Saweetie partially blames brand deals for album delay: ‘It began to overshadow my music’

It’s been eight years since Saweetie released her debut single, “Icy Grl,” but fans are still waiting for her debut album, originally titled Pretty B**** Music. In a cover story for Cero Magazine, she partially attributes the delay to biting off more than she can chew.

“I’m a Sagittarius moon, which means I want to learn everything, I want to do everything, I want to conquer everything. You can’t do that,” she says. “You need to put your focus and attention on one thing that can eventually become a platform for other things.”

“There just wasn’t enough time in my schedule to properly record because I had so many brand deals, so many shoots, so many shows,” she continued. “There was no time for me to figure out where I was going with my music.” 

Saweetie’s heavy workload eventually forced her to stop and move with more intention. “My brand became so big that it began to overshadow my music. I became more known for my content, and that’s not the reason why I’m here,” she explains. “Yes, I’m the content queen. Yes, I love creating aesthetics, photos, and videos that inspire people. But the reason why I’m here is music.”

“People thought I was hiding. They thought I wasn’t interested in music anymore,” she says. “But sometimes you have to get yourself together to pop out stronger.”

Of being called hip-hop’s brand queen, Saweetie says, “I’m happy to be recognized that way, because it lets me know that I’m doing something right.”

She then thanked Rihanna “for paving the road for women of color to have a brand based off of personality. She kicked down a lot of doors. … Before Rihanna, I feel like we had to play by the rules a lot more—but she’s a rule-breaker.”