Saweetie has newfound clarity on who she is as an artist. In a new interview on the “Podcrushed” podcast, she opened up about how the process of taking time out to discover more about herself was a driving force behind the decision not to rush the release of her debut album.

Fans of the Bay Area native have been anticipating a feature studio project since she blew up with the smash hit “My Type” in 2019. She followed up with the releases of popular tracks such as “Back to the Streets,” “Tap In,” and “Best Friend,” featuring Doja Cat, to name a few. In 2022, she rolled out a six-track EP titled The Single Life, promising supporters that her freshman album was on the way.

Multiple new songs have dropped amid the wait, like this year’s “Richtivities” and “SHOT O’ CLOCK,” as her debut project’s release has stalled. While speaking with podcast hosts “You” actor Penn Badgley and Nava Kavelin, Saweetie confirmed, “I’m still working on my album” and that the ever-moving goal post of a release date has been for good reason.

She explained, “I’m really happy that I’ve waited. At first, I didn’t know why I was waiting, and then I realized there was a moment where I needed to take my art more serious[ly]. But there’s a difference with wanting to take your art more serious[ly] and there’s a difference [in] knowing yourself better.”

Adding even more context to her understanding of how the latter informs the moves she makes with her music career, she continued to elaborate. “I guess because I wanted to take my art more serious[ly] I didn’t—at the time I was still trying to figure out who I was,” she said. “And I think that the mindset that I’m in now, she’s the woman who is ready to put out an album rather than the girl who was just green, not knowing what she was doing, and kind of naive when it comes to like the music industry when I first entered. I don’t think she was ready to put out an album. But I think the person I am now is ready.”

The long-teased album is tentatively titled Pretty B**ch Music, though the name is likely to change. When Saweetie spoke with REVOLT in March, she dished that Pretty B**ch Music has become more of a movement like the ICY GRL brand,” but that the working title remains “in the running, but [with] the music I’ve produced and written, a new title would fit the body of work.”

As for what listeners can expect to hear on the project, she told Badgley and Kavelin, “I’m singing a lot more, and what I love about my songs where I’m singing more [is that] I’ll play it for a group of people and they’ll be like, ‘Oh, who’s the feature?’ ‘Is it like a new singer?’ or like, ‘Who is that voice?’ And I’m like it’s mine.”

At least for the time being, fans get press play on her latest single, “My Best,” as well as her appearance on LL Cool J’s track “Proclivities,” from his forthcoming album The FORCE.

Check out more of Saweetie’s discussion on the “Podcrushed” podcast below.