India.Arie criticizes the cultural appropriation in Yung Miami's summer hit Spend Dat

American soul singer India.Arie has spoken out about Spend Dat, the summer hit by rapper Yung Miami that has since climbed into the upper reaches of the Billboard Hot 100. The conversation started after a user on the social platform Threads posted a call to boycott the song, arguing that it is degrading to the culture and that the music industry needs to think more seriously about the values songs promote. India.Arie responded to that post on Monday, June 29, in messages she later deleted.

Although some outlets interpreted her response as an endorsement of the boycott, India.Arie has since pushed back on that reading. On Wednesday, July 1, she posted a video on her Substack and several messages to her Instagram Story to make clear that she never personally called for a boycott. What she did do was voice her concern about the song's widespread cultural acceptance. "The way we are embracing the songs says a lot about where we are as a culture, which IS JUST FACTS," she wrote on her Instagram Story. On Substack she specifically warned about the influence on young people and argued that the melodic use of words carries its own energy: "The melodic use of words is a frequency... it has power. Whatever you do with it, is your choice."

In her original Threads posts, India.Arie also wrote that the mass acceptance of Spend Dat points to a deeper societal issue. "I finally realized that not everybody wants to get free. And it was a VERY rude awakening," read one of the since deleted posts. She had also written earlier: "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 gonna make them care. Everything you listen to, see or hear is going to influence you. So make wise choices."

Spend Dat, produced by J. White Did It, first appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 6 at number 66 and rose quickly from there. Last week it broke into the top 40 at number 35, then climbed further this week to number 25. Many consider it the song of the summer, though critics have pointed out that certain verses reference scamming and shoplifting. At the 2026 BET Awards, Yung Miami told Complex she would love to do a remix with Drake: "Champagne Papi. You know we gotta call Drake. Iceman. I want Iceman! Iceman, pick up the phone."

The reaction to India.Arie's comments has been all over the place. Some listeners understand her point but see Spend Dat as a harmless club track, while others feel she is applying her criticism selectively. India.Arie has long been known as an artist who takes the cultural and spiritual dimension of music seriously, which puts her response in context as part of a consistent artistic worldview rather than a knee jerk attack on one particular artist.