
Saweetie
Saweetie Recalls Tough Conversation She Had With Her Parents About Her Childhood: ‘Lots Of Apologies’
Saweetie’s style and relatable personality have made her one of the most popular female rappers out right now. While she has used her social media to help cultivate her brand, she also gives her fans a glimpse at fun moments with her family and friends. From getting glammed up with her mom, who is a former model, to attending NBA games with her father, who female fans have been pining over, Saweetie seems to keep her family around often. However, she recently revealed that wasn’t always the case.
The Grammy award-winning artist appeared on Kevin Hart’s Peacock show Hart to Heart where she opened up about her childhood and shared that she actually became close to her parents last year. “I was that kid in third or fourth grade. I had a key to my house and I would walk home, I would do my homework, clean the dishes, I would make my food,” she said. “I had been independent for a really long time.”
The “Icy Chain” rapper said that her parents worked a lot when she was a child and other family members would often take care of her. “My mom had me when she was 17,” she explained. “My dad was young too. They was just always hustling and working.”
She added, “They would always tell me we’re a team. In order for us to win, you have to do your part. So, my part was behaving, being responsible. I was like a little woman.”
The 29-year-old star admitted that she was constantly yearning for her parents when she was a child and when she got older, she finally disclosed her feelings about her childhood to them.
“I had this conversation with mom around the time that “Icy Girl” came out (in 2017) and then I had this conversation with my dad last year on my birthday,” she revealed.
In her conversation with her mom, she learned a lot about her mom’s life story which explained why she was so hard on the USC grad growing up. After having conversations with both parents, Saweetie said they apologized.
“Lots of apologies from them. They apologized for my childhood.” She concluded, “It meant a lot to me.”
Saweetie Full Interview with Kevin Hart | Full Episode Hart to Heart
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At the end of last year, Saweetie decided to do the big chop and debuted her new crown on Instagram in time for the new year. When asked about her decision to shave her head in previous interviews, the “Icy Chain” rapper shared that she wanted to “start fresh.” But now she’s giving folks a deeper look into her relationship with her hair. In the May 2022 Glamour UK issue, the 28-year-old reflected on her hair journey from struggling with it as a child to cutting it all off as an adult.
“I hated my hair,” she confessed. “It’s naturally really kinky and curly. It’s beautiful, but I was a tomboy and was like, ‘I don’t got no time for this.’” Saweetie comes from a multicultural background with her mom being Filipina and Chinese and her dad Black American. Like many little Black girls and girls of mixed heritage, she struggled to love her hair texture and fell into the trap of trying to achieve society’s beauty standards such as flowy, straight hair instead.
“I loved me a long, straight, silky West Coast press. That was my favorite,” said the Bay Area native. “I remember when I would compliment another girl with straight hair, she wouldn’t compliment me back. At a young age, I just felt like my hair was very high maintenance and not easy to do. I always wished I had straight hair.”
The battle with her hair ultimately led her to cut her hair when she was young. “I actually got in trouble with my mom because I convinced my grandma to cut my hair off in the kitchen,” she said. She added that overall she was tired of her hair taking forever to wash and style.
The Grammy-nominated artist didn’t start appreciating her hair until she began playing sports. That’s when she began noticing how curly and wild her hair was and she fell in love with it.
Right now she’s enjoying the bald life although she still likes to wear her wigs. “Honestly, with my bald head, I feel so free,” she said. “I love just massaging my head at the end of the day. I feel like I can finally touch all of me up here. It’s like a different type of pleasure.
But the “Tap In” artist did admit that she couldn’t wait to get her curls back. “In hindsight, I’m vibing it now. I can’t wait to get my curls back nice and luscious,” she said.
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The more Saweetie prioritizes her mental health, the more gems she drops in the process. The “Icy Chain” rapper has been open in the past about her mental health struggles due to being overworked and not properly taking care of herself. After having a few mental breakdowns, she has been on a mission to put her health first and focus on self-care.
In Jubilee’s Recipe for Change: Amplifying Black Women video, Saweetie opened up to Kelly Rowland, Angelica Ross, Elaine Welterorth, and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms about her self-care steps and her three B’s which stand for balance, breaks, and boundaries.
"Balance, not only do we work hard, but we need that love, that girl time, that support because if we're always working, we're not watering that other side of us,” she said. “And I feel like everybody is like plants — we all need to be watered. And if we're not watered, we'll wilt."
Saweetie, whose real name is Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper, went on to explain the importance of taking breaks.
"Breaks, I always tell the young entrepreneurs, the young go-getter ... team no sleep? No, that's not cute. No, please get your rest, drink your water, replenish yourself mentally physically, spiritually, all that — cause I've done it before."
Lastly, the rapper touched on boundaries and gave an example of how to set them even if it means upsetting others.
"And then, boundaries. Set your boundaries. I'd have a long workday and if it was someone's birthday, I'd feel like I had to go, but I had to create boundaries. Whether you're mad or not, just know that I love you. I respect you, but I can't do it. Because if I'm drained, I won't be able to serve you — and I love serving people. But those are things that I learned 'cause I was burnt out."
In previous interviews, the newly named global cultural consultant for Champion has also shared some other ways she prioritizes her mental health. She believes in meditating and remaining centered. She even chopped off her hair to reflect the woman that she is today. In an interview with The Real, she said. “I just feel like I’m at a very transitional point in my woman life, my human life, my artist life and I wanted to start fresh.”
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Saweetie Reflects On The Early Days Of Her Career After Facing Difficulties: ‘I Miss College Saweetie’
As the saying goes, “the grass isn’t always greener,” which is something Saweetie is finding out now as she continues to reach new heights in her career. The Bay Area rapper recently announced her partnership with Champion as a global cultural consultant and she is nominated for her first Grammy for her hit song “Best Friend” featuring Doja Cat.
But she wants fans to know that the life of an entertainer is not as glamorous as everyone thinks. Saweetie talked openly about challenges she’s faced and more on the PEOPLE Every Day podcast. “I just feel like as artists, you know, we have it tough. I feel like we have all the spotlight on us and people think that it's glamorous when in all actuality there are a lot of difficult things that happen behind the scenes,” she said.
She continued, “Hopefully you have a great team. Hopefully, the creatives that you're working with, aren't overcharging you ... It's like everyone who's around: You have to pay for this. You have to pay [for that] …”
It appears that the Grammy-nominated artist does have a great team behind her. She’s been able to secure several brand deals from MAC to Crocs and even hosted a show on Netflix. And she arguably has some of the best content on social media, but even with all the creative projects she has been a part of, she admitted that it doesn’t feel as authentic as it did when she was first trying her hand at a rap career.
“I miss college Saweetie, and me meeting other creatives,” she said. “I just wanted to make something else. Now everyone wants to charge for every second and it kind of just takes the art out of it.”
Reflecting on college Saweetie, she shared advice that she would give her knowing what she knows now.
“Take your time. And don't [jump] at the first opportunity," she said. “I felt like those tough lessons definitely made me a wiser woman, but I think I would've just taken my time ... Who [you] surround yourself really, really affects the trajectory of your career.”
As of late, Saweetie has been vocal about her struggles with mental health and being overworked. In December, she cut off all of her hair as a way to “start fresh” and she even began meditating and praising its positive effects. In a February 2022 interview with Power 106, she explained, "I wanted to start over and I did research about hair and hair holds a lot of energy. And I really wanted to just feel new and fresh with this new music. I won’t say new me. But elevated me. I really just wanted to start over again."
Here are other things the rapper has said about mental health and how she is navigating it all.
On Being Overworked and Finding Balance
"It's like I live, sleep, eat and breathe music and business. My team is really small, so I have to take on responsibilities that eventually somebody else will, but because my team is small, I have to help them out."
"It's just trying to find balance right now. I have no balance. Everything is just work, work, work and I don't have an outlet. I don't have a therapist. I don't hang out with any of my friends because I work so much, so it's just trying to thug it out into until the New Year."
"Balance needs to happen. I feel like I'm being run down to the ground right now and my body doesn't feel good. I've had mental breakdowns and it's just really stressful, but it's nice to be acknowledged because it lets me know that my hard work isn't going unnoticed," she said via PEOPLE.
On Meditating
"I'm just saying the peace you get, the clarity you get, it's really important for everyone to meditate. And I think the reason why I was so discouraged at first, I--- because I'm thinking that you have to be in a cream[-colored] room, like yoga-ish. But I meditate everywhere," she said via PEOPLE.
On What Self-Love Looks Like to Her
“Self-love is being conscious of self and making sure that you’re taking care of yourself. It’s almost as if it’s a high maintenance requirement to take care of yourself spiritually, physically, mentally. It’s about being conscious of all of the things that you intake, think and say. When you love yourself, you don’t want to pollute your mind, body, soul, and spirit and you protect yourself from the things that pollute the important things," she said via LADYGUNN.
On Her Definition of the "Elevated Saweetie"
“She meditates, she’s centered, she has clarity, she knows what she wants, she puts her foot down. I feel like before I discovered meditation, everything was, ‘Yes yes yes, I’ll do it.’
"No matter how bad my body felt, if the opportunity was great, I just said yes and I kept running down my mental, my spiritual, my physical. But how am I gonna continue to work if I’m depleted?" she continued via Power 106.
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Saweetie is going into the New Year with a freshly shaven head and she’s letting the world get a full view. The 28-year-old rapper debuted her new look on Instagram while vacationing somewhere in the tropics. The first photo showed her tilting her head back in all its glory while she soaks up the sun.
The rest of the photos continue to capture the essence of her baldness while she poses poolside and in the clear blue ocean waters. Saweetie used emojis as her caption to encapsulate her mood.
While she never disclosed her reason behind chopping off her tresses, this isn’t the first time she cut her hair. In November 2020, the “Best Friend” rhymer posted a photo of herself rocking a rainbow-colored low cut, which she also wore in her video for her hit song “Back to the Streets.”
But Saweetie isn’t the only baddie who dared to cut off her hair. Here are some other celebrities who made the big chop over the years.
Toni Braxton
“Living legend” Toni Braxton had the internet buzzing when she unveiled her platinum blonde cut to her Instagram followers last year.
China McClain
Although China McClain's cropped hair made its first appearance on Instagram in July 2020, the Black Lightning star revealed that she actually cut her hair “close to a year ago.”
Yvonne Orji
Not exactly bald, but close enough. Insecure star Yvonne Orji debuted her chopped-off tresses on Instagram in the summer of 2020.
Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa Lathan did the big chop back in 2018 for her role in the Netflix film Nappily Ever After. Since then, the actress has been documenting her astonishing hair growth.
Michaela Coel
Prince Williams/Wireimage/Getty Images
Michaela Coel first shaved her head back in 2017 and hasn’t looked back since. In an interview with BET, the I May Destroy You star said that she wants it “to be very normal that some women don’t have hair.”
Tamar Braxton
Toni may have been inspired by her little sister Tamar Braxton for her decision to rock a bald look. The youngest of the Braxton sisters actually made the “big cut” back in May 2020.
Tiffany Haddish
Tiffany Haddish made the big chop back in 2020 in a video she shared on Instagram. The comedian said that “I wanna see my scalp. I know every single part of my body. I know where every single mole is. Anybody that’s ever done my hair has heard me say it.”
Keke Palmer
Keke Palmer shaved off her hair back in May 2017 and later dyed it purple for a more edgy style. The actress shared that she was motivated to cut her hair due to heat damage.
Jada Pinkett Smith
Jada Pinkett Smith has been wearing her hair short most of her career, but in the months leading up to her 50th birthday, she decided to cut it all off. The Red Table Talk host has also opened up about her battle with alopecia and most recently posted an Instagram video about her hair loss journey.
Danai Gurira
George Pimentel/WireImage/Getty Images
Black Panther star Danai Gurira shaved her head for her role in the Marvel film and it quickly became an iconic look for the star. Since then, she has been experimenting with many different natural hairstyles.
Amber Rose
Amber Rose is the OG of the bald head baddie gang. Since she hit the scene with Kanye West back in 2008, the model has been an inspiration for many women on how to confidently and effortlessly rock a shaved head.
Featured image by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for iHeartRadio
Saweetie is getting candid about her life in the spotlight. The “My Type” rapper has been consistently dropping music and expanding her brand as an artist since her 2017 hit single “ICY GRL.” But the downside of growing her empire is that she has little time for herself or her mental health. This year alone, Saweetie had innumerable opportunities that many artists would dream of. She partnered with McDonald’s to launch her Saweetie meal, she became an ambassador for MAC and Crocs and she hosted the 2021 MTV EMA’s.
Not to mention, she just launched a nail polish line with Sinful Colors. With such a busy schedule, the 28-year-old admitted that her mental health suffers while she chases success.
"It's like I live, sleep, eat and breathe music and business," Saweetie toldPeople. "My team is really small, so I have to take on responsibilities that eventually somebody else will, but because my team is small, I have to help them out."
She continued, "It's just trying to find balance right now. I have no balance. Everything is just work, work, work and I don't have an outlet. I don't have a therapist. I don't hang out with any of my friends because I work so much, so it's just trying to thug it out into until the New Year."
Closing out the year, Saweetie is looking to take a much-needed vacation to relieve stress and walk into the New Year rejuvenated.
"Balance needs to happen. I feel like I'm being run down to the ground right now and my body doesn't feel good,” she said. “I've had mental breakdowns and it's just really stressful, but it's nice to be acknowledged because it lets me know that my hard work isn't going unnoticed."
When she does get some free time, she tries to meditate. In November, Saweetie stopped by her alma mater USC and spoke with a business class about meditating and how she believes it’s “better than sex.”
"I'm just saying the peace you get, the clarity you get, it's really important for everyone to meditate,” she said. “And I think the reason why I was so discouraged at first, I--- because I'm thinking that you have to be in a cream[-colored] room, like yoga-ish. But I meditate everywhere."
The New Year is already looking promising for the Bay Area beauty as she snagged a Grammy nomination for her hit song “Best Friend” and fans are still anticipating her debut album.
But in the meantime, get that rest, Queen!
Featured image by Gareth Cattermole - MTV/Getty Images for MTV