed back against such projections, echoing her Grammy acceptance where she urged others not to let stereotypes—like being “too loud” or “too dramatic”—define them.

Breaking Barriers in Rap and Beyond

Doechii’s rise as the second rap artist to win Woman of the Year after Cardi B in 2020 underscores her point about women’s centrality. Rap, a genre historically dominated by men, has seen women like Doechii, Cardi, and Lauryn Hill break through, but the path remains steep. Her Grammy win for Alligator Bites Never Heal—a mixtape praised for its genre-blending R&B, rap, and house vibes—proved her versatility.

Her viral hit “Denial Is a River” reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and her latest track “Anxiety,” sampling Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” hit No. 13, trending on TikTok with dance challenges. These successes aren’t just personal victories—they’re cracks in the ceiling for women in rap.

Compare this to the 2025 Billboard honorees like GloRilla (Powerhouse Award) and Muni Long (Rising Star Award), who also performed at the event. GloRilla’s Hot Girl Summer Tour with Megan Thee Stallion raked in $40.2 million, while Muni Long’s soulful resurgence mirrors Doechii’s genre-defying approach. These women, alongside aespa (Group of the Year) and Tyla (Impact Award), show how female artists are driving innovation across styles—exactly what Doechii meant by “innovators just as central as the men.”

Trending News and Cultural Context

Doechii’s speech lands amid a flurry of 2025 entertainment news that amplifies her message. The Chris Brown concert ticket frenzy, trending on X, shows fans clamoring for live experiences, with some jokingly offering organs for seats. Women like Summer Walker, set to present at the Billboard event, are part of this wave, proving female artists draw massive crowds too. Meanwhile, Ocean Spray’s bizarre Strawberry Shortcake Cranberry Juice launch has X users split—some intrigued, others appalled—mirroring the bold risks Doechii takes in her music, risks that pay off when fans embrace the unexpected.

On a broader scale, the music industry’s power dynamics are shifting. Universal Music Group’s deal with Spotify, announced in early 2025, aims to boost royalty rates for artists like Doechii, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter—all UMG talents dominating the year. This move, led by executive Jody Gerson, reflects the growing clout of women behind the scenes, aligning with Doechii’s nod to female executives. Yet, challenges persist—Spotify’s prior $150 million cut to publishing royalties underscores the fight for fair pay, a fight women often lead.

Addressing the Noise

Doechii’s speech also subtly tackled the noise around her own narrative. Her March 7 Hot Ones Versus appearance with DJ Miss Milan sparked debate when she called “a straight man” a relationship red flag. X lit up—some cheered her queer identity, others cried agenda—but she’s unfazed. “Don’t allow anybody to project stereotypes on you,” she’d said at the Grammys, a mantra she lived out at Billboard. Her focus remained on her art and her allies, not the chatter.

A Call to “Clock It”

As she closed, Doechii’s “Clock it” became a viral soundbite, echoing across X posts from @AndresWrites and others. It was a directive: recognize women’s power, their creativity, their leadership. At 26, she’s not just a recipient—she’s a torchbearer, joining past honorees like Taylor Swift (the only two-time winner) and Beyoncé (2009’s Woman of the Year, whose mother Tina Knowles won Mother of the Year in 2025). Her performance of “Denial Is a River” and “Catfish” at the Grammys was called the night’s best by Billboard’s Jason Lipshutz, and her Tiny Desk concert hit 12 million views in three months—outpacing Juvenile’s celebrated set.

In a year where Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti faces a tax fraud trial and the Boston Celtics mull trades, Doechii’s speech stands out as a cultural pivot. It’s not about controversy or commerce—it’s about claiming space. “We are the creators,” she said, and 2025’s music scene, from her viral hits to the Billboard stage, proves it. For women in the industry, Doechii’s words aren’t just a speech—they’re a movement. Clock it.