ITS Home Edition: Saweetie

her into a creative genius. I mean, for one thing, she doesn't have to get on a plane every day to go out and promote her music. She has time to actually make her music. And if things are a little quiet, well, she compares the solitude to being a little kid and having to entertain herself. She and our Quarantine correspondent Jordan Runtog also talked about how they've both been finding comfort by going back to the music they

used to listen to in high school. Except for Sweetie, some of the rappers she grew up listening to her now her peers. So Jordan's you've got a little catching up to do. Anyway, If you enjoy this episode. Be sure to listen to the I Heart Radio podcast that Jordan's hosts, which is called Rivals Music's Greatest Feuds and which is available wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, everybody, my name is Jordan Runt Talk, but enough about me. My guest today is one of hip hop's brightest new stars.

She caught her start freestyling on Instagram before her track is a Girl Blew Up on SoundCloud back in. Since then, she's redefined hustle. By my count, She's appeared on eighteen singles, filmed seventeen music videos, and released two EPs. She's also started a record label, a jewelry line, a beauty line, and launched an acting career. Honestly, I'm tired just thinking

of all that. In June, she drops tap in, which pays tribute to her Bay Area roots by sampling two shorts two thousand six Anthem Blow the Whistle the tracks the lead single from her debut LP, Pretty Bitch Music, which is due out later this year. I'm so happy to welcome sweetie. Thank you so much for taking the time today. Hey sorry, if I keep going in and out, my postmates keeps telling me, hey, you know, just millennials multitasking, doing so much at once typical day, and Tony, I'm well,

how are you? Thank you for having me on your show today. Thank you so much. Actually, this is a great way to lead into my first question. You do so much. You are a rapper, you want to run your own label, you're a CEO, you're also an actress. I guess my first question is how do you do it all? When do you do it all? Is this quarantine does not sound like it has much downtime for you. I've actually been a lot busier in quarantine only because

I'm not traveling. So the time that I usually would spend packing my bags, traveling to the airport, traveling to another city, I'm now at home just shooting everything in my space. You've got a future is like a time management like self help author or something too. It's really amazing. Do you know what you need to have time management? You need to be organized. I need to have a planner because otherwise everything just seems like a long laundry list and it can get hectic one thing at a time.

So if your first LP pretty much music do out very soon, how is it a departure from your previous EPs. Um, it's a big departure. I have a new team, new people helping me with my vision. I'm actually working with family, so it's helping a lot. My uncle is my manager, my auntie is a part of my management as well. UM just brought my cousins on to help with March,

so is definitely a family affair. Oh that's awesome. I mean, given all the success you've had with Icy Girl on My Type and most recently Tapping, did you feel any pressure when you're putting this album together in a way to sort of, you know, to lead on from everything that you've had so far. Um, I work really well under pressure. For one, I was a big procrastinator in college, so some of my some of my best papers were written in five hours, ten fifteen p um so that

I was an athlete all my life. So I work really well under pressure, and some of my best work comes from pressure. So whenever someone's like, how is she gonna top Icy Girl my Type and now tap In, like that only motivates me to just keep competing against myself and to keep winning. You sample too short to blow the whistle on tap In? How did that idea

come about? I love sampling songs. I feel like it's my specialty and I wanted to do something that paid homage to an o G from my area, so that's why I did Bow to Whistle and it's one of my favorite songs. What are you looking for when you're looking for a song to sample? I know that you did obviously my neck my back. Is there something that really speaks to you? Well, my neck my back. That was an accident. I had did the car rap and record a video and then went raw in a way

that I've never seen before. So that was just I listened to my fan base, not listened to the internet, and they said it was hot. So I recorded that one. But my first true sample was was my type and it was just missing something that on my project, and I was like, let me just go back into the archives of you know, people who I love and shots to Pete Pablo because he's been nothing but supportive and great with that. So I feel like that was my

first true true sample. And you grew up in the Bay Area and the barrier sound of something you really feel strongly about incorporating in your music For an East Coaster like me, would you describe the Bay Area sound. What are some hallmarks of it? It's a whole bunch of When I say it PAMs off, I'm not talking about like this respectful. I'm talking about the flyness in it. Like everything is is enunciated a certain way. It's just pronounced a certain way, and we can say something regular,

but that's how we say that. It's so fly like rich rich Man with eight figures. That's my type, but so simple. But the y say it's just the charisma that goes behind it. I think you said that one of your favorite tracks on the new albums called Prayed Up. Why is that song so special to you? It reminds me of this icy girl, reminds me of just the

importance of being motivated no matter what your circumstances. And although I've attained some level of success, I do find moments where I am discouraged, where I am second guessing myself. So it just reminds me of how far I come. And it just speaks to the girl who was in college hustling, trying to just make ends meet in l A. And I feel like it's always important to go to

those roots because I feel like you could. I don't ever want to get comfortable when I always want to have that that hunger, you know, just so that I keep getting better and what I do and you do do so much. Talk to me about the album title. I know that pretty much actually has is an acronym, right, yeah,

So pretty like pretty for me. Um, people have always tried to make that hindrance for me, like quote unquote, pretty privileged quote unquote, she's pretty, so she she comes him there, she acts like that, when in reality, I'm not, And if you've met me in person, anyone can attest to that. So I wanted to give pretty a good meaning because I didn't. I didn't have privilege growing up. I worked for everything that I've accomplished and everything that

I gained. So for me, pretty as attitude, pretty as work ethic. Pretty is what makes anyone unique given their culture, skin shape, size, not feel like my fans all looks so different, but I make them feel pretty and I make them feel confident. So pretty it's energy is how

you treat other people. It's being a good person and being a hustler and just being confident in your own skin and bitch, like I say, bitch a lot of my music, and I know my mom and my grandmall be like mad have sometimes, but so when I'm saying bitch, I just want to make sure that people understand. When I'm saying bitch, it means boss, it means independent, it means tough, it means creative and not from the bay.

So the H means hi fi. So all those things, all those moods, all those acts can be found throughout the project message of positivity. What's the latest for it? For a release date? And I know COVID's shuffled everybody around, but what's the latest it's shuffling is it's continuing to shuffle. And because you guys are such a big and respected platform, I wouldn't even want to play all like that. But definitely sometime in the fall, have you been writing a

lot during lockdown? Even been feeling productive musically? Definitely? I feel like, if anything, I'm grateful because I was on a flight every day and that takes a lot on your body. So it's like for me, this is my time to just unwind and get back to my creative roots. I've been doing all my treatments for my videos, so I'm excited for this. Nobody of work walk me through how you put a verse together, because I read you put it together almost like a college essay, you like,

outline it out right. Yeah, because us. I went back and I listened to my two piece and I was like, damn, this was some great music. But going back to a year or two years later when I had to release them, I was always like, Damn, I wish I would have talked about this, dad, miss song is missing this. So I feel like when you have a premises, when you have an introduction, when you have the body, the meat, and when we have a conclusion person, you're able to

attack the things that you want on it. So it's like I was tired of not checking everything off my list because there's power in the raptors, power in the bars, and there's power in your words. So it was like I kept being mad that I kept missing out on certain things I wanted to touch on. So it was a way to keep myself accountable for what I wanted to talk about. Just clarity and get all all messages direct exactly. And you have a home studio now, right,

how is that? How's that working out for you in lockdown? Has it changed the way that you've approached music at all. It's called the pretty box. Yeah. Uh, it's called a pretty box, the pretty box, and I feel like, you know, I make pretty bitch music. So it was only right. I was like, what do I call this place? But yeah, it's called the pretty box. That is amazing. Has has lockdown in any way changed you creatively? Like, did you

in any way that you've approached music? I mean even like collaborating over zoom and stuff like that, or Um, I felt like it's made me a creative genius once again. Um, I was the only child for about I come from a big family, but I was an only child for about ten eleven years. So I operate well in solitude. Um it's exciting for me. Um, I have fun by myself, you know, having to be a little kid and having to be creative and entertain yourself. Like that's something that

I did do. So it's like for me, I'm enjoying it. Oh that's good to hear. I mean it's crazy to me to think that that your life could have taken such a different path. I mean you you went to USC studying communications and you nearly didn't get into music, right, No, I always did. I always did, But for me, like I'm from the big area, but I went to high school and Sacramento. Sacramento back then probably a sea market city,

so there wasn't a lot of opportunities. So it's like I had no one looking at me, and I'm just like, do I stay in Sacramento or do I get out of here? And I was like, I gotta get out of here. I'm trying to be out in the world. So I decided to pursue college. And then I was at San Diego State and I wanted to drop out, but I was like, I'm gonna say in college if I if I get to go to my dream school. So I applied to USC. I got in my homegirl who was an English major. Oh my gosh, God bless her.

So her name was Kaya, and she was the bomb I wrote. I wrote all my essays and she proof read them from me. So teamwork, my friends supported me and helped me get in the USC. So shout out to incredible. It's funny now thinking that you're being in Sacramento, but social media has played such an incredible role in your career and so many other people's career. I think there was a quote you said it was an amazing quote.

He said, social media is the new streets? How do you use social media these days as a tool for you? Social media is definitely the new streets. Like the hashtag is you passing out your mixtape? Someone clicking freestyles wrap, Like that's how they're getting to your music. You tagging people, you deem me people, You're sending your music out there. It's made it a lot easier, but um, it's also a double edged sword because there are no more gatekeepers.

Like someone can literally go viral overnight and then there there with the fan base, with the engagement, they can be deemed as a star. So it's like, yes, it's it's made it super accessible, but now it's really getting down to how do you separate yourself from the pack, because now anyone can do it. Basically, who are some of your early musical heroes when you're first starting up that made you want to make music? You know what?

And this is why I make music? Like I think it's great when you're able to find an old playlist, find an old burnt CD um and you listen to these songs that take you back down memory lane. And I remember currency and Wiz had Taylor Gang Um. Young Money had Nikki, Little Wayne and Drake Um. Who else was out, but I think those those were like the big people who we listened to at school, and it was just it was so cool, like skateboarding, wrapping like that was the culture of our high school. So just

seeing young people go out there and get it. Even Tiger, like Tiger was a part of Young Money as well, and it's just like wow, like these people really been in the game for a long time, and it makes me respect them even more. It's funny. During the pandemic, I found myself listening to stuff that I used to listen to back in high school I ever listened to.

I literally listened to car Service last night by Currency and West Khalifa, and it's like cleared a roundway, baby, I get money from Sunday to Sunday Lady like it was. It just brought back so much like memories and it was like wow, like it feels great to now be being a company of people who I grew up listening to, like all super talents at all. You know, we're just young having fun and getting it. So I just always want to keep that with me, Like yes, it gets stressful,

and yes, it is a lot of hard work. But something that I loved about Young Money and the Taylor Gang and all the other artists who I grew up listening to is you were able to see that they were having fun. So it's like, I never want to lose that. I read your interview with Little Kim for Interview Magazine. What was that like? That was so cool? Little Kim is just she's so sweet, she's so humble,

and she loved you. Yeah, I was. It was It was a moment for me because yes, I grew up listening to who I did It in high school, but my mom loved Lot Kim growing up, so it's like I grew up just I was born into the Little Kimmitty. If I don't, I don't know, but it's like, like my mom loved it so off top, I loved it too. And she's just so bossy, so independent, and she's a true trend setter. So the fact that I was able to go on the phone with her was just everything.

What are the messages that you want to pass along to your fans and people that are just getting started right now. Everyone has a different journey. Um, I love I'm a I'm a student, so I would read a whole bunch of biographies and how people got made it. And you really can't compare your journey to the next

person because everybody breaks in a different way. Whether you're a photographer, whether you're an artist, whether you're a journalist, when you're in the creative field, everybody has their own journey to success. So don't compare it. And if you feel like it's it's truly a part of your destiny, just stay with it because it will happen because hard work does pay off. Yeah, I mean, especially the industry

just changed yourself fascinate. When I was in high school, social media didn't even exist, and that wasn't even that long ago. It's crazier. So being adaptable to it's gonna be crucial, I imagine now. Adapting is is truly important. It's important to study the grace, but supporting to adapt to to what's running the environment and a lot of things are changing in real time. So I try to, you know, do my best, work hard and just adapt. The last few months have been tough on all of

us for so many reasons. How have you been staying grounded and feeling good? My family. I love them so much, like I can just go on the island with them and just live there for the rest of my life. There's so much fun. And I actually started and this um TV series, this, this YouTube series that and hopes and actually are in talks of being actually picked up

by TV network. So whoever's listening, I strongly recommend you going to see the Icy live on the YouTube because it's doing really well and you're able to see me with my family, and that's something that I've actually started in Quarantine and it's doing really well. You have time to do all this. It's incredible, all the things that you do. He launched your your your fashion line with a Pretty Little Thing, the Pretty Little Thing collection, donating

all the profits to Black Lives Matter. I think he raised a hundred fifty thousand. What do you have time to do all this? I'm still so blown away by that. Um you know that figure of the woman with all the hands coming out of her, That's what That's what I feel like every day. UM. You know, and this business, you know, social media, one thing is everything just moves quickly, so you have to be on points. So you know, you know, I need four shots of express and I'm

ready to go. I mean, what do you do to unwine? What's your favorite thing when you're finally done for the day. Did you walks, you go on shows, you binge games, you play? What's your favorite thing? Oh my god, I'm gonna show you. I've actually started to paint. Oh my god. Yeah, actually, yeah, I love I love to paint. It's very therapeutic to me, really, like, oh, that's so cool. What was that? Was that oil or acrylic?

It's acrylic. Um oil is a little hard. So I'm doing baby steps, but I've got I want some blis actually on Sunday because my homegirl I kept using on her supplies, so I was like, let me just let me just go and get my own. So, you know, just a little a little icy icy Vinchi going on, so we need vinci. Been doing that? That looks beautiful. Um well, I took art in college, but it was a little it was difficult because we use pens. We

was charcoal. I didn't get to use paint, and I was under the impression that we were going to paint, but we didn't paint. So I've always wanted to try painting, and it's just so soothing. I love you and say you are also an amazing cook. I've been watching some of the seafood pasta, chicken, a dobo, like it's so much more legit than anything I can ever make. Thank you. I love seafood, and for me, I've always loved cooking. But the reason why I started doing seafood because all

the restaurants were closed down. So I was like, I can't eat my favorite food. So I went right down the whole food went to a little fresh fresh market section and I was like, I'm gonna create my own squid, oct to push, shrimp, sam whatever I want. And that's that's where I kind of like developed my skill for you know, cooking seafood because I couldn't eat out no more.

Oh my gosh, what's your absolute favorite thing to make? Like, if you have to choose, Oh my gosh, I love to create octopus or seafood seafood pasta with homemade alfredo. My my alfredo is a little bit on the lemon zesty park because I like to put some lemon juice in there. But I love scallops, squid, octopus, rim, I like everything, So it's like it's like my favorite thing to make. Oh my god, is that like a family recipe or just something you invented? And no, it's my recipe.

I just put all my favorite seafoods into one pasta. Oh my gosh, that sounds incredible as its sa Can you like FedEx me some of that? It always looks so good on your social media. You know, I'm a frazer and I'm gonna send it over to you, because you know, seafood not good when it get warm. So, oh yeah, from Boston, so we we do see food. You guys have the best clam chowder? Yeah we do, Yeah, we do. Oh my gosh, we're not at a radio promo out there. I clam chowder every day. Oh my god.

That was like my my staple as a kid. It's way better than Manhattan clam chowder, which just like wow, Red, It's like a total different thing. No, now I got today. Look what you just did to me? Sorry, Oh my gosh. Well what is next for you? I mean I could I feel like there's twelve things always happened for you every day at once. But what are you most excited

about on the horizon? Um, I think I'm most excited I'm excited for a festival season because I've been trying to figure out I love when people wash bit, but I was like, marsh pitting reminds me of something, and it reminds me of the Bay Area, because if you go to the Bay and when some mac dre's and Mr fasom some music that makes you just want to turn up and get high, that's it's like a version of mash pitting. So I'm excited for festival seasons because

I'm gonna turn mash pitting into my own thing. And I actually have a song called pretty Girl Mashpit, so I'm really excited about that. Like I like to have a good time, and you know, for a while, it took me a long time to get into my groove, like how do I bring my culture in my way to music. So it'll show them pretty bitch music. It'll show out my shows, like who don't want to see some pretty girls turn up, get active, get high, Fia

star Marsh. I've never seen that before. So I'm decide a whole bunch of pretty girl marsh boots and I'm gonna about that. I'm so oh, we cannot wait. My My my final question I always love to ask people this because everybody says something different. It's so interesting if you can snap your fingers and have the pandemic be over, be everything totally back to normal. What's the first thing you would do? The very first thing? Wait? So who

have Who's who? Have you asked this question? So I'm curious. Oh my gosh, let's see uh Ryan Tedder, Jason Moraz, Oh my god, ash Uh. So many people. What was your favorite answer? A lot of them had to do with food, I have to say a lot of them like restaurants to go to see I was. I had to alleviate. My problem is I'm a FOOLI I couldn't wait, so that's why I started cooking. But I think, I think just connecting with my my fans, like I have so much great content for their to be so many

pop ups shows around. I can't wait to perform and to just meet my fans again because I don't know, like especially a boy my fan basis, I feel like I've known them forever. It's so weird, like my meeting greets last hours because I'll talk to everybody and we have full blown conversations. So it's always just so much fun to meet my fans. I can't you know what. I can't wait to go on tour. I can't wait to open up for a huge act, and I can't wait to grow and to eventually do my own tour.

So that's something that I'm looking forward to. Oh, we can't wait, sweetie. Thank you so much for your time today. It's been such a pleasure. Thank you. Howbody and scared you with my face masks, not at all. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Inside the Student You Home Edition, a production of I heart Radio. For more episodes of Inside the Studio and other shows from I heart Radio, check out the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.