R&B and soul musician India.Arie slammed Yung Miami’s viral hit “Spend Dat” as a negative influence on listeners.
The 4-time Grammy winner, known for empowerment anthems like "Video" and “I Am Not My Hair,” weighed in Tuesday after a Threads user shared their disgust with the song, which climbed up the Billboard Hot 100 this week at No. 25.
“I’m calling a boycott of Yung Miami’s song “Spend Dat,”” read the post. “I believe it’s degrading to our culture.”
In the potential song of the summer, Yung Miami shouts out scammers and boosters (a person who resells stolen items) and calls on money-makers to “spend that shit.”
Arie co-signed the post, writing, "I spent my entire adult life caring way too much because I finally learned that not everybody cares (with a capital C).”
"And explaining it to them is not going to make them care. Everything you listen to or eat is going to influence you. So, make wise choices, y'all,” she continued.
When another Threads user addressed Yung Miami’s character statement of Bad Boy Records co-founder Diddy, who’s currently in prison for two counts of violating the Mann Act, India replied that the “mass acceptance” of “Spend Dat” was a “crystal clear sign of this much bigger truth.”
"I finally realized that not everybody wants to get free. And it was a very, very, very rude awakening,” the artist wrote.
Arie, who’s criticized other Black female entertainers like Megan Thee Stallion for having sexually charged performances, later dispelled the allegation that she wanted “Spend Dat” to be boycotted.
“I want you to have an understanding of what’s good for you and to have the love for yourself to do it,” Arie said in a Substack video. “But also, who cares what I want for you? I know what I want for me and I do what is best for me.”
