Doechii's
'Alligator Bites Never Heal'
Doechii’s 2024 mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal was a revelation. The project won Grammys, topped Billboard charts, and turned Doechii into a legit star. Now, in celebration of its one-year anniversary, the Florida rapper has released a limited edition, alligator skin embossed version of the record on tiger's eye colored vinyl, available now on Complex. Today, we’re breaking down the lore behind the iconic tape on the latest edition of Liner Notes.
Collaborators:
Doechii didn’t rely on a bunch of A-list features on Alligator Bites. Instead, she recorded voice memos with women in her life while working on the tape, which inspired the lyrics in songs like "Wait." They also ended up on the project as interludes, like on "Bloom, which opens with a conversation between Doechii and a friend’s aunt. But she didn't do everything herself. Alligator Bites does have one feature, plus a roster of accomplished producers. Swipe through to see some of the primary contributors below (and check out the full list here).
Lyrics:
The mixtape revolves around a loose metaphor about alligator attacks. Before she dropped the mixtape, Doechii pointed out, “The alligator performs a spinning maneuver known as the ‘death roll’ to submerge and dismember its prey underwater.” She said she related with this feeling, explaining that she’d been dealing with issues that felt like “a relentless death roll” in her own life, including personal vices, label disputes, and overall creative numbness.
But she felt strength in the gator. As she noted, “In my research about alligator attacks, I found that a common thread in each survivor was that the main reason they survived is because they fought back. This mixtape is my fight back. I am nobody’s prey; I was born to be the predator.”
Doechii digs deeper into the alligator symbolism throughout the project. The title Alligator Bites Never Heal is a metaphor about wounds and emotional scars that stay with you forever. So throughout the tape, she opens up about surviving pain, and how she's managed to fight back against life's obstacles—just like the survivor of a real gator bite. She comes back to this metaphor over and over, like on the song "Death Roll":
"Death Roll"
If you love this tape as much as we do, you’ll want it in your home. You can find this special embossed anniversary version here, as well as an alligator picture disc and an albino white edition, which are all available now.