Spike Lee on How ‘Highest to Lowest’ Singer Aiyana-Lee Moved Denzel Washington to Tears

Spike Lee wants you to know that he is not related to Aiyana-Lee. “Maybe way in the roots,” he laughs.

In Spike Lee’s “Highest to Lowest,” streaming on Apple TV, Denzel Washington plays music producer David King, a man with an ear for talent. As it turns out, so does Spike Lee. He heard Aiyana-Lee’s “My Idols Lied to Me.”

“I felt it was autobiographical,” Spike Lee says of the song. He reached out to her on Instagram, and after meeting in Los Angeles, Aiyana-Lee landed a part in “Highest to Lowest,” playing Sula, a rising talent yearning for her big break. At the end of the film, Washington’s King sits down to listen to Sula as she performs the song “Highest to Lowest” live in front of him, moving him to tears.

“When he’s tearing up, that’s you,” Spike Lee tells Aiyana-Lee. Here, the two discuss “Highest to Lowest” and how it came together. Spike Lee also talks about directing the short film for the single “Highest to Lowest,” which he shot in New York City. 

“Highest to Lowest” feels very personal. Can you talk about writing it, and if you got any notes from Spike Lee?

Aiyana-Lee: I wrote 10 songs, a whole folder full of Spike Lee joints. That’s the great thing about Spike — he’s very meticulous and cares so deeply about music, and its conjunction with film. For that ending, we needed to have a crescendo. I wrote a lot of songs, and we ended up with this very soulful song that felt very autobiographical. He wanted to tap into the truth of bringing my persona and what I’ve been through — the hardships and those highs and lows. It really encapsulated the film, the journey, the messaging, and where we’re at by that endpoint.

Spike Lee: Tell your sister how that performance was recorded live. It was not done to playback.

Aiyana-Lee: We did more than 15.

Spike Lee: We did not do 15 takes. Denzel would have pulled me to the side; he was ready at take eight.

Aiyana-Lee: It was completely live. We recorded it on set. Every single moment that you’re seeing is live. So I’m performing in front of Denzel, and every reaction he’s having is his authentic reaction.

Spike Lee: I wrote this, and it’s an audition for Denzel, his son, and his mom. Ricky Pageant is on piano, accompanying you. That’s it. While we were editing the film, we had to show Denzel’s reaction. We heard more than once in the scene in the movie that he has the best ears in the business. He doesn’t have to listen to the whole song to know he’s signing her. He knows he’s going to sign her, and he knows they’re going to the studio the next day. But he’s a record man. I’m looking at his expressions on his face, reacting to this young talent, and he can’t put a record out of just Aiyana and a piano. He needs orchestration.

But there comes a point in the song where we start bringing in additional instruments, and by the end of the song, there’s a full orchestra playing with Aiyana. That was not the way I initially thought it, but it was Denzel’s reaction that told me we had to add instrumentation.

How did you approach this song, since you’re writing the lyrics for this character as opposed to Aiyana-Lee?

Aiyana-Lee: I felt like I was the character because I had been in front of that executive, singing live. That scene is something I have done so many times in this industry. It was something close to home, and it felt very personal to me. By the end, it’s also leaving open this glimmer of hope. I’m stronger because of it, and I’m in a better place. There is light at the end of the tunnel. There’s a purpose for the pain, and there is a journey to be had. The journey is captured in this song and its lyrics.

Spike, was there a lyric that she wrote that hit you?

Spike Lee: It wasn’t one lyric, it was what she wrote. It fit the film. It is about the music industry. People forget that, early in the scene, Denzel’s son is telling him, “Have you listened to the mix tape?” and he keeps pushing it off. It goes full circle to that crescendo. It’s not just his character digging her, it’s the whole family.

Let’s talk about shooting this short film. What was the story behind this visual?

Aiyana-Lee: We got to explore a lot of New York. We couldn’t keep up with Spike. He was just going and going and going — walking and walking and walking. This guy can walk for miles! But he had such a great vision. When people watch it, they really get the gist of arriving in New York, that luggage you’re carrying with you.

Spike Lee: With a dream. Here’s the thing — we did some “Wizard of Oz” stuff too. Manhattan is black and white, and when you go to Brooklyn, it shifts to color.

Spike Lee: This is a classic story that young artists hold — the hopes and dreams of making it big. Her clothes are in a suitcase. She took the bus there, trying to make it happen. What I like is that we end at my office, 40 Acres, and you see the poster for the movie.

Watch the short film below.