because she's blooming | death & spritzers, Vol. 3
in which it's a Doechii tribute!
Listen, I think we all need a little joy to kick off March. Some days I feel like Laura Ingalls over here trying to make it through The Long Winter.
Winter aside, it seems every day something happens that can steal your joy, throw you into a deep pit of despair, or just otherwise be a god-damn bummer. For instance — Roberta Flack died. Then last Friday we witnessed the national disgrace of our rapist baboon-in-chief and his lackey-in-eyeliner yell at and bully a hero, to name only one extremely terrible thing they got up to in the last week alone. Angie Stone died. Colman Domingo was robbed of his Best Actor award at the Oscars.
Shall I continue?
Nah — we’re here to have fun, after all. Welcome back to death & spritzers!
On a recent trip to New York, my friend Andrea gave me her copy of The Cut’s Spring 2025 issue, which I had in fact earlier that day debated buying at Books Are Magic. After staring at the pictures of Doechii in sheer awe as I flipped through it at the airport, I texted Andrea: “This magazine is a collage goldmine.”
The next day, back in Chicago, I spent a lovely afternoon at my friends’ Greg and Aaron’s, cutting up that very magazine, piecing together what would become the above collage, as Beth was working on a painting project at the other end of the table. I finished the collage the next day here at ARH HQ — hahaha, HQ = my apartment! — listening to Alligator Bites Never Heal at the loudest acceptable volume for 10 am.
So consider this one a tribute to The Cut, Richie Shazam’s incredible photography, friends who give you magazines to cut up and friends who organize and host art afternoons, and above all, to DOECHII for being an ongoing source of joy and inspiration in this cruel-as-hell world we’re living in.
When she was in the sixth grade, she says God told her to write down the phrase “I am Doechii.” The decision saved her life. “I don’t want to get super-dark,” she says, raising her eyebrows when she looks at me. “I was getting bullied so bad that I was thinking about killing myself. I realized, Oh, fuck, I’m gonna kill myself and then I’m gonna be the only one dead. The bullies aren’t gonna be with me, and everything they said is not coming with me either. I would just be gone,” she says matter-of-factly before cracking a half-mouthed grin. “And then I was like, Fuck that!” She’s almost yelling now, leaning back into the couch and waving her hands playfully. “Fuck that shit! I’m not going for that! And this wash of peace came over me, and I received ‘I am Doechii.’ But it was more like this feeling of — I made a choice, a decision. I am the most important character in this movie. This is my motherfucking movie.”
— “Bow Down to Doechii: Her Grammy Win is Just the Beginning” | The Cut
A few days after working on these Doechii collages, I stumbled across this clip from her interview on The Breakfast Club and her saying, “bada bing bada boom, now I’m in an adidas suit!” now lives rent-free in my brain forever.
(You can check out the full interview here; my other favorite moment is when she says, “I think that sexuality is fluid and I really don’t give a damn.”)
What an absolute badass. I love her.
The best and only thing to do from here is to watch Doechii’s Tiny Desk Concert again. I dare you to be in a bad mood after.
Winter’s almost over. Doechii is in bloom.
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