Ahead of her upcoming performance on SNL this weekend, Saweetie has released her latest Pretty Bitch Music single, “Icy Chain.” While she’s been teasing the track, performing it both at 88rising’s Head In The Clouds festival and on her Icy Season Amazon special, it looks like she wanted to give fans an early holiday gift before playing it live on Saturday night.
Produced by Lil Aaron(!) and Rocco Did It Again and based on the Memphis trap sound popularized by the likes of Juicy J and the Three-6-Mafia, the energetic single finds Saweetie telling her listeners exactly what to do to secure themselves an Icy chain of their own: Twerk that ass. On the verses, Saweetie coolly flaunts her luxurious possessions — a crocodile Birkin, a mink, a Rolex, and a Prada bikini — while dismissing any potential detractors, from jilted ex-sponsors to pretentious animal rights protection groups.
Meanwhile, Saweetie fans were given no shortage of new material from the bougie Bay Area rapper this week, who also contributed to French Montana’s new album (reuniting with Doja Cat on “Handstand“) and the soundtrack to Halle Berry’s upcoming Netflix directorial debut Bruised. And last week, she dropped the full version of her single “Get It Girl” on the Insecure soundtrack after teasing it in a Beats By Dre ad earlier this month. It looks like it really is Icy Season — and Pretty Bitch Music is hopefully also right around the corner to cap it off.
It’s been nearly two years since French Montana delivered an album to the world with his last being 2019’s Montana. Luckily for fans of the rapper, that streak is officially over as Montana returns with his fourth album, They Got Amnesia. The project seems to be a response to those who forgot the hits he contributed to hip-hop over the past decade, which include “Pop That,” “Unforgettable,” “Marble Floors,” and more. A bright moment on They Got Amnesia comes when Montana recruits Doja Cat and Saweetie for “Handstand.”
The track is a bouncy effort that finds the trio indulging in some freaky fun. Montana, Doja, and Saweetie each flaunt their sexual prowess as they request and receive attention from those around them. As for the rest of They Got Amnesia, French Montana delivers 21 songs for the album that also sees appearances from John Legend, Rick Ross, Kodak Black, Pop Smoke, Lil Durk, Fivio Foreign, Fabolous, 42 Dugg, Coi Leray, Ty Dolla Sign, Latto, Lil Tjay, and Moneybagg Yo.
Who still runs the world? Girls! Beyonce makes a musical return with a new song from a movie soundtrack along with new soundtrack releases from Saweetie and Baby Tate while Summer Walker is breaking new heights with “Still Over It.” Beyonce, Saweetie, and Baby Tate Release Their Soundtrack Singles Queen B hasn’t released music in […]
When Saweetie’s “Get It Girl” was teased in a Beats By Dre ad earlier this month, many assumed it would be a part of her upcoming album. Well, the full song was shared today and it turns out that it’s actually appearing on the upcoming soundtrack album for the fifth and final season of Issa Rae’s HBO series Insecure.
Rae recently told Billboard of the important role music plays in the show, “From the beginning, music has played an integral part in Insecure. The music itself is a character — it’s a friend, it’s a familiar voice and that’s always been the intention. Music has a way of taking us back to a specific memory or moment in time and I think a lot of people can relate to that when they hear a song on the show. When it came to developing the final soundtrack, I knew [Insecure music supervisor Kier Lehman] and [Rae’s record label Raedio] could capture that feeling and leave our fans with something they can always return to, while also providing a platform for emerging artists to have their voices heard on an international scale.”
Benoni Tagoe, Raedio president and Rae’s longtime business partner, also noted, “Insecure and the Insecure soundtrack acts as a tool to break artists or at least introduce people to artists. [Rae has] told me there’s times when she may have picked a song, and she feels like if she watches a cut of Insecure and the song doesn’t fit, it really ruins it for her.”
These days, it seems being able to clap back at a hater on Twitter is as important a skill for a rapper to have as rapping is — especially for the multitalented women who have come to dominate the game in recent years. While one of those rappers, Saweetie, usually lets the peanut gallery’s comments breeze by her, the icy rapper had the perfect response to one doubtful Twitter troll, showing off a wider range of skills in the process.
After a fan account posted a snippet of her Amazon “Icy Season” special from earlier this week playing the piano before launching into a (holiday) spirited rendition of “Back To The Streets,” a commenter tried to rain on Saweetie’s parade. “I know damn well she wasn’t playing any damn piano,” they wrote. “Ole typewriting faceass.” However, Saweetie clearly had time today, spotting the negative comment and pouncing on the opportunity to not just shut up the troll but also to let followers know that her piano solo wasn’t just a one-off for the cameras.
In the video she posted, it looks like she’s simply noodling to get ready for the performance rather than playing the “Back To The Streets” intro or just rehearsing. She plays a mournful series of chords, proving that she actually has the chops for Chopin — even if she does sound a little bit rusty.
It wasn’t the first time she showed off her skills. Saweetie’s name was set to trending when Snowfall star Damson Idris posted an Instagram Story of his “piano lessons” from the multi-disciplined Bay Area rapper, sparking yet another dating rumor after she was forced to shoot down one involving Roddy Ricch.
You can watch Saweetie’s full performance for the Amazon special “Icy Season” here.
It may not be the full TV show I campaigned for last week, but Saweetie’s new Amazon special, “Icy Season,” is a perfect snapshot of exactly the qualities that make the Bay Area star so fascinating onscreen. In addition to putting the live band treatment on her fan-favorite hits — including a holiday remix of her breakout song “Icy Grl” — Saweetie shows off her upbeat personality, plays piano (with claws, no less!), and answers fan questions while sitting down with co-hosts Symone from Drag Race and Instagram comic Rickey Thompson.
She also debuts for the first time in a wide-share format the new song “Icy Chain” from her upcoming album Pretty Bitch Music. While she’s performed the song onstage a handful of times at recent festival appearances, this is the first time it’s been played during a widely accessible show. During the show, Saweetie and her co-hosts also promote the Calvin Klein brand, making the special a bit of a cross between a talk show, a variety show, and the Home Shopping Network.
While it’s unclear whether this is the event Saweetie teased would “unfold during the holidays,” she still has an SNL performance coming up later this month, so it’s possible that the official release date for PBM is still forthcoming.
Over this past weekend, when Saweetie tweeted that she wanted to have babies, the internet at large was amused by one response in particular. After Nick Cannon posted a string of emojis in the replies, fans couldn’t help reacting as a result of the television host’s reputation as a “certified baby maker.” With seven children among four different women, it seems like Nick Cannon is shooting all silver bullets at a rate that would put Steph Curry to shame.
Of course, the hilarity of the situation wasn’t lost on Cannon, who turned the trend into one of the subjects of his show, The Nick Cannon Show, in a segment called “What’s Poppin.” “I guess I was all over The Shade Room this weekend,” he said. “Again, I think I’m very much understood. Saweetie tweeted she wanted some babies and I just replied with some emojis. As an expert on babies, anybody who can speak emoji knows what that says.”
Cannon joked that what he really meant was “Take time for making such a big decision.” He then had some fun with the responses, throwing up tweets reading such missives as “Here comes Fertile Myrtle” and “The celibacy clock is ticking.” He made sure to clarify though, that no harm was intended with his comment. “It was all in fun,” he assured the audience. “No disrespect. If she’s ready to have kids, get to it queen. We rockin’ with ya.”
Maybe you saw the Squid Game meme floating around last week jokingly asking people to name five feature-less French Montana tracks. The Twitter trolls can cool their jets, because when French Montana releases They Got Amnesia, his fourth full-length album, on Friday, they’ll see that 10 of its 20 tracks have no featured guests. And while the Bronx rapper took it upon himself to respond, he doesn’t have anything to prove as a singular force.
That being said, the tracklist (below) for They Got Amnesia dropped today and the list of featured guests is eye-popping and shows how well-respected of a collaborator he is across the spectrum. In addition to the already released “Panicking” with Fivio Foreign, the album will feature appearances from Rick Ross, Doja Cat, Saweetie, John Legend, Pop Smoke, Drake, and a whole lot more.
They Got Amnesia is out 11/12 via Coke Boys, Bad Boy, Epic. Check out the full tracklist below and pre-order it here.
1. “ICU”
2. “How You King?”
3. “FWMGAB”
4. “I Don’t Really Care”
5. “Splash Brothers” (feat. Drake)
6. “Touch The Sky” (feat. John Legend & Rick Ross)
7. “Mopstick” (feat. Kodak Black)
8. “Stuck In The Jungle” (feat. Pop Smoke & Lil Durk)
9. “Panicking” (feat. Fivio Foreign)
10. “Handstand” (feat. Doja Cat & Saweetie)
11. “The Paper”
12. “Tonight Only”
13. “Didn’t Get Far” (feat. Fabolous)
14. “Business”
15. “Push Star” (feat. Coi Leray)
16. “Striptease” (feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Latto)
17. “Bag Season” (feat. Lil TJay)
18. “Prayer” (Skit)
19. “Appreciate Everything”
20. “Losing Weight”
Bonus: “FWMGAB Remix” (feat. Moneybagg Yo)
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Los Angeles isn’t exactly known as a hub for successful music festivals. Sure, there’s Coachella a solid two hours out of the city, but within the county lines (and neighboring Orange County), the reputation is a bit more scattershot. Events like FYF, Burgerama, and Beach Goth have all (rightfully) gone the way of the dodo after various levels of controversy, while fests like Made In America, Detour, and Festival Supreme couldn’t quite survive in the competitive atmosphere. Tyler The Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw is the class of the town, and its producer Goldenvoice has been further dabbling into more niche events in the area of late. These can make you feel old (the aughts indie-celebrating Just Like Heaven), make you feel really old (the ’80s nostalgia brandishing Cruel World), or, as over the past weekend, make you feel like a part of something bigger than yourself, at 88 Rising’s Head In The Clouds festival.
Head In The Clouds debuted as a single-day event in 2018 and 2019 at Los Angeles Historic State Park, drawing more than 20,000 fans and necessitating this more fully-realized version. The ethos is pretty simple yet crucial: a celebration of Asian music and culture, both from the Asian continent and from Asian-Americans. Speaking with the LA Times earlier this year, 88 Rising (and festival) founder Sean Miyashiro said, “We just want the best of Asian music, so we can invite anyone. The last two fests were scrappy but monumental for us. This one is literally the live interpretation of everything we stand for.”
The resulting festival felt like a revelation. For cultures that often note that they feel invisible within American society, which was only underscored by the Covid crisis that saw them the subject of violence and scorn, this couldn’t be more important, especially as the event highlighted the depth and breadth of their influence. This could feel hyperlocal, like the San Gabriel Valley homage that was the 626 Night Market, to ocean-spanning, like a massive set from K-pop legend CL. During her sunset performance, rap star Saweetie highlighted her own heritage (Black, Filipino, and Chinese) while also shining a spotlight on the “Asian kings and queens” in the audience. If the audience didn’t feel seen in their day-to-day lives, Head In The Clouds was sure that Asian people wouldn’t feel that way on the festival grounds.
Philip Cosores
It’s a concept that makes more sense as the music world becomes more global. Festivals highlighting music from Africa and Latin America are becoming more common, while micro-festivals around specific cultures are beginning to leave the shadows for the mainstream. Diversity in the major music festivals is also more common, where occurrences like Blackpink’s appearing at Coachella and J Balvin’s dominance of the festival circuit are paving the way for more like them in the future, with international music treated like less like a curiosity and more like a pillar of popular music.
The majority of the big acts at Head In The Clouds wouldn’t feel out of place at a Coachella of Lollapalooza, like Japanese Breakfast, whose “banger after banger” performance proved why Michelle Zauner is one more music’s most exciting personalities, and Saturday headliner Rich Brian, whose earnest bars come across even better live than they do on record. But for someone like CL, who despite a new album that saw a big Rolling Stone feature and an appearance on Lil Dickey’s Dave remains unknown to many outside of Asian circles, the festival provided an argument for why that needed to change asap. The training that went into her K-pop career as a member of 2NE1 was on display as she danced, sang, rapped, and gave her all in such a manner that should put all American pop stars on notice that they need to up their game, immediately.
Philip Cosores
Taking place just a day after the tragedy at Astroworld in Houston, there was a clear reaction from the festival, with waters being distributed at a frantic rate and security responding to calls for help with prompt and thorough assistance. But still, the events of the day before hung heavily on Head In The Clouds, and I imagine it will over festivals for a long time. But Head In The Clouds was a reminder that this kind of event can be so much more than the party atmosphere that many are reduced to. Festivals can be meaningful celebrations, and here’s to hoping that Head In The Clouds keeps growing and assuming its place as Los Angeles’ next great music festival.
Check out some more photos from the event below.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Saweetie
Philip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip Cosores
CL
Philip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip Cosores
Japanese Breakfast
Philip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip Cosores
Rich Brian
Philip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip CosoresPhilip Cosores
It was just this past summer that Nick Cannon cause the attention of social media and the entertainment world for the number of children he was seemingly having in a rather short amount of time. In June, model Alyssa Scott, the mother of Nick’s seventh child, revealed the birth of their baby boy Zen. Elsewhere, Cannon also had twin boys, Zion and Zillion, with Abby De La Rosa earlier this year, as that announcement came less than a week before Scott’s own. Furthermore, Cannon and Brittany Bell’s daughter Powerful Queen was born last December. In September, Cannon alluded to going celibate thanks to a conversation with his therapist, but he may break that rule for one individual.
Nick Cannon jokingly responds to a tweet from Saweetie where she said she wants to have babies.
Cannon recently made headlines for welcoming four children in the span of six months, then pledging to “take a break.” pic.twitter.com/2mmEsDvU1V
Saweetie expressed her desire to have children in a tweet, writing, “I want some babies.” Cannon caught wind of her message and responded with a group of emojis that included a hand-raising one, a thinking face, and a laughing emoji. It all seems to be a joke from Cannon as it produced some laughs on the timeline. Saweetie has yet to reply to Cannon’s tweet.
The interaction comes after Anitta and Sweetie joined forces to perform “Faking Love” on The Late Late Show With James Corden.
Check out a screenshot above.
Saweetie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
(@Saweetie) 
