“New traditions!!” began an April 2021 tweet from Saweetie, accompanied by her signature snowflake emoji. “Every summer I’m sharing my platform and dropping a fly-ass playlist featuring artists who are up next. This is season 1.” On her seven-song Pretty Summer Playlist: Season 1, Saweetie has elected to share her platform with up-and-comers Bbyafricka, Kendra Jae, Loui, Lourdiz, and one of the most revered voices in contemporary LA street rap, Drakeo the Ruler. The guest voices are wholly complementary to the Icy Gang president, helping Saweetie deliver a roughly 20-minute set that would work in just about any pool party playlist.
With vibes as disparate as the sexed-up summer fling “Back Seat,” the bewitching but menacing “Baby Mama Coochie,” and the Miami-bass-inspired “Sweat Check,” the Santa Clara, California, MC’s voice is really the tie that binds; Saweetie seemingly handpicked her collaborators based on how their music works in the warmer months. “It’s gonna become a tradition,” Saweetie tells Apple Music of the project. “As long as I’m living I’m gonna pop off summer the right way with this Pretty Summer Playlist, and I’m a summer baby anyway; the summer has always been my season.” Below, the MC takes us through Pretty Summer Playlist: Season 1 track by track, detailing how all of its collaborations came to be.
“Risky” feat. Drakeo the Ruler “I was listening to Drakeo in college. He been around for a while and I been a fan of his music for a minute. I’ve never really tapped in with another LA rapper, so I wanted to get in with him. When I created the concept I was like, it’s ’bout to be the summertime, people ’bout to be out here acting crazy, so what is that feeling you get when you about to wild out? It’s risky.”
Bbyafricka feat. Saweetie, “Baby Mama Coochie” “I was following Bbyafricka on Twitter and I thought her tweets were funny. One day she kept tweeting the same line over and over again, it was like ‘Baby mama coochie, I ain’t even gotta’—something like that. I talked about it in the Issa Rae interview [Issa's Raedio Show, Episode 4], and after the clip went viral she DM’d me and was like, 'Are you tryna hop on the song?' And I was like, sure! I was already hopping on a lot of underground rappers' songs, so I was like, why don’t I just hop on one of my favorite songs.”
Kendra Jae feat. Saweetie, “See Saw” “I actually met Kendra when I was 16. And what’s crazy is she’s always wanted to do music but her hustle was dancing—she’s danced with Beyoncé, she’s danced with Drake, she’s danced with a plethora of respected artists—but before she went to be an artist, she was actually dancing for me. I respected that, and I think it’s important to take a chance for yourself. I love all her music, but ‘See Saw’ was the song I saw me getting on.”
“Pretty & Rich” “‘Pretty & Rich’ is just a simple braggadocious record. I was just ready to pop some shit. I like doing it in a fun way, I like doing it in a boss way, that’s why my voice is deep—it’s a big boss move, that’s what I call it.”
“Back Seat” feat. Lourdiz “This song was brought to me with the chorus already and they had two people in mind, two other female artists, and I was like, ‘I wanna keep [Lourdiz] on the song.’ They were like, ‘Well, you know the song will do much better if we have a bigger artist on it.’ But the song is gonna do what it has to do, ’cause it’s a great song already. Her voice is so unique. I didn’t want to compromise the integrity of the song just for a bigger name.”
Loui feat. Saweetie, “Talkin Bout” “This song was big on TikTok and I immediately fell in love with it. It was an opportunity to play with my flow because the beat is just so fun. Shoutout to King Loui, we actually shot a video for it.”
“Sweat Check” “My project was already turned in and I was like, ‘You know what, we’re missing a high-energy twerk anthem.’ Not only is it a twerk anthem, it’s a gym anthem. I work out and I pop off my sweatband, and my fans recognize that melody because I’ve been saying ‘It’s time for sweat check’ throughout this whole quarantine.”