‘BMF’: Why Saweetie Says Her Character Keeya Was Easy For Her To Relate To

Saweetie is bringing her acting chops back to the small screen in the new season of BMF, and for her, the role is art imitating life.

Saweetie plays Keeya, a former college athlete who becomes a love interest to Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory (Demetrius Flenory Jr.) in the Starz series. 

While one would think of her stepping into this role as peeling back the layers of her artistry, the Bay Area native said she felt at home in the role.

“I definitely was the girl who had a whole bunch of cousins, a whole bunch of uncles,” she said in an interview with Blavity. “I just feel like I tapped into my childhood to pull more essence of Keeya on camera. I definitely could relate to the character too because I grew up playing sports and being like the baby girl of the family, so I feel like I related to this character a lot.”

As a newcomer on the show, the emcee also reflected on her impressions of the Flenory family, especially as someone who grew up on the West Coast and wasn’t fully immersed in the BMF lifestyle that took over the Midwest, East Coast and Dirty South during the 2000s. 

“I don’t remember what my introduction is, but I do feel like it was just common knowledge,” she said. “I don’t remember it being introduced to me. I remember just knowing about them and knowing that they had definitely inserted themselves — not only in the streets but in rap culture — and how influential they were when it came to the fashion and flashiness of it all. And, you know, I love showing off, so I always enjoyed watching the videos that they had circulating because it was just super fly.”

Through her role in the show, Saweetie said she also learned a thing or two about the Flenory brothers and their family dynamic as a whole.

“I feel like a recurring thing is, no matter how much drama or trouble they get into, they always come back to each other because it’s always family first,” she said.

Saweetie had a similar upbringing in terms of coming from a close-knit family, and being able to tap into acting is a full-circle moment for her because she comes from quite the star-studded family as well, being cousins with Gabrielle Union and Zaytoven. 

She remembers helping her mother prepare for auditions as a child. Now she’s landing roles herself, and it’s something the 30-year-old doesn’t take lightly.

“She’s excited for me. I just remember her getting ready for her auditions, putting on her makeup, and me having the other sheets of paper in my hand, helping her memorize her lines. So it’s a full-circle moment because she was an aspiring actress in the early 2000s, so she’s just really proud of me,” she said. 

The new season of BMF airs each Friday, weekly on Starz.