Saweetie has just gotten off stage, where she twerked remarkably in a coordinating crochet short-suit that possibly only stayed in place by the grace of God. If that at all serves as an effective advertisement, you can purchase said crochet suit here. When I ask her how she came to pick this look, she replies, “As long as I can spread my legs without my panties showing, I’m straight.” She blinks after this statement to indicate her seriousness, and I understand she’s joking but also she maybe isn’t joking, and this is the magic that is Saweetie.

The 25-year-old rapper, appropriately born Diamonté Harper, rolls deep. She’s ushered to meet me amongst a full entourage of at least six. One of them is a photographer to capture any and every moment that might arise. I can barely find her in the sea of all the chaos but then again, she’s the only one glittering, several chains are hanging from her neck including the one that bears her signature phrase, “icy” — and she certainly is. She’s also the only one with diamond teeth. Pearly whites are so 2018. Saweetie’s already on the next wave, as you can probably guess she has been for her entire life. When I ask who everyone in her group is, Saweetie is quick to say, “My family. That’s why my entourage is like this. I love being around my family.” Having just watched her set where she shouted out her mother as a “Filipino queen” in her lyrics, I can’t help but be curious as to what, exactly, her family thinks of her lifestyle now. “They’re extremely happy,” she says earnestly. “I think what makes them be with it even more is when they see their friends and their friends' children and people on the streets listening to my music.” I imagine she has a pretty happy entourage now as she took the stage at the second day of Revolve Festival.

Revolve is the retailer that makes the barely-there stage outfit Saweetie is still rocking. Saweetie has just brought the house down (metaphorically, of course, since we are outside) at the eponymous festival put on by Revolve that rivals Coachella. In fact, just an hour later, Cardi B and Offset will take the stage there as well in a surprise impromptu performance. “I think I’m a pretty good stylist,” she says, admiring her own work. I’m curious if, besides the more logistical limitations, she has any other dressing philosophy. She doesn’t. So she was serious. I guess that’s the kind of confidence you need when you’re encouraging the world’s hottest models to let loose in the desert heat. “I would say this is my first real Coachella because I’m going to Coachella tonight. Last year, I came to the Revolve Party then left because I wasn’t feeling well. This is my first official year here. I made it out last year but I popped my cherry this year.” I try to hide my shock at her cherry popping comment but I’m not sure it’s successful. Now I know that Saweetie is messing with me, but the package that it comes in is so cute that it’s digestible. She throws me a bone by suddenly getting more serious. “I’m just excited to be around these beautiful people. I love seeing other artists, especially women artists. I haven’t had a chance to run into any, but I really love just watching the performances and learning, like, ‘Oh, that shit was tight’ or ‘Maybe I can apply this to my set.’ I’m such a sponge.”

I love her earnest energy. For lack of a better word, it’s sweet. Saweetie is young enough to still feel excited about small victories but mature enough to understand that this position in her career is critical. It’s not an easy time to succeed in music as a female rapper, and I don’t think that’s a position that she takes lightly. I ask her about the tiny female rap universe that she’s orbiting, a very delicate space dictated fully by heavy hitters and the press that amplifies drama between them. “I feel like the obstacles that we have to face is a little bit more than men, but with social media nowadays, we are able to rile up our own fans.” Well, depending on how you look at it social media is either the great evil or the great equalizer. For Saweetie, it’s a positive. “Instagram helped launch my career. I can’t front on that. Instagram and Twitter. I went viral a couple of times, and because of that, I was able to have my resume up there.”

Now it seems that Instagram is as much Saweetie’s resume as it is diary. She shares everything from her vacations to her hair transformations to her relationship with Migos member Quavo. She’s one half of one of the sexiest couples in hip-hop and she knows it, not that it should come as a surprise. She knows that her social media skills help her career. “They want to see if you got engagement, baby. I ain’t mad at it. It’s all about just being likable and having your own fans.” It must be a lot to handle, still, for anyone. Saweetie seems to take it all in stride. She is exceptionally positive, but that doesn’t mean she’s the same girl she’s always been.

“Girl, Los Angeles is a different type of glam. People got wigs. People got nails. People got everything. So I was like, ‘OK, I’m coming to the club with cargo pants and tank tops. I can’t be doing that no more.’ LA will kind of polish you. I wouldn’t say it changed me. It just kind of evolved me into a woman.” She says this while fingering her waist-length hair extensions with her acrylic nails and smiles with her diamond teeth. Evolved is kind of an understatement. She became an icon. Still, it doesn’t feel like the Saweetie on stage is that different from the Diamonté that birthed this superstar. In fact, it does seem like an evolution. Still, not everything in the present can be an improvement on the past. As it turns out, there is something that Saweetie reminiscences about from before: “I miss being able to do dumb shit. I miss just being carefree. I hate when I’m at a club and there’s just a whole bunch of cameras on me. I want to pick my booger sometimes, you feel me? There’s something in my nose sometimes. I gotta do it real smooth.”