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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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This article is sponsored by Hulu.
UnPrisonedhas returned for its highly anticipated second season, delving deeper into the complex dynamics of the Alexander family.
The series premiere comes a year after its debut season garnered rave reviews from fans and critics and earned record-breaking ratings for Hulu's Onyx Collective brand. UnPrisoned's success can be attributed to its raw, relatable themes and comedic appeal.
Inspired by creator Tracy McMillan's life, the show follows Paige (Kerry Washington), a therapist and single mother whose life takes an unexpected turn when her father, Edwin (Delroy Lindo) --who was released from prison-- moves in with her and her teenage son, Finn (Faly Rakotohavana).
Throughout UnPrisoned's first season, viewers witnessed how Edwin's incarceration deeply affected Paige's life and relationships. In the series, Paige unpacks her trauma through interactions with her inner child and her online followers. Meanwhile, Edwin is overcoming specific struggles with his own past that led to his life of crime, including a dysfunctional upbringing and his mother's arrest. As the Alexanders attempt to reconcile, new challenges arise.
This new season promises to further explore their unconventional family dynamic. Here are several compelling reasons why season two of UnPrisoned should be on everyone's watchlist.
The Alexander Family Life Is Still In Shambles
UnPrisoned's second season resumes where the series left off, with Paige grappling with the fallout from her troubled therapy practice and Edwin navigating life independently after moving out. Meanwhile, Finn faces his own challenges. The teenager is battling anxiety and seeking information about his father—a topic Paige avoids discussing.
The Alexander Family Are Attending Therapy To Resolve Their Underlying Issues
Amid the chaos in their lives, the Alexander family decides to mend their bond by confronting their past traumas. They seek professional help and attend therapy sessions with a “family radical healing coach,” played by John Stamos, a new cast member. This collective effort aims to unravel the complexities of their shared history and strengthen their relationships.
The process of unraveling each character's internal conflicts and their potential impact on future relationships may clash with Paige's textbook therapy approach. While Paige is used to being in the therapist's seat in both career and family, this forces her into the unfamiliar role of a patient during therapy sessions. This shift would compel her to look in the mirror and try a radically different approach.
The Alexander Family Learned A Big Lesson During A Therapy Session
In therapy, the Alexanders are tasked with addressing their individual traumas to salvage their remaining relationships. One of the family therapist’s eccentric suggestions was an exercise involving a family wrestling match. During this session, Paige faces tough questions about her refusal to share information about Finn's father.
While it's unclear whether this scene is reality or fantasy, the image of the family duking it out in the ring certainly makes for hilarious yet compelling television.
Paige Tries Dating Again Following Failed Relationships
Amid her life's chaos, Paige decides to step back into the dating field. However, her many attempts have left her with mixed results. The dating apps have turned out to be a fail, and an outing with her ex Mal (Marque Richardson), who is also her father's parole officer, doesn’t go quite as expected after he brings an unexpected guest – his new girlfriend.
The situation takes an awkward turn when Mal's new partner learns why the former couple split, partly due to Paige's self-sabotage.
UnPrisoned Is A Perfect Balance Of Comedy And Drama
As a dramedy, UnPrisoned takes a comedic approach to its heavy subjects. The show takes us on a ride with Paige's dating misadventures and navigating a friendship with her ex.
Other lighthearted moments include Edwin's attempts at CPR based on online videos and, of course, the antics of the Alexander family's unconventional new healing coach.
The second season of UnPrisoned is now available on Hulu.
UnPrisoned | Season 2 Trailer | Hulu
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Mariee Revere On Her History-Making Million-Dollar Sales And The Future Of MoonXCosmetics
If the name Mariee Revere sounds familiar, it's probably because you heard of her beauty and skincare brand, MoonXCosmetics, or you may have heard about her history-making achievement of making $1.8 million in less than eight minutes. But before starting her million-dollar brand, Mariee was just a teenager trying to cure her acne.
While she grew up in the skincare capital of the world, South Korea, Mariee didn't really experience breakouts until her senior year of high school. Like many people who get their first breakout, she didn't know what to do, and there weren't many products out there at that time. So she decided to experiment. What she didn't know was that what she came up with would ultimately be her ticket to success.
"When I graduated high school, I moved back to America, Georgia, and I ended up making, like, the oil, the Rose Galore oil, which is like the staple product of my brand. I don't know what made me make it, but I did, and it literally cleared my face up," she tells xoNecole in an exclusive interview.
"I end up selling it as a body oil first because, obviously, I'm 17, [and] don't have any background as an esthetician or anything like that. I just made a product that worked for me, but people bought it and was using it, and I reformulated it, and then it just stuck like with me."
While MoonXCosmetics is known for its facial products, it wants to expand to body care and home. It just released its new product, Moon-Gel body wash, and it's only up from there. As Mariee continues to grow the brand, it's more than likely that she will see more history-making moments. And so far she has.
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When asked if she feels pressure to obtain more of those milestones, she says yes and no. "I did $1.8 [million] again, and then I did $2 million but I feel like now, currently, I don't look at that as one of my goals anymore because [of] the headache and just everything that came with it, but I was thankful and blessed to have that milestone, but now I'm looking for more," she says.
"I want to say more reach than more like fast-paced sales. I do want that. Obviously, every girl wants that, but I do want to have a better overall reach for my brand because I did take two years off so I was able to learn, [and] study a lot of different things. See how things have changed from 2020 to now."
"I did $1.8 [million] again, and then I did $2 million but I feel like now, currently, I don't look at that as one of my goals anymore because [of] the headache and just everything that came with it, but I was thankful and blessed to have that milestone, but now I'm looking for more."
Another part of expanding for any company is hiring people. Finding the right person to help you can be a hassle, especially for business owners who are used to doing all the work themselves. Mariee can relate to this, and she touched on this topic in her documentaryThe Million Dollar Story. She recommends having someone be your "right-hand man" who you trust to handle the ins and outs of the company.
"I could say, definitely get, like a right-hand man to help you within the process because that really was what helped me. I never had a job. I literally was 18 now, being like, you know, the boss of over 30+ employees at one point in time, and I didn't know anything. I didn't know anything about no W-2s, no taxes, no clock in, clock out because all I [have] ever known was my brand," she explains.
"So I definitely partner with people who are very skewed and versed in those areas, and they helped me get through it. Even to this day, I still have my same person helping me with hiring, firing, [and] doing everything that I can right now because I'm still learning. But obviously people get jobs young, so they have way more experience than me, but still learning."
And though she is still learning, one thing she makes sure to stay on top of is being consistent. Consistency is what trips many people up when it comes to achieving goals, but Mariee says it's all about scheduling. Whether it's when to post on social media or email marketing, scheduling it out can make a world of difference. That same practice also works when planning out her future goals for the company.
"Right now, future goals would be to drop at least five more products before the end of the year. We always do outreach, where we do drives and all that, but definitely do way more this year, she says. "Then really dive into body [care], and then hopefully open up MoonXBody underneath MoonXCosmetics to let that branch out and be open and definitely get back consistent."
For more information, visit moonxco.com.
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