We all want to be identified as someone cool, and I have struggled with repping where I'm from and my heritage before. It's part of growing pains. But when people see me being proud of what I am - and they are what I am too - it makes them proud. That's why I try to represent my Asian and my black side.
— Saweetie
That's what's most annoying - when people in this industry act like they don't know me. And they say it in a way where you can just feel that it's shade.
I'm the only person who stands in my way, whether I finish a song or if I'm, you know, struggling. So, I see myself as my own competitor.
I wish I could be more carefree. I grew up fast.
I know a beat is good for me when I can just start rapping. It's usually hard for me to do that.
I finally decided to give music my all. If it didn't work out and I had to move home, fine. I had to give it 100% first.
I used to only like writing with pen and paper, but because I travel so much, I started to lose the paper.
I welcome criticism. I come from a - I wouldn't say mean, but you've got to have tough skin to be in my family.
Growing up with a house full of women and seeing them look good no matter what they put on every morning just inspired me to look good myself.
I'm not really into trends. I do like high fashion. I love my Chanel and my Louis, but I love my Forever 21 too.
I grew up all around the Bay, but I spent most of my time in Hayward and I loved it. It was a really big apartment community, there was a whole bunch of kids.
It's crazy because 'Icy Girl' came when I was in a dark place, but I made it to motivate myself. It was kind of like my anthem for lifting up my spirits.
People had boxed me in as a 'pretty girl with followers that's rapping,' but I think my project and the work speaks for itself.
I don't want to be super serious but I want to have fun with my platform. I want to touch people, I want to be relatable and let girls know that you can go to college and still pursue what you want after that.
If I want to listen to myself as much as I want to listen to Drake or Beyonce, I feel like that's a good sign.
I get extensions, but when they start to get spotty, I go buy wispy lashes and cut them up. I put them where the gaps are when I don't have time to get a fill.
I'm a huge fan of hot Cheetos. I used to eat them for breakfast.
You have to be unapologetically yourself. Once I was able to be proud of myself, it came across in my music really clearly.
When you're a college student interested in music, you hear all these rappers talking about dropping out. For me, when I heard someone like J. Cole rapping about school and staying in school...it inspired me to keep going.
I know where I wanna end up. I'm ready to go, and I'm ready to learn. I'm ready to build, and I'm ready to establish my longevity.
I like my visuals to feel like movies.
Y'all should be happy for me. It's funny, compared to my peers, my catalog isn't even that big, but I'm still getting a lot of notoriety because my songs do really well. I'm working hard and minding my own business and trying to do something I'm super passionate about.
I'm really good at football.
Something will come to me in the middle of the day, and I'll Voice Note it so I don't forget how I felt when the idea came about. I can hear the feeling I had when I first recorded it.
I always wanted to bring something new to the table, and make clothes for women where they feel beautiful.
It's cool to go into the simplicity of fashion, but I'm a very colorful person.
Fashion has always been important to me. I think style is important and what I love about my style is it's all based on my mood.
I make music for people to relate to and to connect with me. I want to tap into different emotions.
With a lot of attention comes criticism, but I'll take that. I'm reaching all the goals I've set for myself, so you can't say anything bad about that.
Although I had the label of being the 'pretty girl rapper with a lot of followers,' I just broke the rules.
I would describe my music as very honest. I just rap about myself, and not in a narcissistic way. I feel like I have a story to tell.
I want to encourage the artists that haven't made it that social media is the truth. I made it from Instagram to having a most-added song to radio.
I like it to look natural, to be smooth, dewy glowy. I like my eyebrows to look nice and I love lip gloss. That's essential to the Saweetie look.
I founded my label last November called Icy, and once my foundation is laid, I'd love to go back and help other artists and give them the opportunity that I wasn't given at a younger age.
But it's hard to support yourself from music when nobody knows you.
I think because I went to school and because I'm a student, I'm so open and I'm a sponge, and I just wanna learn everything to make sure everything is perfect.
I feel like music is, you know, made to inspire, to heal, and to cope with. So, I hope that when my fans, or even just people who stumble across my music, I hope they get some type of feeling from it.
It used to take me a really long time, and I used to not be able to write in the studio because I felt there was a lot of pressure to be perfect. The more I'm collaborating with other artists, the more I realize being in the studio is about catching a vibe.
I encountered producers who wanted to hang out after we worked, and when I refused, they wouldn't let me come back and work again... I would've have way more opportunities if I had succumbed. But it never felt right. I always felt like I was going to be successful, and I didn't want to compromise my morals.
I had to work a lot. I was doing YouTube videos, but I wasn't getting a lot of love. How do I make a living off rapping when no one knows me? I got kind of discouraged. But hard work shuts people up.
Freestyling helps me portray the emotion that I'm feeling right there instead of writing it at home and having to add to it.
I have my Icy brand, so one day when I do have the time I'll create my own fashion line.
I was working three jobs and going to school full time. I was really unhappy and I told myself, You are not this girl. This sounds corny but I would tell myself, You are an Icy Girl. I'm a confident person, but that was the first time I experienced insecurity and low self-esteem.
With social media, the gatekeepers are our followers. It has opened so many doors for me not only musically, but fashion-wise as well.
If you're really listening there are alot of hidden messages in my songs.
I definitely come from a line of strong women. It's not only like my mother and my grandmother, but my aunties too.
In order to be an icon, you need to be bold. How do I define boldness? Stepping outside of your comfort zone.
I grew up listening to a lot of 2Pac and a lot of East Coast, West Coast rap; Bad Boy, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Biggie, 2Pac. Super hip-hop, super listening to that raw era of music.
I went from being a hustler, working different jobs to renting rooms off Craigslist, and I just wasn't happy.
I'm normally getting glammed for my events and when I can give my skin a break, I do.
