When Saweetie went viral with Icy Girl, many questioned whether she’d be able to strike gold again. Two years later, that question has been eradicated. Two EPs down, Saweetie has established herself as one of the most exciting new voices in hip-hop and she’s going viral once again with new cut My Type.
My Type off the Icy EP has spread around the internet thanks to the #MyTypeChallenge, elevating it to the biggest song on the EP and, potentially, her career so far. It’s a big feat given that the whole project is a superstar affair featuring production from Hit-Boy and London On Da Track plus two features from Migos golden boy Quavo.
We caught up with Saweetie ahead of one her biggest gigs to date at famed hip-hop festival Rolling Loud in Miami. She went deep on the EP and also talked about her most unexpected move to date - working with David Guetta.
The EP is doing super well, plenty of people are pumping My Type. How are you feeling?
I definitely am. Especially My Type. It’s getting a lot of recognition. I just want to thank people like you for covering my music. Because I have people like you the record is just spreading so quickly.
People connected with My Type immediately. Did you expect that to be the runaway hit?
Oh my gosh, no. I thought it was going to be Emotional.
It must be cool to watch all the videos of people doing the My Type challenge?
The videos are so crazy and I’m just so happy that my fans are gravitating towards it. Probably by next week, the single is going to surpass Icy Girl. I’m just really excited about that.
When you released the project you talked about thinking Emotional would do well. Were there any other favourites you had?
Tip-Toes. I loved creating it. I actually created it by accident. I had missed my flight in Atlanta and went to the studio. It definitely has the same clap as My Type. It’s a little slower but I had a really good time recording that song.
Your fans are crazy on social media. They’re vocal about who they want you to collaborate with. How much do you consider those comments?
I definitely consider it but for me every collaboration I want it to be somebody I’m a fan of or I want them to love the song. Every collaboration I’ve done, it’s a mutual respect for each other.
Rap is one genre where artists tend to collaborate at a rapid rate. You’ve been really selective - Quavo is the only one who features on the EP. How important is it for you to not just put anybody on the song?
It’s very important that I’m selective. I think it’s important for the other artist to like the song because it shows how passionate they are about it when they record. It’s reflected in how good the verse is. I’m very grateful that big artists like Kehlani and G-Eazy have gravitated towards my sound.
How cool was it when you received that Kehlani verse on Icy Girl?
It was so different for her. That was definitely super exciting. And the fact that she’s from the Bay Area as well, I thought it was super dope that we were able to come together as people from the Bay and as two women to create a dope song.
You’re very careful with the music you release. You’ve done two EPs with a big amount of time between them in a genre where people release music very quickly. Do you feel pressure to release more music?
I’ve felt pressure to release more music. Compared to my peers my catalogue isn’t that big. I thought it was important for Icy to come out to expand the songs and the videos and the concept. Like you said, in a genre where everyone is putting out things back-to-back, one year is kind of a long time.
You’ve got an all-killer, no-filler vibe. Am I right in saying that?
Yes, it’s very important to me. I’ve taken my time and I’ve strategised to make sure that everything is organic, sounds good, so that my fans can live with something dope.
How many unreleased songs are you sitting on?
Probably like a little over 100.
That’s impressive to put out two concise EPs while you’re sitting on that. Do you ever want to jump on Soundcloud and let loose?
Yes, definitely but I’m no longer in that space to do that because we have to make sure that everything is properly released. I sometimes want to go back to my old ways and release stuff over Soundcloud.
The producer list for the EP, from Murda Beatz to London On Da Track, is impressive. Was there one beat you were super excited to recieve?
Definitely Murda Beatz. Also Hit-Boy. Dipped In Ice is such a West Coast-sounding record and I really love how my voice sounds over it. That’s one of the collaborations I was super excited about. Also Emotional because it was produced by two women. That’s very rare in the hip-hop industry or in the music industry in general. They created such a great song.
You’ve got a very distinctive sound but nobody can call you predictable. You’ve had so many different vibes from your hip-hop work to working with David Guetta. How was it working with an EDM producer?
It was super excited. I’m a baby artist and all these producers are reaching out to collaborate with me. It lets me know I’m doing something right. I’m grateful to be able to work with them. What he did with our song, it was a hip-hop song and he flipped and turned it into I’m That Bitch. I would like to eventually get back into the studio with him and create something that is a different sound. That song was already created though and he made it into the David Guetta sound.
I remember hearing a while back that you were working with StarGate.
We definitely have something in the pipeline. It’s funny that you mention them because they produced the song that David Guetta flipped. It was a hip-hop song that they produced. They shared the song with him and he loved it so he remixed it himself.
