Ebro Responds To Saweetie Saying She Has PTSD From Hot 97 Freestyle Criticism

At the time, the rising rapper told Ebro to be hard on her when reviewing the verse.

Hip Hop can be a tough space. Some traditionalists are known to share brash opinions about the state of the culture and its current representatives. Whether it is viewed as constructive criticism or hate, gatekeepers’ thoughts still have influence.

Back in 2018, Saweetie stopped by New York City’s Hot 97 radio station to be a guest on the Ebro in the Morning show. The “Icy Grl” rapper spit a freestyle while on the program, but the hosts responded with mostly critical feedback.

Before she rapped on the spot, Ebro warned Saweetie that he is a very hard critic. She responded, “We just gonna do whatever we do, and if you like it, you like it, if you don’t then… [laughs].” After the freestyle, Ebro said if Sweetie were a man he would be harder on her. She told him, “Then be hard on me.”

Apparently, Saweetie felt Ebro Darden went too hard with his critiques. The 27-year-old High Maintenance EP creator discussed the experience at Hot 97 three years ago in a new cover story for Cosmopolitan magazine.

“It was a really dark point in my life. I went from being so loved so quickly because of ‘Icy Grl’ to, on my first promo run, well, you saw the interview. The script flipped really quick, like night and day. I was like, Wait…” stated Saweetie. “I had PTSD from that.”

The California-raised performer claiming criticism of the freestyle caused her to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder quickly spread across the internet. This morning, Ebro tweeted about the Saweetie story making the rounds online.

After a Twitter user asked him what would be talked about on today’s Ebro in the Morning, the 45-year-old radio veteran responded, “Apparently, having an opinion on her freestyle rap gave Saweetie PTSD…. should I feel bad?”

A few of Ebro’s tweets from the day before were also seen by some people as subtle responses to Saweetie’s Cosmo quote. Particularly, one Tuesday afternoon tweet that read, “Please don’t confuse success in the music business with being good at making music.”

However, the presenter for Apple Music’s Beats 1 later added, “I hate when that happens… I’m just tweeting listening to music and having discussions, then boom! My tweet is aligned with some other b####### I ain’t even know happened. Damn.”