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Doechii wears her Tampa crown proudly as the self-dubbed “swamp princess.” Since her viral debut with “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake” in 2020 prior to her signing with TDE, the Floridian has continued to create music following no clear rules. “Stressed,” her latest buzzworthy release, is a dual R&B and rap anthem, showcasing Doechii’s dynamic approach. The song incorporates a push and pull relationship with keeping her anxiety and vices at bay, backed by jazz nodes and a myriad of percussions. 

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To honor her home, Honda and Billboard recreated the Tampa native’s swampland origins as the immersive set for the song’s official visual out today, directed by Omar Jones. “’Stressed’ is basically me divorcing all my bad habits,” says Doechii, “like alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and just like negative poor behaviors that I recently have quit, which is great.”

The repetition of “I must” in the chorus oddly creates a soothing melodic flow for the anxiety-ridden lyrics. “I must be lost in my regrets/ I must be down; I must be stressed…It must be so much more to life/ If I had diamonds and baguettes.” Parting from her woes, the song’s tempo picks up halfway, with the adlib “we coming for you,” reassuring Deochii’s confidence. Supported by two foreground dancers and an all-female live band, the marsh heiress continues to deliver a dominating performance beneath a canopy of suspended furniture and overgrown greenery.

When she raps, her cutthroat punch lines remind listeners that Doechii is ‘that’ girl. The versatile MC spits “Sabotagin’ me ’til I’m forced to rip the mask off/ This lobotomy is just a reflection of the last lost/ This body is in remembrance of the last lot.” Despite odds stacked against her, the rising superstar demonstrates her dominance.  

As the latest release from a fiery year of anthems and EPs, fans can expect more new music and a potential album soon. “You can definitely expect an album and I don’t even know when,” she hints, “but it’ll be an amazing body of work – one of the greatest albums of all time.”