If you take a glimpse into Saweetie’s room of choice right before a live performance, you’ll find her taking an hour entirely to herself. There’s tea ready and she’s in her “birthday suit” doing stretches and breathing exercises on a towel, while Afro-house music softly plays in the background. She reviews the vocal lessons recorded on her phone, while turning to pictures of icons like Cher, Tina Turner, Tupac, and Biggie that she has taped to her wall as a form of manifestation for the future of her career.
Saweetie is learning to take things a little slower. When she started her career in her 20s, she could do anything and everything after a crumb of sleep, but she currently insists on no less than 10 hours. “I use my brain too much to not get enough sleep!” she says. Her body is starting to reflect the strain of a demanding schedule, too, something she’s just beginning to realize. “Somebody hugged me and my back cracked!” she shares, guffawing. “I was like, ‘Hold on! No!’”
Nowadays, Saweetie’s main priorities in life include self-care, community, and learning to balance all of it alongside her career, instead of letting her career take center stage. “I loved spending time in solitude, but I realized that a lot of my stress was coming from me not interacting with people and just going to work. Work was my whole life,” she says. “There was no balance,” she adds, noting that she’s also been emphasizing the importance of seeing family, friends, and the world.
Fresh off trips to Africa and London, she has felt endlessly inspired. She even filmed her music video for the track “Is It the Way” in the British capital. “Traveling? It cleans your spirit in some way, shape, or form. Instead of going on that shopping spree, go travel,” she says.
