India.Arie has criticised Yung Miami’s hit single “Spend Dat” as a negative cultural influence, urging listeners to “make wise choices” about the music they consume, according to complex.com.
The four-time Grammy winner, known for empowerment anthems including “Video” and “I Am Not My Hair,” weighed in on Tuesday via Threads.
She was responding to a Threads user who called for a boycott of the track, which reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. The post described the song, in which Yung Miami references scammers and resellers of stolen goods, as “degrading to our culture.”
“I spent my entire adult life caring way too much because I finally learned that not everybody cares (with a capital C),” India.Arie wrote. “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.”
When another user raised Yung Miami’s association with Bad Boy Records co-founder Diddy, currently imprisoned on two counts of violating the Mann Act, India.Arie said the “mass acceptance” of “Spend Dat” was a “crystal clear sign of this much bigger truth.” She added: “I finally realised that not everybody wants to get free.”
India.Arie, who has previously criticised other Black female entertainers including Megan Thee Stallion for sexually charged performances, later clarified she did not support an outright boycott. In a Substack video, she stated: “I want you to have an understanding of what’s good for you and to have the love for yourself to do it. But also, who cares what I want for you?”