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Doechii is set to perform at the 2025 Grammy Awards tonight. And, if you watch any footage from a live Doechii performance, you’ll see DJ Miss Milan with her signature red hair behind the Grammy-nominated rapper-songstress, matching her energy and hyping up the crowd.
During a recent tour stop on the “Alligator Bites Never Heal Tour” in New York City, Milan is captured behind the booth serving crisp adlibs and, at times, right beside “The Swamp Princess” executing choreography.
“Doechii has hands on all things from the choreography to the outfits to the makeup look to the hair looks. The fortunate part about working with her is that she gives me a lot of free range to be myself,” Milan, also known as “The Fairy Vibemother,” said during an interview with USA TODAY. “She also trusts my vision.”
Whether it’s voguing to “Persuasive,” aiding Doechii during the now-viral breathing exercise for “Denial is a River, or turning up at NPR’s Tiny Desk, the ladies are always in sync.
“We stand out in our own way based on the honest sisterhood that we have with each other,” she continued. “The rise of us working together was just something that I feel was super intentional.”
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Milan stated that their work chemistry has always been strong from the beginning.
It started when she added Doechii to her GirlGVNG playlist on Spotify in 2020 before the artist signed as the first woman rapper on Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), a highly esteemed record label affiliated with stars like SZA and Kendrick Lamar.
Milan said Doechii reached out to her via Instagram and thanked her for the placement on the playlist that highlighted women artists at a time when they were dominating the music charts. Then Milan offered to be her DJ. Their first gig together was at a concert for rising artists in Queens, New York, in 2021.
“I saw the vision ahead of time. She already had something at that point. And I just shot my shot,” Milan said. “The very first performance that we’ve ever had, we had absolutely no rehearsals. We literally just jumped on a flight, went to New York to do this show together, and it was just like, ‘Wow.’ You guys would have thought that we basically knew each other all our lives.”
Who is Doechii?:The critically acclaimed rap phenom up for Grammys best new artist?
‘Monumental and historic’
Milan has been working as a DJ for nearly a decade. The New York native has played everywhere, from basement parties to clubs, at overseas events, and “somebody’s uncle’s 60th backyard boogie,” she said jokingly.
Milan has always had a knack for connecting with emerging artists. She worked with indie artists on come-up until she got her big break working with Saweetie during her rise to fame after the “Icy Girl” era. The experience was a precursor for what would come with her collaboration with Doechii.
Their showmanship is likened to other super-duos in hip hop, like Busta Rhymes and his hypeman Spliff Star. These supporting stars are essential and “contribute to the art of the emcee,” an expert previously told USA TODAY. They are a dying breed in the genre due to the shift in the culture of live performances. However, Milan said she and Doechii are bringing that essence and tradition back to the limelight.
“We are definitely holding that torch very high for us Black women in music,” she added. “I respect her as the artist. She respects me as the DJ. We are both theater kids, and we definitely enjoy performing. Having that respect and loving what we do creates the biggest duo you all see today in hip-hop and just in music. We’re doing something very monumental and historic.”
She continued, “I am one of the DJs that you can literally come and see me DJ outside of working with Doechii, and I’m still hitting an eight count. I’m still having fun, you know what I’m saying? So the fact that I’m also added in some of the choreography and the routines and things we do together really shows how dynamic we are.”
‘Attitude of gratitude’
Over the next few years, Milan was along for the ride in the Florida rapper’s meteoric boom to the mainstream. Doechii was a supporting act on Doja Cat’s “Scarlet” tour, was an opener for Beyoncé’s “Renaissance World Tour” with DJ Khaled in Los Angeles in 2023, and released her critically acclaimed mixtape “Alligator Bites Never Heal” last summer, which led to her own international sold out show.
In November, she received several Grammy award nods, including Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance, and Best New Artist. Her project is among the select few mixtapes to ever get a nomination.
Milan reflected on the emotional moment when her manifestations became a reality. She was on a work trip in New Zealand when she learned the news. She is credited as a producer on “Boom Bap,” the notably sarcastic and witty record from Doechii’s project that includes her DJ scratches and vocals.
“I was in shock that it happened. This is something that was so important to her as a body of work and to me as a DJ who supports her,” she said. “This has been a complete dream of mine.”
“I was at the Grammys two years ago, watching Beyonce win one of her Grammys that broke the record for most Grammy wins ever and manifested that one day, I was going to be there with the artists that I truly do love and work with, which was Doechii, and we’re going to be there down at those tables receiving one of our own Grammys. So the fact that life literally came true was, was crazy.”
Milan said that they are equally yoked. The two have separately publicly spoken about their faith and sobriety journeys in the midst of navigating demanding careers. In an interview on “The Breakfast Club,” Doechii expressed that she hears “from God better when I’m sober and clear-minded.”
“I was on my sobriety journey, and it’s something that we never really discussed with each other,” Milan said. “It just was like a telepathic kind of thing because we both started around the same time, and it was just something that if we both individually felt called to do because we knew that we had a bigger mission at hand, and we wanted to get rid of all of the distractions and the vices that could take us away from that.”
“She’s spiritual. I’m super spiritual. The fact that we both have that attitude of gratitude, as we call it, is something that helps us stay grounded. We also understand that we are doing this with a purpose: to inspire and be impactful, especially as Black women in the industry.”
Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at tardrey@gannett.com.
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