Being onstage isn’t necessarily her natural forté, but Saweetie is real and, of course, optimistic about it. “That’s not my strength,” she says, “and that’s okay because you’re supposed to turn your weaknesses into strengths.”
While doing the best to put her artistry in her own hands, Saweetie was still taking jabs from what seemed like every angle. She was free and single for the first time in a long time, but still wading through negativity. She didn’t feel support from her team, she’d also just gone through a bad public breakup with rapper Quavo, and the hate online about whether or not she was a good artist was starting to get dark. So she turned inward, started meditating, and shaved her head.
Saweetie read that hair holds energy, so she shed all of hers to get rid of the negativity. Now she looks me directly in the eyes: “Let me tell you something,” she says, “shaving your hair don’t change your problems.” After buzzing off her curls completely, she adds, things became even more trying. “I felt like I was in a whirlwind.”
But if life got harder, it was because things had become clearer. Neither Saweetie nor the people who weren’t good for her could hide anymore. The feedback was polarizing. Someone she knew had the gall to tell her she wasn’t pretty anymore, while other people said they could finally see her. Regardless of what anyone else thought, though, in a quest to get more in touch with herself, she challenged the beauty expectations that had been projected onto her. She felt empowered.
The next year, in 2022, Saweetie decided to go on a hiatus and continue her spiritual journey. She logged out of her social media, got rid of her entire team, and focused on getting comfortable in the studio again. “A lot of people decided to disrespect me on a world stage,” she says of what prompted her to step away from the spotlight. “When I’m in a vulnerable state, I don’t want to fight back. I don’t have the energy to be in that negative frequency. So it was really hard for me to deal with being attacked so much by different people because I’m like, Do I stoop down to their level or do I continue to just focus on myself and this journey that I’m on?”
Saweetie chose the high road. As we talk, I sense there are deeper, more unfiltered feelings beneath her placid disposition. She quickly finds a way to spin a messier emotion into a positive take and doesn’t let herself wallow for long. When we talk about the Single Life EP she released during her time off, I can tell it’s another sore spot that she’s pushed through. Indeed, Saweetie was promised an amazing marketing plan for the rollout that never materialized. “I went to war with no soldiers, there was no ammo. I felt like I was left out to dry by my label and everyone around me. There was no public support. Honestly, I internalized that situation, but I’m used to doing that.”