Tazi began modeling when she received an offer to be part of a Forever 21 campaign.[1] She gained wider notice after modeling for other brands, such as Sephora and Refinery29, and built an Instagram following of over 200,000 for her unique focus on body-positivity.[7] She subsequently used her modeling gigs to fund a career in music, taking advantage of her online connections to find a manager and begin producing music. During her time as a model, she had always planned to transition into music.[4] Tazi's first commercial single, "East Coast Hiding" was released independently in January 2017,[3] followed by "Shyne," which was released in March through an exclusive article on The Fader.[8] Her debut, 8-track EP, Intro To, was released in partnership with Empire Distribution on October 20, 2017.[9][10] Upon release of the EP, Time highlighted Tazi's "dreamy brand of rap-singing over vibey, rolling beats, it’s a confident alt R&B sound that explores the challenges of overcoming the grind through its honest, Queens-inflected poetry."[7] The EP charted in the top 10 of the iTunes R&B Chart.[11] An official music video for the track "So Cool", directed by Barbie Ferreira in her directorial debut, was released in March 2018.[12] In July 2018, Dounia was a featured singer on two tracks, "WF001" and "Untitled", from Queens rap crew World's Fair's debut album New Lows.[13][14]