Although Saweetie has a long list of famous relatives, she claims her success came completely from hard work and talent. On Wednesday (July 10) night, the “Tap In” hitmaker dropped by Lil Yachty’s “A Safe Place” podcast, where she was asked about her “interesting family tree.”

The West Coast rapper touched upon several of her more well-known familial connections, such as Gabrielle Union being her father’s cousin and former San Francisco 49ers player Willie Harper being her grandfather. However, she also gave details on some seldom-discussed facts.

“My uncles, we grew up in the same church as [Zaytoven] and his family, so we became family by [the Lord]. My dad was one of the bodyguards for MC Hammer, and MC Hammer — well, Uncle Stan — his family joined my grandmother’s church,” Saweetie explained. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see my grandfather play football because, by the time I was older, he had transitioned into being a pastor.”

She added, “I feel like the church is what brought a lot of our families together.” The California native later spoke about how many of her relatives didn’t even know she was a musician until records like “ICY GRL” and “My Type” began taking off.

“They had [come] up to me like, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you was doing music? If you need me, I’m here.’ So, no, [they didn’t help me]. I’ve always been really self-sufficient, but I know the help is there if I need it,” the artist explained.

Saweetie’s remarks about her family came weeks after a viral incident in which someone on Twitter accused her of being a “nepo baby.” She swiftly shut the claims down: “It spits in the face of the child who grew up barely spending time with her parents because they [were] too busy hustlin’ trying to make ends meet.”

On the music side, Saweetie launched “NANi” in May. Her previous singles of 2024 included “Richtivities” and “Khutti,” among others.