The Truth About Saweetie
2021 was undeniably the summer of Saweetie. Having been on the scene since 2018 with her viral hit "ICY GRL," Saweetie has been dominating the charts and social media with her female-empowering girl boss bops. The L.A. rapper's fanbase grew exponentially during the lockdown, with her music becoming popularly used on TikTok, according to Variety. Over the past few years Saweetie has amassed 12.8 million followers on Instagram as of publication. Whether it's for her infectious laugh and funny content, or for the glamour and finesse put in to every outfit shot — fans can't get enough of the star.
Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper, known as Saweetie, has had somewhat of an overnight success with "ICY GRL", she often speaks about how overwhelming this was. Speaking to Forbes, she shared, "Honestly, fame is interesting. It's a double-edged sword. I'm appreciative of all this fame; however, it's like I'm under a microscope. It's something I'm slowly gauging but I'm grateful for the love and support my fans give me so I try not to complain because I realize it comes with the territory."
With such a speedy journey, there's a lot about the "Best Friends" singer that fans don't know. Saweetie put it best herself when she said, "People were only seeing 'icy girl,' but who was the girl under the blonde wig?" (via Teen Vogue). So, let's take a look at some unknown pieces of the puzzle that really define Saweetie as a person.
Saweetie plays the piano, and don't try to question her talent!
With a rapping prowess and lyrical talent like Saweetie's, you really don't have to do much else. But the rapper proved her talents are endless when she played the piano live. Saweetie partnered with Calvin Klein and Amazon Live to offer an "Icy Season" special show (via Complex). The show consisted of a live shopping experience, with Saweetie performing her music and answering fan questions.
What fans were most shocked and excited to see was the singer playing the piano while performing her hit "Back to the Streets." Some fans however, questioned whether it was really Saweetie playing the keys or simply a track playing over the performance (via Complex).
Now, Saweetie was definitely not going to let her haters bring her down, and shared a clip of her rehearsing on Twitter in response to a tweet claiming "I know damn well she wasn't playing any damn piano" she posted the video with a playful kiss emoji (via Twitter). Saweetie's musical fingers were further confirmed by a clip being shared of her playing the piano for Damson Idris (via Twitter). Turns out, she really can do it all.
She always gives back
When a star undergoes such fast growth, it's rare to expect them to remain humble. Especially when coming from such simple beginnings as Saweetie has, with her car-rapping days only dating back to 2018, per Teen Vogue, it's likely to expect the star to let the fame and money get to her head. The 28-year-old inspires her fans by making it a top priority to give back to her community. The more she grows, the more she gives.
During a one-on-one interview with Tory Burch, Saweetie opened up about her charity work, "It started with me donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to nonprofits and not knowing if they're really giving the money to the greater good" (via Interview Magazine). The rapper has even built her own charity foundation to help her give back, "I always tell people the fame and money is cool, but when you can inspire and make a difference in someone's life, that's what makes me feel good."
A true ICY GRL prioritizes her education
Saweetie's story is all about hustle and grind. When she first began pursuing music in 2016, she was actually also actively studying to get her Bachelor's degree from The University of Southern California (via Blavity News). Saweetie completed her degree and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications in 2016.
She fought for her spot in the school she wanted, as she shared with her alma matter in their publication Daily Trojan, "I wrote a letter and told them why I deserved to be an Annenberg student," she remembers. "They replied two days later and agreed to all of my points and granted me access to be a communication student." Her business professor, Albert Napoli, shared an insight to what the icy queen was like as a student. "I see a lot of dreamers and not a lot of doers. Diamonté is definitely a doer. She's a rare breed," he adds. "She is the epitome of what you need to become a success."
When opening up to Blavity News about her experience, Saweetie shared "[College] is just like a safe place to be an adult. That's what I'll say. It's like, you're almost into adulthood, but you're not. So I think it's a great way to groom you into adulting."
Saweetie has her mind set on becoming a billionaire
For the young superstar Saweetie, the sky is the limit. While many that would reach her levels of fame might just focus on basking in it and living large, Saweetie has her eyes laser-focused on the future. During a visit to her alma matter, the University of Southern California, she spoke with her Professor Albert Napoli about how she made it and the business side of her career (via People).
According to People, one of the first questions Napoli asked was about the rapper's screensaver he had noticed which was a simple photo of the word "1 billion." He asked her what it represented, and she responded, "A billion. [Those are] my goals."
Saweetie shared that she had big plans of becoming a billionaire within two years. She plans to achieve this by working on multiple streams of income and business ventures, so far the star has been successful — she even recently had a collaboration with McDonalds on her very own "The Saweetie Meal" (via Forbes). "I know I'm capable of doing this," the rapper said. "But of course there are things that I know that are off-limits for me. I know my boundaries."
Saweetie is proud of her Filipino and African-American roots
Saweetie is undeniably beautiful. The rapper is aware of it, although she often feels her "pretty privilege" has actually hurt her career (via Complex). She owes her natural beauty to the combination of her Filipino, Chinese, and African-American roots. Saweetie has always proudly claimed and respected her background. She shared her journey of acceptance with Forbes, "At an early age, I struggled with identifying who I was, because it's two different families, two different sets of rules, two different cultures. But respect is something that both of my families hold with pride. It gave me a bigger perspective of what to expect from the world."
Her unique background has allowed the self-proclaimed "icy queen" to gain a certain respect and understanding for other cultures. "I think it taught me at a really young age that no group of people are the same," she said, adding, "We have to respect them, their cultures, their values, their morals, so I'm really grateful" (via The Straits Time).
Her birth chart perfectly describes her
Astrology has been big since anxiously checking your monthly horoscope in your favorite magazine, but it's especially been everyone's obsession these days. It's not quite as simple as just knowing your star sign, now it's all about figuring out your rising, sun, and moon and basically the entire breakdown of your birth chart. If Megan Fox has Machine Gun Kelly's memorized, it's time to figure out yours (via YouTube). A birth chart can tell a lot about a person, and in Saweetie's case it fits perfectly with her career choice.
PopSugar broke it all down by analyzing her sun and moon signs as well as her personal planets. Saweetie's sun is in Cancer which represents her soft and giving side which is evident in her philanthropy. Having the moon in Sagittarius is all about being tenacious and unapologetically you, which perfectly sums up Saweetie's lyrics.
The rapper's Mars is in Virgo, which represents how goal-oriented and ambitious she is — it's sure to help her reach her billionaire goals. According to Popsugar, her Venus is in Taurus which showcases a sensual, romantic side which is evident in her sexual lyrics. While her Mercury is in Cancer proving she can be sweet, which is appropriate given her name. Saweetie has shared before that the origin of her stage name is actually from her grandmother calling her "sweetie" and her fans are hooked (via Ace Showbiz).