look good and handle our business. That’s what made me who I am on the day-to-day and who I am as an artist. A lot of creativity and uniqueness comes from that. Some people have tried to discredit your credibility to wear classic Bay Area styles like long nails, bamboo earrings and baby hairs. In your defense, some fans pulled up your childhood photos. Talk to me about how it’s always been a part of you. Because I went to college and I can speak properly, people feel like they can question my “authenticity.” But who says a girl like me can’t go to college? Who says a girl like me can’t wear long nails because I got an education? <strong>The</strong>re are all these false theories and stories about me because my success makes people feel a way. But when I think about it, I’m like, “Damn, I’ve always been this girl.” But what really stripped me, as a woman of color, was college. When I went to San Diego State—and especially <strong>US</strong>C—it’s predominantly Caucasian, and I felt like I couldn’t be myself. College made me feel like I couldn’t be who I truly was because I had to conform. It took me about a year or two to feel comfortable with raising my hand and participating in class because I came into college talking so much slang. I go to these classes and they’re using all these big words, and I’m like, “What’s going on?” I didn’t have the confidence to be vocal because these other kids just had a different type of education preparation. It made me feel like I had to change. So that’s why I love spending time with my family and getting back to my roots. [College] made me robotic because I felt like I had to be what society expected a student at a prestigious university to be like. You also played sports, right? When did you start? Girl, I came out of the womb playing sports. [Laughs.] On my grandmother’s side, it’s like all boys, so all the girls are pretty much tomboys because we’re always kickin’ it with the boys. I used to race in the streets with no shoes on. [Laughs.] We used to race all day and play football. I would try to mimic the older kids. Tetherball, kickball and baseball—whatever was around for us to play, we did, or we made up our own game. My dad used to tell me I smell like “the great outdoors.” [Laughs.] I would come in with mud all over my jeans. Tree branches stuck in my hair because I was climbing trees—just super dirty, so I was always in the streets as a little kid. I played a lot of basketball. All the girls in my family played—my cousins, my aunties—but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I couldn’t hang, going up and down that court, so my mom forced me to try out for the volleyball team, and I hated her for it. But I immediately fell in love and started playing volleyball around sixth grade. Whenever school had Powder Puff, I would always play quarterback. I have an arm. And in high school I ran track. In terms of success or hard work, how did sports impact the way you read or operate in the world? Any long-lasting impact? I honestly feel—not to get super sentimental—like, this is purpose. This is God’s plan for me because I went through so much shit growing up. I also had to deal with fighting in the athletic world because I was a transfer student all the time. I was always the new girl and people weren’t so welcoming. I remember when I tried out [for volleyball], it was very uncomfortable. None of the girls liked me, and they said all I wanted to do was play sports so I could show off my ass, and other weird rumors. It was almost bullying, but like, mentally. People were trying to count me out. I had to fight to prove that I’m “People like to question my ‘authenticity.’ But who says a girl like me can’t go to college? Damn, I’ve always been this girl.” 28
“I came out of the womb playing sports,” Saweetie says. Although she played basketball, she fell in love with —and excelled at— volleyball as a teen.
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