Saweetie is having her moment!
The 27-year-old rapper has been taking over the music industry one catchy song at a time. This year, she’s nominated for her first Billboard Music Award in the Top Female Artist category.
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“This is one of those moments, because I’ve been inside, especially with quarantine, I haven’t really been able to grasp the impact yet,” she tells ET’s Melicia Johnson of her breakout year and nomination ahead of the awards show. “So, I think just by being here, I am having one of those moments.”
Saweetie recently released “Fast (Motion),” which she describes as an “homage” to athletes and go-getters.
“I grew up as an athlete and I wanted to pay homage and it’s an ode to all my female, even male, athletes out there who want to win, who are in competition with themselves and who work hard every day,” she explains. “Who just, ‘Rule No. 1, never be No. 2.’ So, I think that I just wanted to create a soundtrack for all my athletes out there.”
Fans love everything about the “Best Friend” artist, who also keeps it real on her social media by sharing her quirky food combinations that have gone viral. From ranch dressing on spaghetti, barbecue sauce on oysters and Hot Cheetos on pizza, Saweetie loves to mix flavors.
“I really don’t think my concoctions are crazy until I post them and then the internet goes crazy. I’m just like, this is so regular to me,” she laughs, adding that Hot Cheetos on pizza, “That’s middle school days.”
Additionally, the artist, whose mother is Filipina-Chinese and father African American, also speaks to both Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (currently taking place) and Black Music Month in June.
“I felt like Black music symbolizes culture. I feel like we’re still influential,” she notes. “And beyond hip-hop and beyond rap, you see Black music in rock, you see Black music in pop, in R&B. So, I just think it goes to show how talented we are as people.”
She also sent a message to the Black and Asian community about how to be united, amid racial tensions across the United States.
“The more we stand together and the more we continue to just educate those who may not know what we go through, we will continue to make a change,” she expresses. “And I was actually inspired during quarantine to found my own non-profit organization called the Ice Baby Foundation. And my grandmother is actually the president. So, I think that it’s important for me to use my platform and my voice to help and make a change in my communities…The foundation will focus on financial literacy, education, single mothers, and healthy breakups and low-income communities.”
The 2021 Billboard Music Awards air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday at 5 p.m. PT/ 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
