" It spits in the face of the child who grew up barely spending meter with her parents because they was too busybodied hustlin trying to make ends forgather . "
Saweetieis over the nepo baby accusations.
The California rapperSaweetie(real name Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper) blew up with 2017’s “Icy Grl” and the viral hits “My Type” and “Tap In,” all of which sampled early 2000s rap classics.
The “Best Friend” rapper has made a name for herself in the hip-hop genre, but when an X user began to question Saweetie’s rise to stardom, she had no choice but to chime in and set the record straight.
An X user praised Saweetie’s success,writing, “Finding out Saweetie wrote ‘Icy Girl’ when she was homeless as a manifestation song and it put her on the map to lead her fame and wealth»» ‘looking in the mirror I thank God for what I’m bout to be’ like 😭😭😭.”
While many shared their sentiment and credited Saweetie’s success, one X userhighlightedthe rapper’s lineage and suggested nepotism was involved. “Being homeless when your 1st cousin is Gabrielle union, your grandfather played for the 49ers as a Super Bowl winning linebacker, MC Hammer is your uncle, & zaytoven is your cousin is CRAZY …”
That’s right. Actor Gabrielle Union-Wade is hercousin. In a 2018tweet, Gabrielle wrote, “Yup. Her father and I are 1st cousins. Her grandma is my aunt Joanne Glass who I based Eva from ‘Deliver Us From Eva’ on.”
Gabrielle’s first cousin, aka Saweetie’s dad, is John Harper. His father was Willie Harper, who played for the San Francisco 49ers.
Saweetie’s mother is Trinidad Valentin, a former “Video Vixen” who appeared in music videos like Nelly’s “Ride Wit Me” and DMX’s “What They Really Want.”
Her uncle is MC Hammer (real name Stanley Kirk Burrell), and she revealed in aBillboardinterview that she grew up with the Burrell children. “Yeah, our family grew up with the Burrells. My cousin’s dad is MC Hammer, and another one of my cousins is Zaytoven. We all grew up together and it’s interesting to see how we turned out,” she told the publication.
Finally, the hip-hop producer Zaytoven is her cousin…sort of. In a 2023interview, he explained that while not directly related, they consider themselves cousins. “It really stems from her grandma… That’s the church I came up playing in,” he said. “You know, when you kind of grow up together, even though we’re not blood cousins, we’re family. We’re cousins for real.”
While the family connections are accurate, Saweetie took notice of the defamatory nepo baby statement andrespondedon her X account.
“I hate the ‘nepo baby’ narrative,” Saweetie wrote. “It spits in the face of the child who grew up barely spending time with her parents because they was too busy hustlin trying to make ends meet.”
“Also, I think saweetie the college girl would have had her ‘wealthy family’ pay for tuition and boarding so that she could enjoy the social experience of college instead of working 4 jobs to support herself,” she continued.
“Saying I’m privileged ignores the girl who risked her safety renting rooms off of Craigslist because she believed in herself enough to stay in an expensive city while everyone else was telling her to move home because that’s the safe and better ‘financial option.'”
“Can’t pay for studio time? No problem,” Saweetie added. “I made car rap videos which is how I got discovered. I’m proud of all the hard work I’ve done/accomplished and will continue to share my story to inspire those who come after me.”
Do you think the nepo baby argument is fair, or have people gone too far in judging celebrities’ careers based on their parents' careers or their cousin, twice removed, and their subtle connections?
