Saweetie has no qualms letting anyone know what she’s about. She’s tenacious and has little tolerance for anything, or anyone, that doesn’t get her closer to her goals. Within the first 30 seconds of her debut EP, she says as much: “Get into your bag, stay focused, and leave these bum-ass niggas alone,” the California rapper tells a member of the paparazzi on High Maintenance’s opening skit, offering a personal statement that doubles as a CliffsNotes preview of what’s ahead.
A native of the Bay Area who now lives in Los Angeles, Saweetie has documented her rap proficiency over the last year and a half by treating her Instagram followers to snappy video freestyles over beats like JAY-Z’s “Dead Presidents,” Iamsu!’s “By My Side,” and Migos’ “Bad and Boujee,” all recorded in her car. Her breakthrough 2017 single “ICY GRL,” a hookless stream of thought set to Khia’s X-rated classic “My Neck, My Back,” began the same way, and it remains a standout moment on High Maintenance. She reels off go-getter lines like “You tryna get a bag of weed/I’m tryna get a bag a week” and “Looking in the mirror, I thank God for what I’m about to be” with an unmistakable assuredness that gives the song a life apart from its source material.
The EP is built around that magnetic confidence, with verses that are concise enough to fit in a 30-second video, but injected with enough personality to last much longer. Her witty one-liners are perfect for fly captions, and her cheeky quotables are ready-made for nights when you’re feeling yourself or want to boss up on an ex. This is what hairflips would sound like if they made music.
For the most part, Saweetie’s lyrics strike a balance between relatable and aspirational, with her delivery setting a cooler, more restrained tone than those of many contemporary rappers. One exception comes on the brazen highlight “B.A.N.,” where Saweetie turns an old flame to ash with a fiery tirade. “Got your role models in my phone and they all wanna smash,” she raps, before adding the ultimate newly-single mood: “Ever since I cut you off, my skin glowin’ like Rihanna’s.”
More typical of the EP are “Good Good” and “23,” two playful tracks that share a flirty, insistent feel. The former is a demand for her love interest to pull up and stop playing games, backed by a whistling beat courtesy of the L.A.-based French producer CashMoneyAP, whose credits include Lil Skies’ “Nowadays” and YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s “Love Is Poison.” Saweetie is similarly shooting her shot on the latter, but her use of a more narrative form sets it apart from the rest of the album. The hook features a lyrical nod to Nas’ “Oochie Wally,” one of many homages to Saweetie’s late ’90s and early ’00s influences. Another comes on the title track, a brief verse-only affair based around Too $hort’s “Shake That Monkey” that harkens back to her days of rapping in her car and includes a Big Tymers call-back.
At only 22 minutes, High Maintenance is a low-stakes but gratifying listen, revealing plenty about Saweetie’s ambitions, but little about the person behind them. Even without taking many creative risks, it’s an effective introduction to her strengths. If “ICY GRL” was banking on the laws of attraction and a little bit of faith to make her glam-life dreams come to fruition, this EP shows she’s already come close enough to start celebrating.
