Most Cinematic Moment: Aiyana-Lee on receiving a surprise message from Spike Lee and filming her very first movie scene with Denzel Washington | Interviews

At the beginning of Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” music producer David King (Denzel Washington) doesn’t pay much attention when his son recommends a young singer to him. But in the last scene of the film, King finally listens to the young woman his son wanted him to hear. That singer is Aiyana-Lee, who co-wrote the song that allows audiences to see King doing what he loves most and does best: discovering extraordinary talents.

In an interview at the Middleburg Film Festival, Aiyana-Lee talked about receiving a surprise DM from the “real Spike Lee,” giving her 10 songs to choose from, and what it was like filming her very first movie role opposite Denzel Washington.

How did you get involved with this film?

So, a bit of a crazy story. Spike Lee sent me a DM on Instagram, which seems like the most cinematic moment that could have happened. He said to me, “That’s the real Spike Lee.” That’s how he started. “One long paragraph to follow,” Spike Lee style. And I saw the check mark, and I was like, “Maybe it’s a fan who paid for the check mark. Maybe it’s really him.”

I thought it must be a fan page or someone playing a prank on me. It was 6 a.m. and I woke up my mother. And I said, “Spike Lee may have sent me a message.” She said, “Girl, go back to bed. This is crazy. There’s no way.”

I took a giant step and met him the same day. My God, it’s him. He stands there as if he were a real human being.

So what did he respond to?

I had posted this song that I wrote in my room called “My Idols Lied to Me.” My previous label had been sold, and I was on the verge of becoming homeless, and there was so much going on in my life that I felt like I had reached my lowest point, no pun intended. And then for it to come right after I wrote the song… I feel like in writing the song, that release and that freedom of being able to express what I was feeling, the emotions and the journey that I went through really somehow landed on Spike Lee’s page and resonated with him as well.

What music did you like 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 was always music in the house, so my mom was always playing everything from 90s R&B, Boys to Men and Dru Hill to Mariah and Michael Jackson, who was always my favorite, to Stevie Wonder, to Christina Aguilera, who I also love, and Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, I mean, like anything you can think of in every spectrum of music from hip-hop to pop to soul to R&B has always been a spectrum of things.

And when did you start writing songs?

Four years, yes. I entered an international singing and songwriting competition in Germany when I was four years old and won with a song called “Stars.” I have always loved writing. I have always been a dreamer. I’ve always been someone who loves the fantastical and the mystical, and finding escape through music and books.

How did Spike describe the film to you?

The funny thing is, he’s such a secretive and mysterious person that he gives you information but doesn’t really tell you what’s going on. So, the first time I met him, I didn’t even know he had me in mind for a film. At first we were just talking about his films and how he managed to showcase his musicality throughout them. Over the course of a few months, I received further information. And he said he was working on a project. He sent me the script shortly after we met, but he didn’t say, “You have a role in this.” » He just said to me: “What do you think, my friend?

This happened over months and months and at one point he just called me and it was like it was like Friday and he was like, “I’m going to send you some side dishes for Sunday.” He kept asking me these questions. He would call me and say, “What color are your eyes?” and ask random questions that I later found out were included in the script. And he didn’t tell me I had the role. He just bought me Jordan sneakers.

Did you write the song specifically for this scene?

Spike has this really brilliant way of telling the truth – your own truth – in telling the story of the character in the film. He wants to tap into your honesty as a human being, and somehow that always seems to translate into that moment, mainly because I was so connected to the scene as a musician and artist. I’ve been in this 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 getting this song right, because we went back and forth for a week. I wrote 10 songs to get to this one, so I’m literally joking all the time; it’s like I have a folder full of Spike Lee joints in my computer. But through that process, it was really cool because we were able to go deeper and deeper.

He really wanted it to be an empowering moment and something that was both liberating for me, but also for the character. It took a lot of trial and error to figure out what would work at that time, what would have the most impact, really and truly, and it was a really fun process.

This scene is King’s connection to his son and also him getting back to what he cares about, which is music and not the other things in his life, which I think is a really important message right now. Having this moment at the end is like returning to King’s humanity.

Your character was nervous, I’m sure, about singing for King, but you must have been nervous about performing with Denzel Washington in your very first on-screen appearance.

Everyone made me feel incredibly comfortable. I think the key to expansion is just to feel comfortable: to feel like it’s an open space to make mistakes, an open space to just be yourself. Denzel said, actually, a lot of good things, he just grounded me in the present moment and tried to be as present as possible, and the biggest advice was to listen.

The whole time I was just in awe and also on guard. In each take, he did it completely differently, which made me jump from moment to moment.

How do you assess the way the film is received?

It’s deep. It’s very deep. It’s very spiritual. I truly believe that music, art and film are what connect us all on a spiritual level.