Saweetie Pays Homage to Grace Jones, ‘The Inspiration Behind the NANi Cover’

Saweetie saluted Grace Jones on the icon’s 76th birthday Sunday (May 19), and thanked her for inspiring the cover art of the rapper’s newest single “NANi.”

“Happy birthday to THE ICON, Grace Jones,” she wrote on X. “thank you for the massive print you’ve made in fashion, culture & cuntiness. The inspiration behind the NANi cover.”

The pose Saweetie is striking on the “NANi” single artwork is directly inspired by the artwork for Jones’ 1985 greatest hits album Island Life, which features the almost-nude singer stretching her right arm forward, with a microphone in hand, and stretching her left arm backward, touching her right foot that’s extended upward while her left leg stands strong. But the impossible arabesque pose, captured by Jean-Paul Goude, is actually a montage of images of Jones striking different poses that were cut and pasted together. It also made Billboard‘s 100 Best Album Covers of All Time list at No. 27 last year.

The “Icy Girl” MC recreated the image for her “NANi” cover, but instead of holding a mic, she’s holding a lime-green hair dryer that’s blowing her bubblegum pink locks away. “we gon’ fkkk up the Summer,” she wrote last week while officially announcing “NANi.”

Earlier this month at the 2024 Gold Gala — where Saweetie received the first-ever Billboard Gold Music Honor during the event dedicated to recognizing the 100 most impactful Asian Pacific changemakers in culture and society over the past year — she told Billboard on the red carpet, “‘NANi’ is that girl. ‘NANi’ is main character energy.”