Quotes from Saweetie

In order to be an icon, you need to be bold. How do I define boldness? Stepping outside of your comfort zone.

My cousin's dad is MC Hammer, and another one of my cousins is Zaytoven. We all grew up together and it's interesting to see how we turned out.

High maintenance means a lot of care. My relationships are high maintenance, my body is high maintenance, and my soul is high maintenance. I really care about my friends and my family; I eat good; I pray a lot. So it's like, I really care about my relationships with my family, my friends, my body and my soul.

People had boxed me in as a 'pretty girl with followers that's rapping,' but I think my project and the work speaks for itself.

Around the time that I was in high school, a lot of rappers were coming out with mixtapes of them rapping over other people's instrumentals, specifically Young Money.

I've been wanting to do music since I was 14, but like I've really always enjoyed giving speeches and I enjoy talking to people, so I was like, maybe I can be a newscaster.

I grew up all around the Bay, but I spent most of my time in Hayward and I loved it. It was a really big apartment community, there was a whole bunch of kids.

It's crazy because 'Icy Girl' came when I was in a dark place, but I made it to motivate myself. It was kind of like my anthem for lifting up my spirits.

I was working three jobs and going to school full time. I was really unhappy and I told myself, You are not this girl. This sounds corny but I would tell myself, You are an Icy Girl. I'm a confident person, but that was the first time I experienced insecurity and low self-esteem.

A lot of women reach out to me and tell me my music has given them the courage and confidence to break up with not just any boyfriend, but an unhealthy relationship.

Especially as an artist, the creative freedom we have makes us who we are. We're human beings-we're gonna mess up sometimes. I definitely feel like people should continue being who they are. As long as you're staying true to who you are, that's super important.

When you're a college student interested in music, you hear all these rappers talking about dropping out. For me, when I heard someone like J. Cole rapping about school and staying in school...it inspired me to keep going.

I'm normally getting glammed for my events and when I can give my skin a break, I do.

When you're normally networking, it's with men. And they claim they want to help you and work with you, but when it comes down to it, they want to go on dates.

I founded my label last November called Icy, and once my foundation is laid, I'd love to go back and help other artists and give them the opportunity that I wasn't given at a younger age.

And I get so nervous now when it's not my show, like I'm not the headliner, because I know that those fans are there for another artist. Many people might not know an upcoming artist, but I've grown to like those shows because if I can control a crowd that doesn't know me, I'm doing my job as an entertainer. I have to rise to the occasion.

I feel like it's social media that's opened that door. We're able to accumulate and generate our own fan base. Once we do that and put our own work in, labels take notice that we have our own following.

With social media, the gatekeepers are our followers. It has opened so many doors for me not only musically, but fashion-wise as well.

My dream school was USC. So I was like, alright, I'm going to apply to USC, and If I don't get in - I'm dropping out of school, and I'm pursuing music. So I applied, and I got in. I was like alright, I'm at the number one communications school in the country, and that was my major.

What I really love about the Bay area sound is that it's very unique and that's something I want to strive for, as an artist. It's easy to get caught up in what's trending, but Bay area rap stays true to the local sound.

I definitely come from a line of strong women. It's not only like my mother and my grandmother, but my aunties too.

We all want to be identified as someone cool, and I have struggled with repping where I'm from and my heritage before. It's part of growing pains. But when people see me being proud of what I am - and they are what I am too - it makes them proud. That's why I try to represent my Asian and my black side.

I'm the only person who stands in my way, whether I finish a song or if I'm, you know, struggling. So, I see myself as my own competitor.

I feel like music is, you know, made to inspire, to heal, and to cope with. So, I hope that when my fans, or even just people who stumble across my music, I hope they get some type of feeling from it.