Making a career off of hits alone seems like an isolating experience. People have a certain expectation of the music, that it can only exist a certain kind of way. There’s no room for flexibility or experimentation because they don’t engage with the person as an artist. Or, worse, they don’t respect them enough at all to even consider it. Consequently, they leave in an artifice, where music becomes a job of check boxes, making hits Correctly and chasing the stardom and validation. Saweetie has felt in this trapping before. Now, she wants to take agency over her career.
Recently, the Bay Area bred rapper spoke to Billboard about her latest EP, HELLA PRESSURE. There, she tinkers around in different sounds that differ from records like “My Type.” Saweetie could go from a production from LunchMoney Lewis to a collab with K-Pop sensation TWICE alike without sounding too jarring. Where did this desire to stretch her wings come from? Ultimately, it all comes from a place of trying something new while also feeling true to herself.
Saweetie Takes On Staying Authentic While Also Trying New Things
“What’s interesting is that as long as you stay true to you, you’ll slowly build up that fan base that identifies with you. Eventually, that moment comes when the artist explodes. It’s really imperative for artists to make music for themselves because their people will find them,” she stresses.
Saweetie finds herself particularly proud of this EP because it feels like she made it for herself. She admits to not doing that for a long time and it all felt pretty fruitless after a while. If she didn’t take that leap, she would blend into the background after a while.
“Chasing a hit, which I’ve done — I don’t think that’s authentic. That’s what dilutes the art and creates cookie-cutter songs where everyone starts sounding like each other. I’m proud of this EP because I got to explore sounds that I didn’t have a chance to, because I didn’t wanna take that risk. And that’s what I did with EP, I took risks,” Saweetie says.
The post Saweetie Opens Up About Authenticity and Taking New Risks in Her Music appeared first on VICE.
