Doechii Say’s SZA’s ‘Ctrl’ Inspired Her To Break Up With Her Ex-Boyfriend

In a new Cosmopolitan cover story, Doechii credits SZA‘s Ctrl for empowering her to end a relationship with an unsupportive ex-boyfriend back when she was 18-years-old. “I was dating a guy who just wasn’t very supportive of my music, and it really stifled me,” Doechii told the publication. “I stopped writing because he was just like, ‘That’s not cool.’ I took his opinion way too seriously when really he just didn’t get it. I remember listening to SZA’s Ctrl for the first time, and it literally gave me the courage to break up with him. She inspired me to be vulnerable through my music in a way that I didn’t think I could be.” That personal move eventually led the Swamp Princess to release her 2024 album, Alligator Bites Never Heal, eight years later. That project led to Doechii becoming the third woman to ever win Best Rap Album at the 2025 Grammys, while also being recognized as Billboard’s 2025 Woman of the Year. (Billboard)