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After years of releasing music that quietly built its own gravity, Aiyana-Lee kicked the door in once this new year began. Between starring in Highest 2 Lowest, delivering a performance that brings Denzel Washington’s character to tears, and writing two of the film’s defining songs, it’s been a full-on reintroduction to the world. In a conversation with Kyle Meredith, Aiyana-Lee unpacks how a bedroom song turned into a DM from Spike Lee, how authenticity survives industry pressure, and what happens next when the breakthrough finally hits. Listen to the episode above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch Highest 2 Lowest on Apple TV
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Aiyana-Lee’s entry point into Spike Lee’s world feels almost too on-the-nose for this specific movie: a direct message on Instagram, sent after he discovered her song “My Idols Lied to Me.” “I thought there was no way it was real,” she laughs, recalling waking her mom at six in the morning to investigate. But it was legit; they met that same day, and the collaboration quickly became something deeper than a single placement. “He’s meticulous,” she says of Lee’s process. “We were on the phone every day. It took ten songs to get to the one.” That insistence on precision reshaped her approach to the Highest 2 Lowest title track, especially when Lee pushed back on repeating choruses. “Every chorus had to change. We had to tell the full story,” she says. “It forced me to sharpen the pen.”
That demand for honesty runs straight through her own catalog, especially the 2025 single “City of Lies,” a blunt reckoning with past industry battles and lost time. “That song was me closing a chapter,” Aiyana-Lee explains. “I wanted people to understand why I disappeared — not because the music wasn’t there, but because I wasn’t allowed to release it.” Raised around songwriting royalty and music history, Lee still had to fight to be taken seriously as a writer and producer. “I was told, ‘You can sing, you’re pretty — that’s it,’” she says. Working with Spike Lee flipped that script. “It was the first time someone said, ‘Your voice matters.’ That kind of belief changes everything.”
Listen to Aiyana-Lee talk about Highest 2 Lowest, her new music, and more in the new episode above or by watching the video below. Keep up on all the latest episodes by following Kyle Meredith With… on your favorite podcast platform; plus, check out all the series on the Consequence Podcast Network.
Highest 2 Lowest is streaming now on Apple TV.