Alligator Bites Never Heal

When she released Alligator Bites Never Heal, her first TDE mixtape, Doechii was coming off the Top 40 hit "What It Is (Block Boy)," also her first platinum-certified recording. The Tampa dynamo doesn't just daringly reference the pop-R&B smash on the tape, she makes it the basis of "Boom Bap," quoting its title nine times as she mocks those who expect her to be Trina more so than Kelly Rowland. From the blown raspberries to the screams of "I'm everything!," it's a comic and brilliant act of contrarian autonomy. Rest assured, there's plenty of rappity rap-rap on Alligator Bites as Doechii lays bare her paradoxical qualities -- declarations of dominance, examinations of self-doubt, both the pressures and exploits of her fame brought to light -- in vivid style. Her microphone control and wordplay are in top form on "Nissan Altima," a swift and booming track where the self-dubbed "trap Grace Jones" alternately motivates and intimidates with belligerent verses that include a shrugging note of her replacement of a man with a woman. The humorous if vulnerable "Denial Is a River" is storytelling on the level of MC Lyte and Slick Rick with late-'80s production touches to match. She's just as effective making stealth moves over a lithe bassline on "Bullfrog," her delivery both winding and precise. The songs that put Doechii's singing voice at the fore -- the slippery 808-fest "Slide," the calmly cathartic "Beverly Hills," and the psychedelic folk-soul title song -- are highly appealing as well. ~ Andy Kellman