Ever since her debut single “Icy Girl” went viral in 2018, we can’t get enough of Saweetie. The rapper, model and entrepreneur is no stranger to the entertainment industry, but don’t let the Grammy nominations fool you. Saweetie is absolutely committed to holding prime real estate on more than just your workout playlist. With Saweetie’s first full-length album scheduled to come later this year, here are five things to familiarize yourself with the artist and social media superstar, from her famous family to how she chose her stage name.
1. Her mother was a music video superstar back in the day
Saweetie’s mother, Trinidad Valentin, gave birth to her when she was 17. During that time, however, Valentin was also a model and appeared in many of your fave’s music videos in the early 2000s.
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The “Tap In” artist said in her YouTube series, “The Icy Life,” that her mother was featured in Nelly’s “Ride Wit Me” and the late DMX’s “What These B*****s Want” videos.
2. Her stage name comes from a family nickname
Born Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper, the 28-year-old’s stage name is the nickname her grandmother called her growing up.
“…it’s crazy that her pet name became my stage name. She called me that because I’m her sweetie,” Saweetie told E! News.
3. Her cousin is none other than Gabrielle Union
The Bay Area native isn’t the only famous face in her family. In an exclusive interview with Access Hollywood last September, Saweetie opened up about her relationship with cousin Gabrielle Union.
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“I love when she [Union] compares this industry I’m currently in to when she broke in and the difference is just — for one, they had more privacy,” Saweetie told the outlet. “At times I feel like I was born in a different time period because I love my privacy and I wish I could have lived back then — when people actually respected people’s space.”
Union explained on Twitter how they were connected in 2018, telling a user that her father and Saweetie’s father are first cousins.
4. On having younger, stricter parents
Her parents were both teens when Saweetie was born, and she told Teen Vogue that forced her to “grow up quicker, because I was always being babysat by someone else.”
The “Best Friend” hitmaker also stressed the importance of education in her household, revealing her Filipino-Chinese mom would make Saweetie redo homework assignments if she noticed sloppy handwriting. “She wanted straight A’s. Her disciplining me at a young age got me into the habit of achieving high goals.”
That disciple worked in her favor, as Saweetie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from the University of Southern California in 2016.
5. She's building an empire
Saweetie has come a long way from the days of sleeping on mattresses and driving a Toyota. With an already estimated $4 million to her name, she has no plans of slowing down. In fact, the multi-hyphenate told Grammy.com she’d like to expand her business endeavors to include much more than music.
“I really want to have everything in-house. I want to make my own merch, perfume — I want to make my own full line.
“I’m on this spiritual and body journey, too. I’m going to document it and post it on YouTube, it’ll be a whole rollout. I really want people to take care of their bodies and their brains. Everything that I need to be a successful artist, I would love to share that with the world through the products I make.”
With partnerships alongside the likes of McDonald’s, Jack Daniels, Champion and countless more, it’s only a matter of time when we see a complete Saweetie takeover in both music and commerce.
