Voices, Votes & Vision: The Latest in Politics & Public Policy
- Keri Hilson wrote, "If music can heal, music can harm too," sparking debate about music's power and responsibility.
- Hilson said the concern is bigger than one song, stressing music's influence and the missing BALANCE in the culture.
- India.Arie criticized Yung Miami's Spend Dat, later clarifying she did not call for a ban, but warned about cultural acceptance.
- Hilson urged the industry to promote voices that teach and uplift youth, not only market "fun" records for profit.
Keri Hilson sat down for an interview at the 2026 Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on July 3 and addressed the tweet she posted on X on July 1, a post that sent the internet into a full conversation about the state of the music industry.
If music can heal, music can harm too…
— Keri Hilson (@KeriHilson) July 1, 2026
The post read: “If music can heal, music can harm too…” and it landed in the middle of an ongoing debate about Yung Miami’s viral single “Spend Dat,” a song that India.Arie and several other artists had already publicly criticized for its lyrics.
In her interview with Hello Beautiful, Hilson noted that the tweet was bigger than any one song. She added that the sentiment was personal to her as an artist who has spent her career thinking about music’s power, noting that while every generation has had a song that has “fun” records but cited how the lack of balance in the current music landscape is disheartening.
“We understand the impact that music can have on youth… we’ve been talking about that for years” Hilson said. “What bothers me is the lack of balance. We had preachers and teachers in soul and R&B and rap… No one that is being budgeted and being promoted and marketed is intending to take Black culture under their wing and say, I have something to say, I have something to teach…. That’s what we’re missing.”
Hilson returned to the comments of the post to clarify her position further. “I wish I used the word ‘influence’ instead of ‘impact,’ but you get my point,” she wrote. “And I’m not condemning her nor anyone else, the truth of the matter is 1. Music holds power, and 2. BALANCE is what’s been missing in OUR culture of music.”
India.Arie sparked the original “Spend Dat” discourse earlier in the week, writing on Threads that the song’s wide acceptance was “a crystal clear sign of the bigger problem” before later clarifying she was not calling for a ban.
“For clarity! I did not say I think anyone needs to boycott the song. I said it is a sign of where we are as a culture that this song has been accepted so widely. And…THAT’S FACTS,” she wrote.
Yung Miami received a warm reception at the 2026 BET Awards on June 28, taking the stage to present the BET HER Award to Doechii and SZA. The song’s producer JWhiteDidIt also weighed in, blending India.Arie’s “Video” with “Spend Dat” in a video response and writing: “Y’all taking this way too serious.”
Hilson, who returned to the Essence stage this year as part of her active press run for “We Need to Talk,” has spoken throughout her comeback about music’s influence and responsibility, themes that sit at the center of her third album.
Hilson’s most recent commentary added her voice to a wider conversation about what artists owe their audience and what the industry rewards.
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