At the beginning of Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” music producer David King (Denzel Washington) does not pay much attention when his son recommends a young singer. But in the movie’s last scene, King finally listens to the young woman his son wanted him to hear. That singer is Aiyana-Lee, who co-wrote the song that lets the audience see King doing what he loves most and does best: discovering extraordinary talent.
In an interview at the Middleburg Film Festival, Aiyana-Lee talked about getting a surprise DM from “the real Spike Lee,” giving him 10 songs to choose from, and what it was like to film her first-ever movie role opposite Denzel Washington.
How did you get involved with this film?
So, a bit of a crazy story. Spike Lee DM’d me on Instagram, which feels like the most movie moment that could have happened. He was like, “This is the real Spike Lee.” That’s how he started it. “A long paragraph to follow,” in true Spike Lee fashion. And I saw the checkmark, and I was like, “Maybe it’s a fan who paid for the check mark. Maybe it really is him.”
I was thinking it’s got to be a fan page or someone that’s pranking me. It was 6 a.m. and I woke my mom up. And I said, “Spike Lee might have DM’d me.” She’s like, “Girl, go back to bed. This is crazy. There’s no way.”
I took a bit of a leap and met up with him that same day. My God, it’s him. He’s just standing there like he’s a real human being.
So what was it that he responded to?
I had posted this song that I had written in my bedroom called “My Idols Lied to Me.” My previous record label had been sold, and I was on the verge of being homeless, and there was just so much going on in my life where I felt like I had hit my lowest low, no pun intended. And then for that to have come right after writing the song … I feel like through writing the song, that liberation and freedom in being able to express how I felt and the emotions and the journey that I’ve been through really somehow landed on Spike Lee’s page and also resonated with him.
What music did you love when you were very young?
Growing up in such a musical family [her mother is a multi-platinum songwriter and performer Tanya Lee and her uncle is David Ruffin of The Temptations], there’s always been music in the household, so my mom was always playing everything from ’90s R&B, Boys to Men and Dru Hill to Mariah and Michael Jackson, who’s always been my favorite, to Stevie Wonder, to Christina Aguilera, who I absolutely adore as well, and Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, I mean, just like everything you could think of from all spectrums of music, from hip-hop to pop to soul and R&B, it’s always been an array of things.
And when did you start writing songs?
Four years old, yes. I did an international singing and songwriting competition in Germany when I was four, and I won with a song called “Stars.” I’ve always loved writing. I was always a dreamer. I’ve always been somebody who loves the fantastic and the mystical, and who finds escapism through music and books.
How did Spike describe the movie to you?
The funniest thing was that he’s such a secretive, mysterious person that he’ll give you tidbits but won’t really tell you what’s going on. So, the first time that I met him, I didn’t even know he had me in mind for a film. At first, we were just having conversations about his movies and how he has been able to showcase musicality throughout them. Over the course of a few months, I got more tidbits. And he said that he was working on a project. He sent me the script shortly after we met, but he didn’t say, “There’s a role in this for you.” He was just like, “What do you think, my friend?”
This happened over the course of months and months and at one point he just called me and was like it was like a Friday and he was like, “I’m gonna send you some sides for Sunday.” He kept asking me these questions. He would call me and be like, “What color are your eyes?” and ask random questions that I later found were included in the script. And he didn’t tell me I got the part. He just got me some Jordan sneakers.
Did you write the song specifically for that scene?
Spike has this really brilliant way of, by telling the truth—your own truth—you’re actually telling the story of the character in the film. He wants to tap into your honesty as a human being, and somehow that always feels like it translates to that moment, mainly because I had related to the scene so much as a musician, as an artist. I’ve been in that exact position, auditioning for an executive in the music industry. So I felt very spiritually aligned with this character, Sula.
It was definitely a process to get this song, because we were back and forth for a week. I wrote 10 songs to get to this one, so I literally joke all the time; it’s like I got a folder full of Spike Lee joints in my computer. But through that process, it was really cool because we got to go deeper and deeper.
He really wanted that to be a moment that was empowering and something that simultaneously feels freeing for me, but also for the character. It just took a lot of trial and error and figuring out what would work for that moment, what would be most impactful, really and truly, and it was a very fun process.
That scene is the connection between King and his son and also that that he’s back to what he cares about which is the music and not the other things in his life which i think is a really also important message for right now. Having that moment at the end feels like getting back to the humanity of King.
Your character was nervous, I’m sure, about singing for King, but you must have been anxious about acting with Denzel Washington in your first-ever screen appearance.
Everybody just made me feel incredibly comfortable. I think a huge key to a set is just feeling comfortable—feeling like it’s an open space to make mistakes, an open space to just be yourself. Denzel said, actually, a lot of great things, just grounding me in the moment and trying to be as present as possible, and the biggest tip was to listen.
The whole time, I was just in awe and also on my toes. Every single take, he would do it completely differently, so that made me jump from moment to moment.
How do you like the way the film is being received?
It’s deep. It’s very deep. It’s very spiritual. I really believe that music, art, and film—that is what connects us all on a spiritual level.
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