Doechii says the notion of hip-hop being less "intellectual" than other genres of music stems from racism.
The rapper, who won her first Grammy earlier this month, explained her reasoning in a new interview with The Cut and discussed how early rap shaped her latest mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal.
"I’m gravitating towards the pure skill that was incorporated," Doechii told the outlet. "Anyone who doesn’t think that hip-hop is an intellectual genre, I think that assumption is rooted in racism."
From conscious rap to 1990s gangster rap and other subgenres, rap does have educational value, with the genre even being taught in higher education.
In 2018, Kendrick Lamar, who was formerly on Doechii's label Top Dawg Entertainment, was the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize for his fourth album, DAMN. As GRAMMY.com points out, there have also been multiple college courses based on the 22-time Grammy-winning rapper, including "The Power of Hip Hop, It's Bigger Than Us" at Concordia University.
Elsewhere in the profile, Doechii detailed how Lauryn Hill's only solo studio album shaped her.
"The feeling that I have when I listen to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the same feeling I want some other Black little girl to have when she listens to me," Doechii said. “And in order for her to have that feeling, I have to talk about my feelings."
Doechii has already been an inspiration to students at her alma mater, Blake High School in Tampa, Florida, who rooted for her when she won Best Rap Album at the 67th Annual Grammys.
"Just knowing that I’m under the people who taught her is like such a big encouragement for me," Blake student Sherri Richburg told Bay News 9. "She’s always speaking about every time she wins an award, she says there’s some Black girl out there watching, and it’s me."