India Arie Didn't Say Anything Wrong...

Summary

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Curtiss King Reacts — "India Arie Didn't Say Anything Wrong..."

Podcast: Curtiss King Reacts
Host: Curtiss King
Release Date: July 6, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this highly engaged episode, Curtiss King dives deep into the recent controversy sparked by India Arie’s comments surrounding viral rap song “Spin That” by Young Miami. The episode examines generational divides in Black music, responsibility in artistry, social media outrage, and the ongoing debate over the psychological and cultural influence of popular songs. Curtiss defends India Arie’s perspective, critiques the backlash from hip-hop contemporaries, and explores broader conversations about representation and free speech in music.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Background: The "Spin That" Controversy (00:00–04:30)

• Curtiss King sets the stage: The episode opens with summary of the debate around Young Miami’s viral song “Spin That” and the culture war it prompted on social media.
  • A now-deleted Threads post called for a boycott, labeling the song as “degrading” to Black culture.
  • India Arie entered the fray, making nuanced remarks about the influence of media on values, which social media misconstrued as a call for boycott.

India Arie’s Actual Comments:

• “I spent my entire adult life caring way too much because I finally learned that not everyone cares with a capital C. And explaining it to them is not going to make them care. Everything you listen to, see or eat is going to influence you. So make wise choices, y’all.” (~02:00)

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2. Media Distortion and Outrage Culture (04:30–07:00)

• Curtiss highlights how India Arie’s measured personal commentary was spun into something much more polemic by social media and blogs.
• The host laments how quickly non-controversial views get turned into internet pile-ons, often led by prominent older male rappers who responded with personal insults rather than engaging her actual words.

3. Generational Tensions and Reactions from Hip Hop Elders (07:08–15:57)

• Trick Daddy’s Response (07:14–10:18): The rapper lashes out with ageist and misogynistic commentary, dismissing criticism as jealousy and body-shaming women questioning the song.
  • Curtiss: “You want Young Miami's right to say whatever she wants…but when somebody is not agreeing, we want to just throw that out of the room because of your age and your looks...That logic just doesn't make any sense.”
• Uncle Luke’s Take (12:11–15:43): More measured but still dismissive, Uncle Luke argues that music like Jill Scott or India Arie would make the world “boring,” and complains that “Afrocentric type people” always want others to make the same kind of music.
  • Uncle Luke: “If everybody lives in the world of Jill Scott…we would be bored as f—.” (12:37)
  • Curtiss interprets this as an unwillingness to reflect on deeper, empowering messages in music: “The kind of content made to empower you or made to look below the escapism of certain other music is labeled as boring…what’s going on?”

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4. Song Authorship and Representation (21:31–23:32)

• Curtiss points out an irony in “Spin That”: although the anthem is delivered by a woman, the majority of credited writers are Black men.
  • Curtiss: “Speaking from the perspective of a woman, I'll just say this as a man, I wouldn't want a woman to speak from my perspective…Not that you couldn't understand it, but I just don't want you to explain it for me.”

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5. Industry and Social Media: Algorithmic Virality & Tech’s Influence (45:47–48:48)

• Curtiss probes whether tech companies like TikTok purposefully amplify, suppress, or “heat up” (make viral) certain types of content for financial, cultural, or political purposes.
  • “What’s to stop one of these tech companies…from making narratives go viral, also shadow banning certain narratives?...Could there also be some selective heating on what a hit song is?”
• He frames the debate as not just cultural but technological, suggesting who controls virality shapes broader narratives about Blackness.

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6. Music, Mantras, and Psychological Impact (32:05–42:52; 66:05–78:00)

• Curtiss draws on psychological theories: “mere exposure effect,” “priming,” “narrative clustering,” and “cultivation theory” to explain that constantly repeated musical ideas and mantras become subconscious truths for listeners and can unintentionally shape behaviors or reinforce stereotypes.
• Music’s first-person nature (as opposed to movies’ third-person fiction) strengthens the link between listener and content.
  • Curtiss: “Music delivers that repetition harder than any other medium because of hooks and choruses…You're inside the statement, not watching it happen to someone else.”
  • “Music delivers that repetition harder than any other medium…The brain confuses familiar with true.”

India Arie on Music’s Energy:

• “Everything has a frequency…music is pure frequency…it is sound frequency. And when you put sound together with words and it's rhythmic, you get inside of people's subconscious mind.” (68:05–68:38)

• Notable example: Curtiss recalls memorizing 1980s gum jingles as a child—those mantras stick with us just like song lyrics.

  • India Arie: “That's the power of a song…It has power over you, over us.” (75:40–76:22)

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7. Accountability, Artist Responsibility, and Free Speech

• Curtiss distinguishes between outright censorship and the need for balance in the musical landscape.
  • “I'm not even looking at censorship. I'm looking at just make it an even playing field. It shouldn't be…the most criminal of imagery, the most salacious of imagery. That shouldn't be the only thing. There should be a balance because we're not monolithic, especially as Black folks.”
• He highlights how artists (like 21 Savage) often dodge responsibility, bragging about influence when beneficial, but dismissing negative impacts as not their problem.
  • “If you can influence people to do positive things, why…can you not influence them to do the opposite?” (58:49–58:50)
  • “[On music]…if it can heal, then music can harm too.” (Quoting Kerry Hilson, 63:16)

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8. Reality vs. Representation: Real-World Impact (53:45–57:23)

• Curtiss and guest Nikki Gilbert discuss how songs about “boosting” or “scamming” reflect not just fantasy but sometimes real-life consequences—highlighted by stories of Young Miami’s own mother’s legal history and news of fans engaging in theft mirroring song lyrics.
  • Nikki Gilbert: “To the young, impressionable young women…many…have had issues with boosting and stealing…weren’t able to be present as parents because they were locked up for boosting and scamming. And now we got a record that has taken off.” (50:01)

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9. India Arie Clarifies Her Intent (66:05–78:08)

• Arie addresses the backlash directly: She affirms she did not call for a boycott, instead emphasizing personal accountability and advocating wise consumption.
  • “I did not call for a boycott. I commented on someone's thread who was calling for a boycott…I think people should learn how to do what’s best for them.”
• Arie: “I’m not here to convince anybody of anything anymore…I'm here to emanate what I emanate and share my philosophy. And whoever it resonates with, great. And whoever it doesn’t, that's okay too.” (67:20-67:48)
• She emphasizes the spiritual and programming power of music, likening songs to food: some nourish, some don’t, but all affect us.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Curtiss King (on generational shifts):

  • “Hip hop has a way of compressing age…ages sometimes get blurred based upon points of views…If this person wasn’t famous and accomplished, I would look at you as a loser.” (15:43–15:57)

• Curtiss King (on the dangers of narrow representation):

  • “A single song repeated enough quietly becomes someone’s mental encyclopedia entry for what an entire community is.”

• India Arie (on the impact of music):

  • “If it’s just a song and it’s not influential, why is it in commercials to sell products?” (73:23)
  • "It's not just a song. No song is just a song. It is a frequency."

• Kerry Hilson (quoted by Curtiss):

  • “If music can heal, then music can harm too.” (63:16)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment Description | |------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–04:30| Introduction, context, India Arie’s actual comments | | 07:08–10:18| Trick Daddy’s response and Curtiss’s critique | | 12:11–15:43| Uncle Luke’s take—“If all music was India Arie, we’d be bored” | | 21:31–23:32| The contradiction of male writers shaping a woman’s viral anthem | | 32:05–42:52| Music’s psychological effect—mantras, repetition, and “mere exposure effect” | | 50:01 | Nikki Gilbert on real-world impact of music and harmful behaviors | | 53:45 | Young Miami’s familial reality and commentary on art imitating life | | 58:49 | Artist responsibility: can't claim influence only when it’s positive | | 63:16 | Kerry Hilson: “If music can heal, then music can harm too.” | | 66:05–78:08| India Arie’s Substack video, directly clarifying her stance | | 68:05–68:38| Arie on music as “pure frequency”—power over subconscious | | 73:23 | Arie: “If it’s just a song and it’s not influential, why is it in commercials?” | | 75:40 | Arie: “That is the power of a song…” | | 78:00–end | Curtiss reflects on the importance of these conversations and preserving both art and critique|

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Episode Tone & Takeaway

The episode is earnest, thoughtful, and occasionally humorous but never trivial. Curtiss King combines honest personal reflection, cultural critique, and respectful defense of “Auntie” India Arie. The message: Conversations about representation, influence, and intent in popular music matter—and both artists and listeners benefit from engaging with them honestly, not defensively.

Curtiss’ Final Word:
“We live in a scamming and boosting society…it’s just that we’re only reserving these conversations for folks that look like you and I. And that’s unfair.” (82:38)

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This summary covers all key discussion points, highlights memorable quotes, attributes speakers, and includes timestamps for important moments. It is intended as a standalone, detailed guide to the episode for listeners and non-listeners alike.

Transcript

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Curtis Ki Wire Diyers. Oh, man. This has been on my radar all week long. So obviously we spoke about Young Miami's success of her song Spin that and how viral it's been going and how so many people have called it even possibly Song of the Summer. I even did a video that you should check out up here above that covers another young artist with a positive message named Young Rado and contrasting it with the viral video that was playing spitting that in the background. With that said, somehow we got India Ari now involved in the conversation around the song. And it's got a lot of people talking. It's got me. It's got me pissed off at a lot of y' all for coming for Auntie India Reba. Let's get to it. So someone posted on, on threads an account named Mrs. M.J. ted LA I believe it is a now deleted post. She said this about the song. Right? And we're going to talk about the song in there in a whole lot more details. I'm. I'm calling for a boycott of Young Miami song Spin that now. Mind you, this is the Threads poster. This is not India Ari. I believe it's degrading to our culture. At some point we have to take seriously the power music has over our perception and the values it reinforces. This can't be Song of the Summer. So obviously she feels very strongly about these type of images being projected out there and then representing us as black folks. Here's what folks put their focus on though. The Legend. 10 million sales for Grammys. The Legend a a a staple of the Neo Soul era. India Ari, who I've had the pleasure of seeing live. She's so amazing live. I spent my entire adult life caring. Way too much is what she said. Because I finally learned that not everyone cares with a capital C. And explaining it to them is not going to make them care. Everything you listen to, see or eat is going to influence you. So make wise choices, y'.

[Nikki Gilbert]

All.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

First of all, I give it a button for this one.

[Unidentified Interjector]

Somebody gonna have to tell the truth and I'm gonna tell it.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I want you to keep in mind as I show you a mix of the reactions that the Internet had for her saying this. This is all she said. She had a response to the, to the criticism. But this is what has gotten everybody so wrapped up in, in their emotions that you got 50 and 60 year old rappers insulting her. I only share their age, not to shame them, but to remind you, these are still 60 and 50 year old adult men who are Saying these things. It's been some nasty reactions to this, but she said, I spent my entire adult life which over the last 20 years plus she has been in defense of doing as her music has always done, which is projected positive black images and reinforced images. She existed at a time where there was a balance. You could have a song like video or Brown Skin by India Ari and then you could also have a song by Blue Cantrell called Hit Him Up Style where she's talking about taking her man's credit card cuz he cheated and spitting, spinning and making unauthorized transactions. She lived in a time where balance existed. So I, I, of course her perspective is going to be a bit different in terms of the expectations. It just seems we live in a time now where the negative seems to have a lot more air time and a lot more conversation in terms of hit songs and mainstream conversations. She said, I spent my entire adult life caring way too much because I finally learned that not every, I finally learned that not everybody cares.

[Unidentified Interjector]

I.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

All she's doing is talking about her own growth in the process, right? Like I, I tried to help as many people as I could. She's called out folks like Meg the Stallion and Janelle Monae when she saw displays on the stage. I believe it BET awards or essence. I think it was an ESSENCE fest that she didn't agree with. She made commentary on it. She, I don't think she was judgmental. I think she was fair in her assessment. She says, from my point of view as an elder in this game, these images are loaded. The, the, the, the way that you represent yourself has an effect on young, impressionable minds and just minds in general. She then ends that off with saying, explaining it to them who don't care, I guess, is not gonna make them care. Everything you listen to, see or eat is going to influence you. So make wise choices, y'.

[Dre O]

All.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

She's just saying to make wise choices. She's not joining in on the boycott that I believe, you know, was presented here. She's just saying make wise choices. But you know how the Internet is. The Internet is not really concerned about the facts. They're concerned about emotions. Clicks. Before we get into some of those reactions, let me remind you of sort of the nature of this song spin that if you haven't heard. I don't want to use this video to villainize young Miami and even the explicit music category, especially as an artist and producer myself, because these conversations have always existed. Even be even predates hip hop conversations, right? But this is the course and it is a bit different in my opinion, for a few different reasons. She says, where are my scamming ass at? Where I'm on scamming ass at? Spinning that money fast. 20s, 50s, hundreds, cash. Boy getting that goyard bag boosting. Where y' all at? Stuffing that in y' all bag just to flip it and pop some tags. Girl, get in y' all go yard bag. Yes, you'd be accurate if you. If you painted this as a. As a song that is celebrating scamming and boosting take from that what you will. But I think that's what people are hearing that are the most critical of it. They're hearing the chorus and they're. They're saying, are these the type of images that you want to have projected out there? Before we get into some more detail about that, let's start with some folks because y' all Miami is from. Obviously from Miami. So although I understand why some of these elders that you're going to hear from, like Trick Daddy and Uncle Luke, I understand why they would come to her defense. I mean, as somebody from where you're from who's doing something successful, you know, especially when she's part of City Girls and now she's doing things successfully solo, I understand the defense, but I don't understand the. The expressions in this. In their defense, listen to what Trick Daddy had to say.

[Dre O]

And you.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

You let me know if it feels imbalanced compared to what we just heard from India. Ari.

[Trick Daddy]

That's why I would not stick my dick in one. You old shout out to the.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

All right.

[Trick Daddy]

The home girl young Miami got the hottest record on radio streets, video, social, all social media platforms. Apple Music, Spotify, all that YouTube. The finest little in the game, right?

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

This just named off all the. All the DSPs. I feel like when somebody do that, they trying to figure out what their point is. He just. He just run. He just listen them off now.

[Trick Daddy]

And everybody is jamming this record except a few old centric hoes.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Centric.

[Trick Daddy]

Let me tell you old something. That's why I don't with you old hoes right now. That's why I would not stick my dick in one of you old ass hoes. Cause you hoes is too modern and too plain outdated ass the game to pass you hoes by. Do you think y' all Miami give a about you don't like her record? You. You take our time to go on social media. The down talker girl. We've been talking negativity in every music all. Every song since before I Even started doing music. And I've been doing a three. 30 years. How about you?

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I think that's about enough. So let me remind you, trick Daddy is 56, if I'm not mistaken. And I don't say that to say that everybody should have a certain way that you are to act, especially coming out the entertainment field, because I think there's a lot of artists who made their success in their 20s and 30s off of having a raunchy, explicit type of content, and they feel like they have to uphold that reputation for the rest of their lives. Even as their own financial lives, their own family dynamics start to mature and. And evolve, they feel like they have a responsibility to be whatever that name is. If it's Trick Daddy, well, I gotta be Trick Daddy until the end. So when I see this, I. That's the first thing I think about. Second thing I think about is it's. It is disappointing. It is disappointing that in the same breath that you hear somebody defending young Miami's right to say whatever her reality is in her, in which she's writing whatever she wants to express, she should be able to express she's having a successful moment. What I don't agree with is the immediate accusation that it's somehow jealousy. What I don't agree with is is. Is the need to insult someone because they're merely expressing the same free rights, the free speech, fourth of July, the same free speech that you're defending for young Miami. I mean, am I wrong? You want young Miami's right to say whatever she wants to say, but when somebody is not agreeing with that, we want to just throw that out of the room because of your age and your looks and you being centric.

[Trick Daddy]

I.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

That logic just doesn't make any sense. Let me see what else we got here. Priceline negotiator. It's me, the Priceline negotiator.

[India Ari]

We don't need the jingle twice.

[Unidentified Interjector]

What about a third time?

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Stop it. This is about vacation inflation and how Priceline negotiates amazing deals on hotels, flights, and rental cars. Seems like you decided. Yeah, but I didn't mention that you can save up to 60% off hotels

[India Ari]

in the Priceline app.

[Unidentified Interjector]

Time to be the tagline.

[Commercial Narrator]

Fine.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

No one deals more deals than. Please stop. Touche.

[India Ari]

Priceline. Priceline.

[Trick Daddy]

You say something about me? Leave that little young lady alone. Because if you see how pretty she is, you don't look like her. So it giving me. It giving me hate a little bit. You see how fine she is? You ain't shaped like her. You all shaped like me. If you.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

It's unfortunate to see what feels like grown ass men performing for kids are younger versions of themselves. Or they may genuinely feel like that. I listen to that and I'm like that statement that we just broke down from India readers. I feel like a statement that deserves that kind of visceral, that kind of disrespect body shaming. It feels like there's even some, some colorism coded into that. It's. It's nasty because it's like, did she say something? What did you read in. What did you see? What did you want? You know, because sometimes Twitter got interpretations. They got translations from different languages. What did your language see when you read that? Well, he's not the only one. Like I said, another resident of Florida, the legendary Uncle Luke, who he himself has gone to war with the government over free, free, free speech. This is what he had to say. It's not as. It's not as extreme, but it's still concerning.

[Uncle Luke]

If everybody lives in the world of Jill Scott and all music was Juice, God and India, Irene.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

What did Jill Scott got to do with this? So we just clumping. So we gonna clump them together. What are we doing? What are we doing? What are we doing?

[Uncle Luke]

We would be bored as it's just literally.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Hold on, hold on, hold on. He just said it. He just said it. He just said the B word. And not, not, not, not. He said the B word. He said the B word. And I'm starting to notice there's a generation that is. That is beyond. I'm 41. There's a generation that is before me that is still involved in hip hop who love this B word. Let me see if you can hear it.

[Uncle Luke]

Everybody lives in the world of Jill Scott and all music was Juice, God and India, Irene and Afrocentric.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

We would be bored as he said it. He said it. Bored.

[Unidentified Interjector]

Somebody gonna have to tell the truth and I'm gonna tell it.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Isn't that interesting? Like, I know this is not the point of this video, but isn't that interesting? Anybody else pick up that the criticisms of anything that, that, that. That are not even demanding change in other people, but are putting a mirror up to people. The kind of content like when I think about. Excuse me. So let me finish that thought. The kind of content that is made to empower you are made to look below the escapism of certain other music is labeled as boring. And I keep seeing the same age group saying it. I'm sure there are younger listeners who feel the Same way, maybe even younger artists. But a lot of the younger artists that I see coming up are mirroring the same type of depth that they're calling boring. What's going on? I mean, that same generation said when Drake dropped, all of that was gonna be gone. But three, about three albums later, I guess it's still boring out here. What y' all be doing for fun?

[Uncle Luke]

It's just lyrics. So when this girl, India, Ira, or whoever the hell it is, these. Listen, I have no problem with these. These Afrocentric type people.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Wow.

[Uncle Luke]

But they're always jumping into the conversation of wanting art to be created like they are.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I can't stand all of these Republicans. Are these Democrats always getting in the conversation of politics? It's like they believe the. That they be rapping and singing about. What's that about?

[Unidentified Interjector]

Somebody gonna have to tell the truth, and I'm gonna tell it.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I don't know how you would expect. Yeah, you just said it. Tight people, the Afrocentric type people. The same people that are known

[India Ari (additional comments)]

for

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

reflecting upon their environment, reflecting upon perspectives that go deeper than the surface, looking at the state of affairs, the state of society, the state of our people, the state of music. Known for putting that and embedding into their music. You think they would stay silent when they see something that the aggressively disagree with, that's reserved for escapism. Not this.

[Uncle Luke]

Everybody lives in the world of Jill Scott and all music was Juice, God and India, Irene and Afrocentric.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

We would be bored as we 65 years old, we. And he's entitled to that opinion no matter what his age. And I don't want to keep harping on the age, but I do want to make a reminder is that hip hop has a way of compressing age.

[Trick Daddy]

Right.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

If you make something raunchy enough, there's a generation I'd be like, hey, Unc is funny as hell. He cool with me. There's. There exists a space where you could have an artist in hip hop as young as a young rattle who's like, I believe, like 13, 14 years old. And in the same hip hop space, you could have content being circulated from an Uncle Luke at 65 or even a Charleston White. And whatever age that he's in, it, everything gets compressed. And because of that, ages sometimes get blurred based upon points of views. And there's certain points of views that sometimes I think the. The audience forgets about. When you realize, if this person wasn't famous and accomplished, I would look at you as a loser. I would flat out look at you as a Loser. I will look at you as somebody who's living their second childhood. If you didn't have that money, if you didn't have those accolades, I will look at you as somebody that. I ain't about to be around you. I don't want to be influenced by that. There ain't. I'm likely we're going to clash on some because I feel like you trying to live a second childhood or a midlife crisis. So that's how I'm interpreted. I don't think that I'm coming from the perspective of. Of grandstanding or overly righteous, but I just look at it like, if this was a family member, I'd be like, yeah, that's my family and I love them. But I'm tripping. That used to be what uncle was. At least for my generation, it was the person that is too far removed from looking in the mirror. They don't realize that the joke is no longer. We're not laughing with you. We're laughing at you. Give me that ball. Give me that ball. Let me show you what movie. Let me show you something. Let me show you something like I used to do on my.

[Uncle Luke]

I'm sorry. I love the music. I appreciate it.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Well, that was the point of that. We can keep on moving, but this whole idea is that it is boring, brother. I'm starting here because I started to see patterns and I gotta make sure I pick up when I see them. Another gentleman that is involved in this conversation is the producer of Young Miami Spin that. And like I said, this is not about demonizing one song. Anybody who walks away from that. You have not listened to anything that I said. But there's. This is about seeing some of the reactions that are tied into such a song. Young Miami Spin that producer, Jay White. Jay White did it. I guess he goes by Teases a remix using India Ari's video song. Mind you, it's all in reaction to that statement that I showed you here before. Yeah, take this out. I. I feel insecurity. I see insecurity all throughout this. I. I did this.

[Uncle Luke]

The.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

The. The. The lines have been blurred between trolling and straight up insecurity. This is lame as fuck. As a producer to producer, this is lame as fuck. This is. This is lame. Matter of fact, I would even go as far as to say if that statement where she said, hey, just use more care, stay aware. Critical thinking, too. If you. If you partake prompted this, then you felt something. Oh, you felt something. So if you don't know, they mashed up Together a famous song by India Ari where she says in the chorus, it's a shame we don't get songs like this anymore. I'm not at least in the mainstream, I should say. I'm not the average girl from your video. And I ain't built like a supermodel, But I learned to love myself unconditionally because I am a queen. I'm not the average girl from your video. My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes. No matter what I'm wearing, I will always be India Ari. And they chose to mash that up with where all my. Let me get the words right. Where are my scamming ass at? Spending that money fast boosting. Where y' all at? They chose to mash that up together. I think that the reaction of majority men in the room who are doing that doesn't feel like leadership. It feels like I. I know I. I know I did something, and I understand what you represent. It's less about India Ari and it's more so about. I'm sure. And one of these gentlemen have an older black woman in their life that will listen to that and be like, I don't agree with that, nephew.

[India Ari]

I don't.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I. Nah, I'm happy for your success, but I don't agree with that. And I think that India Ari cut deep because she didn't use disrespect. I think she used a little bit too much truth. But that's the clip. I don't care. I don't care. That lame as. I don't care how aggressive somebody would react to that. That's lame. As if that reaction warranted. That's lame. That's lame behavior. Lame behavior. I thought this is also interesting, though, and I think this points to an issue that I have in terms of. I don't want to make this a gender war conversation, but I do think it is important that we here, the writers of Spin, that the song that is song of the summer viral song. A really great moment right now for young Miami, the writers on spin that are majority black men.

[Unidentified Interjector]

Somebody going to have to tell the truth, and I'm going to tell it.

[Zip with the Drip]

Men.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Speaking from the perspective of a woman, I'll just say this as a man, I wouldn't want a woman to speak from my perspective. There are too many. There's too many nuances. There's too many conversations that I feel like. Not that you couldn't understand it, but I just don't want you to explain it for me. There's a word for that on the inverse of that, which is mansplaining. And I completely understand that because I myself don't want somebody to explain. I don't want somebody who never had balls to explain what it feels like to get kicked in the balls. I had that conversation with my wife. She's like, is it like getting punched in a titty? I don't know. I never had one. Never had to. So I don't know. So I can't be the one to properly, properly represent that conversation. This is not a new thing, by the way. Right. Like, men have always had a place in writing and songwriting for women. And amazing songs have been written. Co Written. Right. But I do think it's really interesting in this situation that you look at the writers on here. Of course, Karisha is young Miami. Jay White did it. Akil was a writer on here. Maurice Anthony, Ronnie Wright, McKenzie. Like, there's a lot of other writers on a song that is not a whole lot of depth to it in terms of, like, what it presents itself as. But there's a lot of men in here that I don't know the contribution because I wasn't in the studio. There's a lot of men in here who are telling a story and. And maybe perhaps just for a second, I would wonder, could the same men that are in this video right here realize why that message may fall upon critical ears when it comes to women who weren't in that writing session who don't agree with the way that they're interpreting how they write for a woman? You know what I mean? Like, that just. That's not clicking. Huh? Interesting. Thought that was interesting. Here's some of the Twitter reactions I also saw. Because, you know, there's people who are obviously coming to the support of India Ari, but there's also some people who are questioning whether or not she's singling out this song. Jaguar says India Ari only comes for women because she knows.

[Nikki Gilbert]

Oops.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Because she knows. Men in this industry would call her irrelevant, old and ugly. Their thing about it, though, young Miami is low down enough to do it. And give and give. 0F's. She better tread lightly. We saw that already with. With Trick Daddy in the way that he responded. But I don't think that she came for anybody. I think once again, these are. There's so many perspectives that are mirroring this, but she didn't say nothing. Matter of fact, this is another statement that she said. I guess in that same thread, she said the mass acceptance of this song itself is crystal clear sign Of a bigger problem. I finally realized that not everybody wants to get free, and it was very rude awakening.

[Unidentified Interjector]

Hold on.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I agree, first of all, But I still don't see what inside this statement, any of these statements, would cause somebody to want to be so angry about their disagreement with it. I don't see where the anger is coming from for an India Ari for saying these things. Is it because it's true? That's the only thing that I could think of. I don't see the violence in this. It says the mass acceptance of this song, meaning the way that the masses are gravitating towards the song. A song is not just a hit song because we as black folks listen to it. It's because white folks, Asians, and I'm saying all kind of different backgrounds are listening to us in native Indians. Everybody listening to the damn song. It's. It's crossing over into different segments of the population. That's what a hit song is. So when she says the mass acceptance of this song is a clear, crystal clear sign of a bigger problem, could that be the massive acceptance of the idea that. Yeah, scammers, boosters black folks, that checks out? Not that we're thinking that way, but the fact that those images being projected all around, could that be part of the reason why people are gravitating towards it? Finally, a song that's speaking to the honesty of what I see black folks to be. Oh, then she ends this off by saying, I finally realized that not everybody wants to get free. And it was a very rude awakening. Although the arguments are being made that these songs are reflection of a reality, that does it. It does exist. If you take these songs away, it does not take away the crimes. It does not take away the. The.

[Zip with the Drip]

The.

[Unidentified Interjector]

The.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

The reality. Although there's an argument for that. Here we are having the same arguments 10 years, 10 years at a time. Years after years after years. At some point, even in these environments, especially as in any environments, there's awakenings. There are people who say, I see my lineage and I see what they dealt with. And matter of fact, I think it's part of the reason why you see this next generation is not consuming as much alcohol. They're probably replacing that with more weed and more screens and pornography and all that other stuff. But we all got our vices. But I do feel like there is. It happens every generation where somebody attempts to make their attempt at breaking curses. So when you see that, you realize, why are these conversations constantly reappearing? Why are these songs constantly reappearing? And why are they being massively pushed? I got a theory for that, but we'll get to that in just a second. Here's another perspective I thought was interesting, Rose. The artist said the country is literally falling apart in real time and people chose rap music as the thing to boycott. Inflation is real. Housing is unaffordable. Health care is broken. Food, food's expensive. As f has higher than the ceiling. Has higher than the ceiling. But yes, let's focus on rap music. This person follows up here. Kanuri says you do know most of today's rap music is used as a mass distraction tactic in songs with mindless, hedonistic lyrics. Is part of that social engineering to dumb down the masses, steering the public into lawless and immoral behavior. Right. Great points. Great points all around. Although I understand this person, Rose, the artist is saying there are bigger fish to fry. There's always bigger fish to fry than the contents of a song. Knowing especially that there's explicit songs that get released all the time. Majority by. By men in hip hop. Toxic songs that always get recycled. Anyways. I think what makes this song different though is the style in which that chorus is written. It's. It's a call. It's a call to action. Where all my scamming ass at, where I'm out boosting ass at. Like it's, it's, it's, it's. It's a mantra for that lifestyle. It can be argued that it's a mantra for that lifestyle. And the thing about it is, no matter if it's positive or negative, if you repeat mantras, they start to become a part of your psyche. We'll have that conversation in just a second. So. But I think that the, the. You can't ignore what we spend the majority of our time with. Which leads me to this point. Ah, man, I try not to cover anything by Rory and Maul, but this, this was too good. This was too good. This was too good. Because it comes back to an age old conversation about, well, why do y' all single out rap music and not movies and video games? Listen to this conversation with Maul and Zip with the Drip reacting to R B and soul musician Indy Mari's criticism of Young Miami's song Spin that India.

[Zip with the Drip]

I already hopped on Threads and commented about Young Miami's spin. That commentator said people should boycott the single.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

He couldn't help himself. I think that's also something that's interesting too. It's like for me, I. And I'm just one. One perspective as a man. I Didn't really ever get into the whole city girls movement. Young Miami was never somebody that I'm like, yo, she dropped. Oh, yeah, let me get to that. It's just. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not. I'm not the.

[Trick Daddy]

The. The. The audience.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

She's reaching, right? I'm not the listener that she's going after. I'm not even in the age group. I would assume for the listener she's going after. She not going after folks that are die hard hip hop fan. I don't think she's going after me. So as a man, I would be like, oh, that's, you know, it's. It's certain ladies.

[Unidentified Interjector]

I just.

[Trick Daddy]

Let's.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

That's what they love to go party and listen to. It just. It. It fits the.

[Unidentified Interjector]

The, the.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

The aesthetics. This is a song that I'm seeing a whole lot more dudes dancing and singing with their tongue out. This is interesting, brother.

[Zip with the Drip]

India says, what did she say?

[India Ari]

I'm calling for a boycott. Young Miami song spin that I believe it's degrading to our culture.

[Zip with the Drip]

India didn't say this.

[Unidentified Interjector]

Oh, no.

[Zip with the Drip]

So commenter said she was calling for a boycott. And then India commented, 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, everything you listen to see.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Oh, my God. Him struggling through this read is exactly why we need more comment.

[Commercial Narrator]

This episode is supported by FX's the Shards, a seductive drama from executive producer Ryan Murphy. Set in 1980s Los Angeles, the series follows a group of glamorous, deeply entangled high school seniors drawn into a life of wealth, beauty, parties, and excess. At its center is Brett, whose reality begins to unravel when the arrival of a new student coincides with a series of mysterious murders. FX's the Shards, now streaming on Hulu.

[Unidentified Interjector]

Somebody gonna have to tell the truth. And I'm gonna tell it,

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Patty.

[Zip with the Drip]

It is going to influence you. True.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Oh, brother. Read it.

[Zip with the Drip]

Wise choices. Yo, so I got some suggestions. Where is she calling for a boy. Okay, so then she says, the mass acceptance of this song itself is a crystal clear sign of the bigger problem. I finally realized that not everybody wants

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

to breathe between your words. Remind me of that. That boy that was in a wheelchair on. On Mal in the middle. I think you get free.

[Zip with the Drip]

And it was a very rude awakening. Can I.

[Unidentified Interjector]

Can I speak to this?

[India Ari]

So let's clear it up. She didn't call for A boycott. Somebody else called for a boycott. She supported it and said.

[Zip with the Drip]

Commented on it.

[India Ari (additional comments)]

On.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

She supports the boycott.

[India Ari (additional comments)]

She supports the boycott.

[Trick Daddy]

Okay, so she going to.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

So, so, so, so let's make a post and say we think they should take down Denzel's movies when he was acting bad in the movies. Training Day, where he won the Oscar.

[Trick Daddy]

Take that down.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

He should get that back. Because what kind of example, Holly Berry, letting that man crack her like that on screen. She get that Oscar back. We should be boycotting all of this power. Yeah. First of all, thank you. Said. Let's, let's talk about this. We going to equate commenting on a post to agreeing with. With boycotting. So if I comment on. On a post like that and I'm like, damn, does that mean I wholeheartedly agree with boycotting and I'm getting ready to get my picket signs to go outside? Is that what that means? Ain't no way that. See, to me, this overreaction from the community at large is exactly. Not even. This is not really an overreaction just yet, but the reaction that you're seeing from the folks. The post that I put up here is to me is explaining why we need to have these conversations. Conversations. It's a conversation because it's a conversation. Nobody's creating it out of nothing. There are people who feel differently. But let's get to his point, because this point, the point that he's making, and mind you, if I'm not mistaken, this. This gentleman is a content creator. Zip with the drip, who was locked up for 15 years. I bring that up not as an aha moment, but to give some perspective that 15 years ago, we were still having the same kind of conversations about the content and explicit nature of rap music and of hip. 15 years before that, 30 years before that, you might have been having conversations about, see Dolores Tucker, who I didn't agree with when I was younger. Right. Tipper Gore I didn't agree with when I was younger. I saw that as a youth. And I said, man, you trying to, like, you're trying to help them folks censor our thoughts. And, and as, as Rascast said in hip hop, we are the CNN of the hood. We are the representation of the places we've come from, the perspectives that don't usually get the, the, the mainstream exposure. We're the voice of the voiceless, and this is our art form that we do it. Matter of fact, some people are saying that they funnel their aggression through this art form so that they don't go do the violent things that they would have otherwise do what they had all this time on their hands. So I remember being young and making the same argument, why y' all got all this smoke for music, but why don't you have all this smoke for movies? You know why that's though now as, as a 40 year old, 40 year old, 41 year old man, you know what? That's because nobody plays a movie 15 times in an hour. Movies are presented to you with the premise that this is a character. Movies are presented to you with non, with, with fiction in the title. Hip hop thrives off of the idea that we are representing authentic stories of our lives. And because they're only 2 minutes, 3 minutes, we can repeat these mantras over and over again. Matter of fact, music becomes more impactful the better the chorus is. They not like us. They not like us. You ever wonder why is it I can walk around cleaning up the house, washing my car and a song just randomly starts playing on, repeat on one particular section, looped around in my head? Why does it happen? How many times does a movie do that? How many times does a video game do that? The very nature of the media does not support that argument. And although I do feel like if you're going to come down and censor music, you shouldn't leave out the other elements that also need censorship if you're going to go that route. I, and my thing is I don't, I'm not even looking at censorship. I'm looking at just make it an even playing field. It shouldn't be exclusively. The worst of imagery, the most criminal of injury of imagery, the most salacious of imagery. That shouldn't be the only thing. There should be a balance because we're not monolithic, especially as black folks. No race is trailer park white folks and it's, it is politician rich white folk. You know what I'm saying? There's all different segments of these cultures. So my thing is, why is there not the opportunity for these things to be on level playing fields where people are able to see and decipher? Oh yeah, that, that's just a human experience of any race, any big background. There is not just one size fits all models of that. I want to get into the psychology of that and full disclosure, I had to talk to Claw for this one, but I thought this was very, very interesting when it comes to the nature, the psychological nature of music as a, as it relates to that argument about what about. What about movies and music? What about movies of music? Does music really Affect people differently than movies are games. It says yes. And there's a term for why. The mere exposure effect. It means that the more times your brain hears the same idea, the more familiar it feels. And the brain confuses familiar with true. It's not evaluating the message. It's just registering repetition as fact. Music delivers that repetition harder than any other medium because of hooks and choruses. Add priming, which means every time you hear an idea, it becomes quicker and easier for your brain to pull that idea back up later. Almost like a shortcut. Shortcut it build. Excuse me. Shortcut it built. Now think about the difference in perspective. A movie usually shows you a character doing something and you're watching from the outside. You get to judge it. A song sung in first person. I did this. I am this doesn't give you that outside seat. You're repeating those I got murder on my mind. We're repeating those mantras as if it's ours and burning them into our subconscious. You're inside the statement, not watching it happen to someone else. How about on a deeper cultural level? How does that turn into stereotyping through something researchers call narrative clustering? That's when one specific story, one artist, one block, one experience gets treated by listeners as if it represents an entire group of people. There are segments of the population, and I'm trying not to involve them too much in this conversation, who will see lyrics like this and feel like that represents the images that they see? Especially more broad. They already got their own issues of Americans in general, but when it comes to their idea of their limited vision of what black Americans are all about, they'll see this and they'll see it be promoted and think that that's just what it is. I've never. I've never experienced. It must just be that way. These are dangerous on some level. Combine that with the cultivation theory, which is the idea that the more media you consume repeating the same images, the more your brain accepts those IM as an accurate picture of how the real world actually works. So a single song repeated enough quietly becomes mental, becomes someone's mental encyclopedia entry for what an entire community is. Last but not least on this point, does that actually change real outcomes, like in courtrooms? Yes. So I'm gonna show you some. Some. Some videos here in a second of someone who was actually dancing to this said song and was actually boosting. But we'll talk about that in a second. It says yes. There's a body of legal research literally called rap on trial. It documents prosecutors using rap lyrics as Literal factual evidence of a defendant's criminal intent. Treating fiction like a confession, even when the lyrics are exaggerated or clear performance. And there's separate research on implicit bias, meaning bias people act on without realizing it. Showing that the exact same violent lyric gets interpreted completely differently depending on genre. In country Iraq it's called storytelling. In rap is called truth. Same words, different genre, different assumption about the person who said them. This is where I feel like the criticism is very fair of this song in general and songs like it, not the song in particular. It's not just about this song, it's about this genre being a mainstream representation, being put on platforms like radio being put on platforms, you know, where, where, where there's impressionable minds being molded. There is no adult section that this is being lift. Pushed off to, to folks you would assume that know better. This is, this is enjoyed at large and at the same time it's, it's causing people to, to overlook someone who chose to use her time in the light talking about India Ari. She chose to use her time in the light where she knows certain, certain messages would be supremely more successful or assumed to be more successful if you fit into a convenient stereotype, if you do what everybody else is doing, if you make a song that, that is more about escapism. She chose to make songs that empower us. She chose to make songs that stick with us generation after generation because there's always somebody in need of a boost of self esteem. There's always somebody in need to love the skin that they're in. She left us with that. It's. It's so unique that you don't get songs like that nearly as often. I think there's an uptick within the independent space but it shows you the power of it by itself. I like this take here by a gentleman named Ad Sean. He said let's not forget that India Ari is a fully clothed brown skinned woman with natural hair who sang songs about black skin, woman empowerment and songs that uplifted black people. So she knows what she's talking about. She chose to make brown skin,

[Nikki Gilbert]

she

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

chose to make video, she chose to make that her imprint and she sold 10 million records total. She said let's not also forget that four time Grammy winner India Ari. So excuse me, 15 million. I, I was mistaken. I saw a number for tip for 10 million 15 million physical copies at 1299. Yes, she was in a physical music error singing songs about black skin, woman empowerment and songs that uplifted black people. No. 1 currently on the Billboard Hot 100 and 200 since they care so much about it has in every genre has done that. But Michael Jackson, I think she knows what she's talking about. First of all. I'll give you the button for that one.

[Unidentified Interjector]

Somebody gonna have to tell the truth. And I'm gonna tell

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

is unfortunate to see that kind of conversation happening. But once again, I love the fact that we live in a time period and this is what makes this such a conversation. We live in a con. We live in a time period where even if the music right, because we know that the rhapsody of the world exists, the Tierra Wax of the world exists. There are so many shiny examples of folks who are doing their version of this is. This is from my segment of the audience. Right. They're making positive images to represent us. Right. And I don't want either one to not exist. Because if it's a reflection of reality, let it, let it rock. I think there's places where it's more appropriate for it to be more adult spaces. But I do want the opportunity for free speech. Because if you take away their free speech talking all the ratchet shit, you gonna take away minds and you're gonna start focusing on the minute details. Do not forget for anybody who is an artist like myself who came up under in the underground space, in the independent space, do not forget there were conversations at one point in time about what political rap should sound like and, and, and, and and what. What conscious rap actually is. An artist not wanting to be put inside of a box of. I make conscious type of raps because they have the ability to make other things. I think the bigger conversation and all of that was the fact that we're human beings who have all of these, all of these opinions and points of views. And that's just a human experience. But a lot of folks like to put people in boxes to make it convenient. And I love that we live in a time period where points of views are bringing a lot of that balance. Even if it's not the music that is getting the same financial push. Because I do feel like spin that is getting a hell of a financial push. Whether you know, Miami's in the know of that or not. It's getting a huge push. Algorithmic, algorithmic push too. That's more important. My dog Master Student said the problem with mainstream hip hop music image on black Americans India Ari should address. He thinks that these are things she should addressed. We've also had degenerate culture in our music, but we also used to have the opposite side of that for the hypersexual materialistic sisters, you also have the artistic, soulful sisters to balance that negative image out. But now in today's times, the only negative images get the most promotion from the labels and the most support from the culture. That's the big issue. So maybe black people and black artists should protest. Here's another part of it. Here's another part of it that I don't really hear a lot of people talking about because maybe they don't care or they don't think it's such a big factor. I once saw an article that talked about TikTok having the ability to heat a post up. H E A T Heat. Remember that word? They. They had the ability to use their platform, which we all come in there under the.

[Unidentified Interjector]

Under the.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

We all come there under the agreement that if we listen to your terms of service, if we play by your rules and your community guidelines, we all have a shot at going viral or being successful on your platform. TikTok had somebody that was a whistleblower come out and say no. There are certain posts that if you push a button behind the scenes, we can instantly make it go viral. So you have folks, tech companies that are in charge of not only making posts go viral, but making narratives go viral, also shadow banning certain narratives. So you'll get perspectives of people who are saying things like free Palestine, who will now get pushed down the algorithmic. Algorithmic environment and you won't even see it. So think about this in terms of what we're talking about here. All last year, even with the success of Kendrick Lamar's Luther, even with the success of other songs that showed up, the conversation was about all. Hip hop ain't got no more hit songs. Nobody's making hit songs. Everybody kept ignoring the fact that we don't live in a monoculture where all of us have the same example of what a hit song is. We're all living in a different world. We're not living in a 106 in park in TRL world where we're able to say damn. Based upon what those with. Those with the. What the 106 in park number one is. I know this is a hit song based upon these sales. There's too many different ways to define that. But hear me out. Who's doing the defining of that? Now, could there be some suppression on these platforms? I'm asking you, but I believe it is. And could there also be some selective heating on what a hit song is? If we determine that by virality on social media if TikTok has the ability to make your random posts, you're an old man that runs in the middle of a street and you flick the camera off and you got a million something people. Why couldn't they take a song like this, spin that. That already has organic success and the people are already gravitating towards it. Right? We know that people are dancing to the song and they're enjoying it. Mostly men in their Birkin bags. But we see it, right? We. I'm playing. We see it. What's to stop one of these tech companies from doing the same thing that they've done with their own content and saying, that's the one we choose? Because it reinforces the stereotypes that we believe of black people are the ones that we want to be projected in a very crucial time in society. Or because of. Let's say it's not even that deep. Let's say they just said we should make this go viral because look at the. Look at the negative and positive conversations around it. I don't think that's far fetched at all. And that's where I'm. That's where I'm looking at it now to the point where it's like, it's not so much.

[Uncle Luke]

Damn, man.

[Trick Daddy]

Why we.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Why we gravitating towards a song like this? I wasn't gravitating towards the song. There ain't a whole bunch of reasons why I'm gonna be outside and be like, man, I'm about to wash his car and throw that young Miami home, bro. I gotta get in that mood,

[Nikki Gilbert]

man.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Me and my son spending time right now. You want to play some hoops? All right, let me put some music on like, you know what I'm saying? Get in the flow. Let's play Young Miami spin that. That's not my reality. It might be yours, but it's not my reality. But what I can say is that it has been bombarded on my timeline. And I know when it's organic and I know when somebody's hitting that heat button. And that's the point that I'm getting at, and I think he's kind of alluding to is maybe that's not just a cultural conversation. Maybe this is a tech conversation that people are underestimating it. What if you have somebody behind the virality and success of it because of what their goals are in terms of representing black folks? I saw this perspective here and I was not familiar with her platform, but I know she has a YouTube. I believe her name is Nikki Gilbert. She did a live stream in reaction to this and she got a lot of like, don't get it twisted. As much negative as you saw the feedback. I just wanted to paint the picture of like it's real. It's some nasty being said out there about, about Auntie India. I don't like it, but I did like these perspectives I'm getting ready to share with you because I think it brings some much needed perspective. Listen to what she had to say about this.

[Nikki Gilbert]

And if we out here and I get it, I get it, I get it. I get the argument that, well, girl, ain't nobody really gonna be out here boosting. That's you with your grown ass who shouldn't be bopping around at that ignorant anyway. But to the young, impressionable young women, many of whom I know in my family personal, personally, who have had issues with boosting and stealing and who missed time with their kids, who weren't able to be present as parents because they were locked up for boosting and scamming. And now we got a record that has taken off. When I first heard it, I was like, I ain't gonna say nothing about this because it's gonna go away. Ain't no way in the world. This is gonna become like the number one most popular record on the planet. And guess what's done happening and it has become the number one of debuted on Billboard at number one. People are talking about the possibility of it becoming a Grammy nominated record. I hope as a voting member that we have a say in whether or not that happens.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Hey, in the same way that folks are coming to the defense of the song and it's right to exist. These are not conversations that I feel like, like here's a big difference. Let me speak personally to this. When I came up as a younger artist and I was caping for my favorite artists, my elders didn't give the same grace that a young Miami's elders are given. I had elders that wouldn't even listen to what the song meant if it said in it. If they heard the word, if they heard any kind of the. The cuss words. Didn't matter what I was saying. F2. Didn't matter what I was calling a Like I wasn't called. Didn't matter what the content of it was. Didn't matter the evolution of the skill set. There was almost a denial that there was even something that was a God given gift there because I could be God given. And you're talking like that, at least you got people who are listening in this this next generation of elders, they're actually listening to the song and giving an input on it. They're having conversations about the song and making content about it. Like, to me, this is as discouraging as a lot of this concert could be. This is encouraging to me because to me, it shows that we're living in a different time period where we have evolved, our elders have revolved, evolved and changed that. That point of view, that was so close minded. I have elders that still won't listen to my music because of what I said in the song when I was 17. No matter how much positive, doesn't matter how much growth, doesn't matter, at least you have elders that are giving it the conversation. So I salute her for saying that because I think she still gives grace. To her point, though, about. About reality rearing its head, here's two things I did not know when going down this rabbit hole. First thing, I didn't know young Miami's history. I didn't know anything about. About her family or whatnot or anything like that. And I don't say this once again as no aha, got you moment because we all, I assume, have some family, one family member or somebody that got in trouble with the law. Some, some are no somebody, whatever the case may be. But in terms of that song speaking to reality, because I think a lot of people are criticizing a young Miami and saying you're bringing light to this imagery and you're reinforcing stereotypes. And I don't think a lot of them are giving the conversation an opportunity of.

[Nikki Gilbert]

Is the.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Was this her reality? I didn't know this was going on with her mama's. I'm gonna give some perspective. Thanks to Dre O, who put this post up on Twitter.

[Dre O]

It's crazy because art imitates life all the time. And I don't think a lot of people remember that about five years ago, Yung Miami's mom actually just got out of jail because she went to jail for being the getaway driver during a theft, a boosting attempt.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Excuse me.

[Dre O]

She was outside waiting for her partner to come out. He actually ended up stealing a whole bunch of purses. And she was the getaway driver and she was driving recklessly and she hit somebody and killed them and she went to jail for that. So Yung Miami is pretty much singing about the life that she probably knows

[Zip with the Drip]

when I found the.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Oh,

[Trick Daddy]

okay.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

Well, that's an interesting way to go about expressing that. You know, some, some. Some folks in hip hop might make a song about that and they speak to the realities and the pain of what comes along with having a, A, A, A parent that goes through that, the. The imagery that comes along with that. Some folks may speak about it like that, but that's their right. Same reason. Same way young Miami has the right to look at that and say, I understood why she doing it. I understand why. I just. I understand what my mama did that it's unfortunate. I, I hate the fact that it had to go into this situation.

[Trick Daddy]

Right.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I hate that. That someone lost their life. An elderly woman lost her life on the way to work. A security guard lost her life as they were. As she was the getaway driver in the situation that. That is. That is terrible. She spent her time.

[India Ari (additional comments)]

She.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

She went to jail and all of this. But this is a reality of what she's. What she's singing about. And I would hope that that same freedom that she has to speak about it however she wants to, would never be taken away from her, because I don't want it to be taken away from me. So this is where I'm trying to give a perspective on a conversation that I feel like it makes it a complicated one. This one, though, this one speaks back to the point of man. It's just music. It's not that deep. By now, you should not be in his live stream if you feel like we're gonna. We gonna agree with the idea of these things not being that deep. Did you hear about this? There was a mother and daughter who were arrested for boasting. Boasting is still in, you know, still. Still in whatnot. Boosting. They were arrested for boasting designer LV bags. Before they were arrested, they posted this on Social. Yeah. One of the most prolific organized retail thieves in Western Washington is facing new charges. Janice Downs, AKA Jenny Smith, AKA Punchy, is back in jail after just getting released. Punchy from prison in January. It's just music. I'm not gonna say the music made him do it, but it's a hell of a soundtrack when you go do it. I'm never gonna say the music is what did that, but I do understand the influence of music. When. When Trinidad James said, I popped the Molly, I'm sweating.

[Trick Daddy]

Whoa.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I can't imagine a reality in which somebody inside that club said, oh, where my. Where my Molly at?

[India Ari]

Cause this.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

This part of the song is coming up. It may not be the reason why they do the things that they do, but it doesn't help them go in opposite direction. And although they themselves may not feel that they're Responsible for the reactions of other people or the actions of other people. I think that is a cop out too. I think that another argument that you heard besides the argument in the 90s, like in the 90s and early 2000s, whenever you had rap on trial, whenever you had these panels that used to be like On Scene Summit, you would hear somebody like a Bun B. Speak so intellectually about, you know, well, you got to look at other, other mediums to blame. You can't just put that solely on rap. And he was right. They would also say, as a rapper, I am not the parent of those kids. That is the responsibility of the, of the, the teachers and of the parents. He was not wrong. However, I think the flip side of it is you can't act like you don't have any impact. Not Bun B in particular, but you can as a rapper, an influential rapper. Brag about your influence. Brag about your billboard numbers. Brag about the money you made. Brag about the influence you got. Brag about the clout you have. Brag about the people at your shows. Brag about the sold out shows. Brag about all of this effect that you have on human behavior. And then when bad happens, say, that ain't on me.

[Unidentified Interjector]

Somebody gonna have to tell the truth.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

And I'm gonna tell them that's just not reality. If you can influence people to do positive things, why in the hell can you not influence them to do the opposite? I don't know if I covered this part. Let me see if I have. I had this, this quote up here. This is the perfect time to pull this one up. Where she at? There she go. Kerry Hilson said this also. She don't often say. And, and let me highlight this because Afro Butterfly. You know, I say this as an artist myself. You know, I say this as an artist myself. You know, I say this as an artist myself who loves this art form. But I love this art form too much to lie for anymore. How can I say this Art form has the power to change lives, but only the good part. This art form has the ability to change my life, change my family's life. The ability to. To change the way people see certain aspects of life and then turn around and say, but that's only for the good things. What that sounds like to me is people dodging accountability. What that sounds like to me is, is. Is artists. And I hate to use an example, But I use 21 Savage as an example, who talk about, I know about financial literacy, I know about these things, but I can't Put that in my music because the label pressures me to. It makes me think that some of these artists are saying that bullshit to justify their actions and compartmentalize whatever guilt that they may be feeling for the damage they know they've been doing. You have the right to say whatever you want. That's a beautiful part about where we're at, 4th of July and all that. But you also got to deal with the consequences. You are not immune to the consequences of what you put out there into the world. That shit everywhere. That shit everywhere. When a song does successful, it's easy. Everywhere. People's last moments on the dance floor. People's last moments going on the drill. People's last moments walking outside. People's last moments in a relationship. People's last moments being a relationship because they took both of their lives. If music is playing and yours just happened to be the one that played, you're not to blame for that. But you don't think being a soundtrack to that event is concerning, especially if it has similar themes and what is actually happening. Like, I think too many people, and I was like watching the. The Joe Budden podcast. I think I had a great segment on this. So many people will say, like, oh, it's a small percentage of the. Of the population that will actually listen to a song and go do the action. Let's not forget there's 8 billion people, first of all. So whatever a small population is, is likely too many people to be inside your house, first of all. Second of all, let's not forget that although those direct influences from a song to somebody's actions, maybe a small percentage, let's not forget everybody's not rap too tight. And although you and I may listen to a song, like put it in your mouth, you know? Now, although you and I may listen to that song and never do anything differently, it doesn't change the fact that some of the people that you arguing with on Twitter right now are not the same way. They're not wired the same way. Artists dodge responsibility because they don't want to have to live with the guilt of. I've been bullshitting my whole career. I've been sending people down to a pathway that if you're religious, will likely lead to hell. And I've changed my ways, but I can't erase that in one swoop. And I think there's too many artists who don't want to face that guilt, because if they face that, this shit gets real. It gets really. Any OP they ever dealt with. It gets really any. Any enemy that they have in the music industry. And I think that's the way some of these elders are compartmentalizing. Some of these elders are dodging and evading the responsibility because that hits too hard to realize. I might have up a whole lot of people's lives when I was younger simply by expressing myself. It's a look heavy. Heavy is the crown that wear it. Kerry Hilson said, if music can heal, then music can harm too.

[India Ari (additional comments)]

Not commenting about that one song that tweet for me was about. It was bigger than that song. It's bigger than any one song. That tweet was me, I guess, commenting on the commentary, me noticing what's happening and just saying, well, hey, guys, look at this. It was general. Yeah, it was general. I mean, of course, I was aware of the subject. I was aware of what's being talked about, but I just wanted to say, just offer just that truth, like. Like, well, you know, let's not be blind. You know, let's not lie to ourselves. We. We understand the impact that music can have on culture, on youth. We've been talking about this for 30, 40, 50, you know, so you mentioned.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I'm gonna keep it right there. Keep it right there.

[Trick Daddy]

I think.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I think she summed that up well. But nobody should be summing up this conversation except for Andy Ari. And she can speak for herself. What I love. Let me tell you this. I went to. I went and saw a show for India. I know we live in a much different time where somebody my age. I don't know how young I was. I was. I was young to the point where if I was young today, they'd be like, I'm acting like an unk at my young age, whatever age that was. My mom took me and my sisters to go see India Ari live. She knew how much I love Neo soul at the time and how much of a fan I was of India Ari. I saw her live. One of the best shows I've ever seen, one of the warmest shows I ever seen. You ever leave a show and felt like you got loved on and not made love to. Some of these shows sound like they made love to your wallet, and in some shows, you leave feeling filled up. I felt full after leaving that show. I never forget that. Matter of fact, I was so in awe of what the kids would call her aura. She was singing, and she looked over in the audience. She had her guitar, and she looked at me right in my face, brown skin. I said, you see me? You see me in all my hype. Bright Yellow this. You see the black in me. I damn near fainted. You would have thought Shot A was in the room. I damn near fainted. Brother, you gonna leave Auntie India alone? She looked me right in my eyes and was singing and smiling. Brother, the way I turned red that day. Shut up. Shut up. Y' all over there laughing. Shut up. Let's listen to Ms. Let's listen to Auntie India. I love her. I do. I do. And I hate to see this criticism that she's getting because I don't think she said anything that was unfair or marginalizing or zeroing in on Just Young Miami. Here's what she had to say in response to all of this feedback on her own sub stack she did in the form of a video. We're not gonna watch the whole thing, but this is the first portion I want to focus on.

[India Ari]

All right.

[Dre O]

Hello.

[India Ari]

Hello. I have been in the blogs a couple times this last week and so there are some things I want to say, but also the reason why I'm not writing this for my substack, which if you know me, you know. But I'm making a video, is because I'm also celebrating the 20th anniversary of my third album, Testimony, Volume One, life and relationship turned 20 years old on Friday. And all of this is going to make sense if you just follow me for a minute. But I want to address the easy thing first. It is being wrongly reported on some of these blogs that I am calling for a boycott of the song of the summer. I don't need to tell you what the song is. If you don't know, then you don't need to know. And if you do know, then you already know. And if you you want to know, you can go look it up. I'm not even going to utter those words because I don't want to. But here is what I have to say. I did not call for a boycott. I commented on someone's thread who was calling for a boycott.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

More misinformation from Rory and Mall podcast. No surprise. But keep cooking.

[India Ari]

I think people should learn how to do what's best for them. And that's what I want for people. Like, I want you to have an understanding of what's good for you do. And to have the love for yourself to do it.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

That's what I want.

[India Ari]

But also, who cares what I want for you? I know what I want for me and I do what is best for me. Now, if this was six years ago, I'd have been trying to convince you how doing the best Thing for you is easy and that you should love yourself. But I'm not here to convince anybody of anything anymore because I learned that it doesn't work like that. What I'm here to do is emanate what I emanate and share my philosophy. And whoever it resonates with skin just

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

glowing in that sun. Ain't it, ain't it, ain't it, ain't it. And did yay.

[India Ari]

And whoever it doesn't, that's okay too. So let me tell you my thoughts about this song of the summer. But let me tell you my thoughts about music, because that's what this is really about. Everything has a frequency. People are like, it's just a song. No, nothing is just anything. Everything has a frequency. Colors have a frequency. Names have a frequency. Cities, states have different frequencies. Mountains have a frequency. Rivers have a different frequency for mountains. Mountains by rivers have a specific frequency. Food has a frequency. And music. Music is pure frequency. It is sound frequency. And when you put sound together with words and it's rhythmic, you get inside of people's subconscious mind.

[Unidentified Interjector]

Somebody gonna have to tell the truth, and I'm gonna tell it.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

And if you ever had a mentor that told you, hey, how's basketball going? How's school going? Oh, I'm doing all right, but I just really suck it. Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait. Don't say that. Don't say that about yourself. And then at that moment, you realized a very important life lesson. And that the things that you say about yourself out loud reinforce thoughts that you have about yourself inside your mind. And when you repeat these thoughts, I'm a failure. I am a loser. I don't ever get it right. You start to build stories and realities about your life subconsciously. What happens when somebody else starts building those stories for you? Through a very powerful device called a course, a very powerful vehicle called music. How can we say that the things that we tell ourselves, the things that we repeat over and over again, negatively and positively affirmations. I am. Oh, I am powerful. I do have a voice. I My money comes to me in the flows of abundance. How can we think that that has power? But if you put it to a beat and a catchy chorus, it loses its power and influence. How can we think that one can exist and the other one doesn't exist? The same way if you repeat anything, it becomes a mantra. Whether or not you go out and do the thing, it becomes a mantra for some type of behavior that you're going to be accountable for. And it has a Frequency. As India saying right here, what frequency are you tuned into and what frequency are you currently working on? Because none of us are healed? And are you listening to something that is pulling you back the opposite direction? I tell you this, a lot of the music I grew up on that empathize with me. Being broke kept me broke. A lot of the music I listened to blamed everybody else in the world for why I was broke. The government, the systems. And it's not that they were not writing some of those assessments. It's just that it didn't paint a picture that was whole. Right. It didn't put any blame on me, the listener, that maybe I'm the common denominator in all the bullshit that's going on in my life. And that's the thing about music and escapism. I think part of the reason why we see so many elders, and I'm gonna let her cook. So many elders, so many elder men that are having issues understanding why the Internet wants to cancel and why are they coming for me?

[Trick Daddy]

Why are they.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

This is my point of view. That's my point of view. It's that this generation won't allow you to dodge accountability the same way the past one did. Right? The same ones that did not see you as up close and personal nearly as frequently because we only saw you when you were on episodes of MTV Cribs. There weren't podcasts for you to be on. It was interviews that happened when you had a message, wrote, you had a album rollout. Now we get to see you on a daily. And I think people are realizing not only do I not like you as a person, I don't think we're aligned on the same views, even though I thought we would be, based upon the type of music that you made. You're a terrible person. You're a horrible person.

[Nikki Gilbert]

Person.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

You're a trash individual, trash adult. And you remind me of somebody I don't get along with. Frequencies, frequencies, frequencies. The same songs that have engineers that spend hours, weeks, months, making sure the frequencies are perfect. You want me to believe that those frequencies don't land on people in a perfect way, imperfect way, just worthy of saying. And this is from the perspective of somebody who is not anti music and explicit music. It's just from somebody who understands the reality of it and is ready to come to terms with the reality of it.

[India Ari]

I'm not trying to convince you of this. I'm telling you this is what it is. It's what I know to be true. And so, because if it's not true. It's funny. I'm not really necessarily saying this to convince anyone. I'm saying it because I want to sing this next song. If it is not true, then why did they use it in commercials?

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I like the way she walking this down. She yelling. Her voice.

[Uncle Luke]

She.

[Trick Daddy]

She ain't.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

She said trick daddy, you got nerve being part of Eat the Booty Gang and saying anything about me. She ain't said that. She said if it's just a song and it's not influential, why is it in commercials to sell products?

[India Ari]

That is how people get things to stick with you. That's how. The rhythmic melodic use of words. It's a frequency. That's why. So the other day I saw a post of someone making a Gen X post, which I am Gen X post, talking about this commercial that was out when we were like eight. It was for Big Red Gum. And when he sang it I was like, I remember that whole thing from when I was 8. Because feeding the subconscious mind, you can just pull it right from back here. Say goodbye a little longer. Make it last a little longer. Give your breath long lasting freshness with Big Red. That was.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I got one for you for the best car. Sherman's race in town called 1-800-general.

[Trick Daddy]

Now

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I probably heard that commercial no lie 2 million times as a kid watching Fox TV shows like I Love Lucy and, and Beverly Hills Billy's reruns and all that. It wasn't until I needed insurance badly did that jingle come back into my brain. Dashers, Dashers. When I thought my car was getting repoed. Repoed. I was finna get a ticket. Ticket. All of a sudden those songs, those harmful jingles find a way into your subconscious and they stay there. They're not even paying rent. They stay there. You want me to believe that if a jingle can influence me to go see, I was up with this is 1-800-general insurance. I end up getting it. But I still called music can't have the same effect. The purpose is for it to be influential. The purpose is for a lot of people for it to cut through and make you make buying decisions for people. Especially today.

[India Ari]

It's a short version because it was longer. That big red freshness lasts right through it. Your fresh breath goes on and on while you chew it. Say goodbye like you lint liquor stick with you like that. And that is the power of a song of lyrics. Melody set to a rhythm. That's the power of it. It has power over you, over us. And so that's why I do what I do the way that I do it because I fully have seen and learned and understood the spiritual power

[Nikki Gilbert]

of

[India Ari]

music to program people. In the beginning of my career, which Acoustic Soul just turned 25 this year. And again, testimony volume one is turning 20 just to this last Friday. In the beginning of my career, when I released Acoustic Soul, it was a philosophy that I held, you know, a. A theory that. A hypothesis. That's what we learned in science class, right? It was a hypothesis that was like, I mean, this is what I think about music because this is what it

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

has done for me.

[India Ari]

And I learned over the years by being all around this world and talking to people about music. Not just my music, but music and what my music has done for them and how it speaks to them and what it means to them and how it's helped them to change and to grow. I have learned that it is true. And so the theory that I walk through life with is that just like food, everything's not just. Just food. That's not true. All food is not equal for your body. Some things are taste good but aren't good for you Some things don't taste good and they are good for you. Some things taste good and they're good for you.

[Commercial Narrator]

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[India Ari]

It's not just the song. No song is just a song. It is a frequency. What you do is your choice.

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. And I wanted to make sure I highlighted that. You know, I. I have given up the idea of. Of trying to make objective content because we all have an opinion that is skewed by our unique perspectives, by our inner biases. Whether or not we want to acknowledge them or not, they're still there, right? But it didn't sit well in my soul to see this play out the way that it is, because I felt like if you get past the language, there's a point that the people who are opposing her are making, and I hear them. But she didn't even have to use the colorful language to nail her point and make it sit. Sit Still. And I love the fact that we live in a time period where it's not the 90s, it's not the 90s where her opinion gets buried in some magazine that people don't even listen to. They don't even pick up and see. So don't even hear her perspective. It's. It's not dependent upon her ability for her PR team or her press, her press team, her publicist to get her on late night tv. She can go from her home, pull out her lavalier microphone, get on her own sub stack and speak for herself and all the people that care have access to it. And I think that that's also something that you got to give in a really twisted way. You got to give credit to a song like Spin that. You got to give credit to a song like that. I do. I feel like you do. If it doesn't happen, do we have these conversations if everything is perfectly positive in the light that people are trying to say this, this version of it can be. Do we have these conversations that are so much deeper than just a song? And Miami's not the first, Won't be the last that song's not the first of its kind. Won't be the last Said I was scheming Said I froze up and hit him up. Style like this is a different type of concept, but it's not the first and it won't be the last. But I do feel like the conversations are almost like checkpoints. They're like flags and like flag poles. It's like checkpoint. Here we he. This is where we're at right now. I think music does the best justice, like Nina Simone said, when it's reflective of the time that it's being released. We live in a time full of scammers, thieves. We live in a time full of boosters. Many of them happen to be in the government. Happy 4th of July. Happy 4th of July. That ugly ass. George Washington. Wooden teeth have an ass. She did that. Young Miami created a song, whether or not it was meant to be with these individuals in mind. She made a time. She made a song that was very reflective of the time. It pains me to see black folks dancing to the song and viral videos with kids in the background who are all singing this out loud. But we live in a scamming culture. You know what it's called? The government. This is not to take away responsibility from what a young Miami has. She's old enough to know, like the. The repercussions that come along with this, but she's not lying. We live in a scamming and boosting society. It's just that we're only reserving these conversations for folks that look like you and I. And that's unfair.

[Trick Daddy]

Right?

[Dre O]

George

[Curtis Ki Wire Diyers]

diyers. Those are my thoughts. You didn't see that taking a turn, did you? You let me know what you think. Oh, DIY tear in your eyes.