Yung Miami got the key to Miami and a day of her own on Saturday, and the City Girls star could not hold back the tears.
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The honor came during the America-N-Miami Veterans & Small Business Festival, presented by Jazz in the Heights, on Nov. 7. Miami-Dade County Vice Chairman Kionne McGhee handed Yung Miami the key in a box, while another presenter stood beside her holding the framed proclamation giving her a day of her own. She got visibly emotional as she took it all in, then thanked her hometown crowd and gave them a short performance of “Spend Dat.”
The moment meant a lot coming from the 305. Born Caresha Brownlee in Miami and raised in Opa-locka, Yung Miami has repped the city since she first broke through with JT as one half of City Girls. Now she joins a short list of Miami artists the city has celebrated this way, including Trina, who received keys from both the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County for the first Trina Day.
The timing lines up with the biggest run of her solo career. Yung Miami dropped her debut solo album, Watch Dis!, on Oct. 23 through Uptown/Republic. The lead single, “Spend Dat,” climbed to No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went platinum.
The song got there despite some very public pushback. India.Arie criticized “Spend Dat” and called for a boycott of the track, but Yung Miami stood on it, defending it as music “that builds you up to want to be somebody.” Fans kept streaming, and Saturday her city showed up for her too.
Yung Miami Day now goes on the calendar right alongside the plaque, and the Opa-locka girl who started out rapping in Miami clubs has the key to prove she made it.
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