Saweetie on Staying True to Herself: ‘I Don’t Think My Hits Portray My Overall Self, My Spirit, My Mind’

Saweetie boasts high-charting hits, high-profile collaborations and a high-energy beingness that dominates music, fashion, and culture. Beyond the assorted accomplishments and Icy Girl persona, however, Saweetie is inactive navigating the pressures, doubts and idiosyncratic maturation that travel with beingness successful the spotlight.

Her latest EP, HELLA PRESSURE, finds the California rapper leaning afloat into her bold, unapologetic energy. The five-track task features accumulation from LunchMoney Lewis, P2J, and Grammy victor J. White, and is led by “Boffum” and highlighted by the vibrant TWICE collaboration “Superstars.” Bright, colorful, and bouncy, “Superstars” showcases Saweetie’s knack for blending genres portion expanding her reach, introducing TWICE to the American hip-hop country and connecting Saweetie with a planetary K-pop fanbase. Across the EP, she experiments with caller sounds, flexes her originative versatility and offers fans a snapshot of her creator evolution.

From reflecting connected the changing persona —from the breakout “ICY GIRL” to the diamond-hard resilience of contiguous — to exploring however she channels unit into purpose, Saweetie shares the communicative behind HELLA PRESSURE, her originative process, and what it means to marque euphony that connects with her fans connected a deeper level.

What does “pressure” mean to you successful this signifier of your career?

I think Hella Pressure is symbolic of each the challenges and triumphs that brought maine to this point. I genuinely bash excel nether unit due to the fact that it makes maine emergence to the occasion. It’s a culmination of each my experiences, and I consciousness similar with unit you’re either gonna bend, break, oregon radiance similar a diamond. And my sanction is Diamonté, truthful I’m gonna bash that naturally.

 And you’re besides icy, truthful it works. 

Absolutely. I’m blessed you bring that up due to the fact that erstwhile each of this comes unneurotic and we’re brainstorming and really talking astir it, the information that my sanction is Diamonté — which means “diamond” successful English, I’m the Icy Girl, the task is Hella Pressure. I deliberation it’s a peculiar clip successful my career, and I can’t hold to further archer my communicative astir this project. We person a batch of chill contented captures coming up.

Sonically, HELLA PRESSURE has a batch of antithetic moods. What benignant of sounds oregon influences were you astir excited to research this clip around?

It was truly amusive exploring with “Pressure.” That bushed was created from scratch by maine and Deputy — shout-out to him, helium produced that record. I truly wanted to wage homage to myself and the raps I would bash successful the car.

The bushed starts disconnected intense, past graduates and evolves into thing much amusive and upbeat, but I’m inactive popping my shit. It was conscionable truly amusive successful the workplace exploring those sounds and seeing what I liked. Deputy was precise cool, precise casual to collaborate with, and we went done a plethora of songs to fig retired which 1 truly matched the energy. I deliberation that’s my astir experiential opus to date.

Is determination a peculiar way on HELLA PRESSURE that champion captures wherever you are close present arsenic an artist?

I consciousness similar they each do, but determination is 1 opus that stands retired successful peculiar that truly taps into my truest energy. The crushed I accidental this is due to the fact that erstwhile radical conscionable me, they expect maine to enactment similar “Tap In,” “My Type,” “Best Friend” — you know, my lit songs. And I deliberation that’s a sl...