Doechii receives a warm welcome on a tour of her former high school

This week, Doechii showed how necessary it’s to always remember where you come from. After being nominated for 4 Grammy Awards earlier this month, the Florida-born rapper embarked on a special tour of her alma mater, Howard W. Blake High School, a performing arts high school positioned in Tampa.

“​I couldn’t perform in my hometown without returning to where it all began, Howard W. Blake High School,” she wrote on the web site Xsharing a video report from the assembly she organized for college kids of her alma mater.

When she got out of the automobile, the rapper was greeted by her school’s marching band and the Yellow Jackets dance team. While dancing together, Doechii thanked the scholars for his or her warm welcome, noting how “extremely talented” they were. As the rapper walked across the school campus to the assembly hall where the assembly was going down, she was met with cheers and applause from the scholars in attendance.

“I don’t feel very good when I come back. Thank you for accepting me like this,” she said. “I haven’t been to Tampa for a very long time and it’s really nice to be back at this theater.”

“I remember showing up to an audition for a choral program with no training or ability to read or compose music. “I remember my choir teacher asked me if I brought sheet music and all I had was the instrumental song ‘At Last’ from YouTube (Beyonce’s version, of course) and an aux chord,” she wrote in the post’s caption. “I was accepted into the program because of my talent and because my mentors saw the seed and watered it. Before I left performing arts school, I was writing and reading music. I’m more than ready for artistic independence!”

During the rally, the “Nissan Altima” rapper talked about moments when she felt like giving up.

“There was a point in my profession once I wanted to provide up. What modified it was being surrounded by individuals who were good to me and who I’m, and reaffirming the indisputable fact that I like music,” she said, answering a student’s question. “I believe whenever you’re a real musician, the music all the time follows you and you possibly can’t escape it, regardless of how hard you are trying.”

This 12 months, Doechii made her mark with the discharge of her third mixtape, “Alligator Bites Never Heal.” Design earned 4 Grammy nominationsmaking her probably the most nominated female rapper for the 2025 Grammy Awards.

For “future entertainment icons” who can have missed her talk, Doechii shared her top takeaways on X: “(T)use the resources which might be available to you without delay (because training costs (a lot) money whenever you become older, lol) , come to classes on time, practice at home when others are sleeping and cooperate with peers.

“You have a gift, hone it, use it and be proud of it,” she continued. “When opportunity meets preparation, A STAR IS BORN.”