On Sunday’s BET Awards red carpet, Saweetie was a vision in royal blue, rocking a sweeping, barely there Dolce & Gabbana gown. While the “Icy Grl” artist appeared calm and collected, she expressed her “surprise” at being nominated for best female hip hop artist at the show.
“Everything that happened this year, it was planned,” Saweetie told Billboard. “But as far as the public receiving it, the accolades that come with it, that was a surprise.”
The hit-making raptress, accompanied on the red carpet by her father, Johnny Harper, gushed over her fellow nominees and noted her own room for growth. “I feel like I have a lot more to achieve, so it’s just an honor to be in a pool of such innovative, bomb women.”
The other nominees for best female hip hop artist were Cardi B, Coi Leray, Doja Cat and eventual winner Megan Thee Stallion. Saweetie’s single “Best Friend,” alongside fellow nominee Doja, is her highest-charting Billboard Hot 100 hit yet, reaching No. 14. The track also climbed to No. 1 on the Rhythmic Airplay chart.
Saweetie’s debut album, Pretty Bitch Music, was slated to release last week alongside Tyler, The Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost and Doja Cat’s Planet Her, but thanks to none other than pop icon Cher, the project was postponed and Saweetie headed back to the studio.
“Me and Cher are working on a really big campaign. I can’t share too much because of contracts,” Saweetie tells Billboard. “I thought [the album] was done, but after I met her, I had an epiphany. This album needs to have feelings, it needs to have soul, it needs to have spirit. And I have a lot of room for improvement, so I’m gonna work on that. And once it’s done, the album will be released.”
When it comes to any surprises on the album, Saweetie shared one secret. “I’ma take y’all to the island,” she said with a smile.
