Doechii’s “Anxiety” has been nominated five times at the 2026 Grammy Awards. This slew of nominations has prompted questions from people who thought they knew when the song was released and how the awards work. We’re here to clear that up.
Check out the full list of nominees here.
When Did Doechii Release “Anxiety”?
Doechii has been striving for stardom for years. Evidence of the Florida rapper/singer’s ambitious come-up is peppered across the internet in the form of earnest vlogs on YouTube, which is where Doechii’s original Swamp fanbase first heard the artist’s uber-popular single. Doechii initially recorded “Anxiety” in 2019, for her self-released mixtape Coven Music Sessions, but the original version was never released to DSPs.
What are the Grammy Eligibility Rules for New Songs and Records?
In order to be submitted, recordings and music videos must fall within the eligibility window for the 2026 award show, which means work released between August 31st, 2024 and August 30th, 2025. Doechii re-recorded “Anxiety” — which features a prominent sample of 2013 Record of the Year winner Gotye and Kimbra’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” — and released it on March 5th of this year. New recordings are defined as “material that has been recorded within five years of the release date and not previously released.” The prerequisite for eligibility in the Grammy Awards isn’t strictly year of first recording, but rather when it was officially released commercially, or made broadly available, within the eligibility window.
Why Did Doechii Release “Anxiety” This Year?
In September 2023, New York drill rapper Sleepy Hallow released his own song called “Anxiety,” which included vocals from Doechii’s original 2019 demo recording. His version remains one of his most popular songs, and it gave Doechii a reason to officially release her own iteration, which the Swamp had long been clamoring for. In early 2025, both Sleepy Hallow’s version and Doechii’s demo went viral on TikTok, leading to a surge in interest in Doechii’s take on an already wildly popular song. Doechii re-recorded the song, put out a new music video, and the rest, as they say, is history.
In Which Grammy Categories Is Doechii’s “Anxiety” Nominated?
“Anxiety” is nominated for a whopping five awards. In addition to being nominated in the big categories of Record of the Year and Song of the Year, “Anxiety” is also up for Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Music Video.
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