Yung Miami Opens Up About Depression Behind Her Solo Music Success

Yung Miami has opened up about the difficult period that preceded the success of her solo career, revealing that her journey looked very different behind the scenes from the confident image fans saw publicly. The former City Girls rapper recently discussed her struggles with depression during an appearance on Way Up With Angela Yee, offering a more personal account of the challenges she faced while trying to establish herself as a solo artist. Miami explained that there were days when she struggled to get out of bed and spent hours crying as she dealt with uncertainty surrounding her music career. Her honesty provides important context for the momentum she eventually gained with her hit single “Spend Dat.” The song’s success has become a significant moment in her career, particularly because it followed a period when Miami was questioning whether her solo music would connect with audiences.

Miami’s comments highlight the emotional pressure that can come with trying to build a career after being part of a successful musical partnership. As one half of City Girls alongside JT, she had spent years working within a duo that became an important force in contemporary hip-hop. Moving into a solo career meant that Miami had to create her own identity while also dealing with expectations created by the group’s previous success. That transition did not happen without setbacks, particularly when some of her early solo efforts failed to generate the response she wanted. Miami has now explained that those professional disappointments affected her emotionally and contributed to periods when she felt overwhelmed. Her experience shows that career progress can sometimes happen alongside private struggles that audiences do not see.

One of the moments Miami identified as particularly difficult came after the release of “Tea Time” in February. She said the song did not receive the response she had hoped for, leaving her with less immediate work and more time to think about the direction of her solo career. According to Miami, having too much downtime could cause her to sink deeper into what she described as a period of depression. Rather than allowing herself to remain isolated, she found that continuing to work helped her manage those difficult moments. She would book another studio session, surround herself with people and focus her attention on music, even when she was struggling emotionally. Despite those efforts, Miami acknowledged that there were still days when she stayed in bed crying.

The situation changed significantly with the arrival of “Spend Dat,” a J. White Did It-produced single that became the biggest chart success of Miami’s solo career. The song debuted at No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 before continuing to climb the chart and eventually reaching No. 17. That performance made “Spend Dat” Miami’s highest-charting song as a solo artist and also gave her a major breakthrough after the uncertainty surrounding her earlier releases. The song became her first solo Top 40 hit, surpassing the No. 26 peak achieved by City Girls’ “Act Up.” Its success therefore carried significance beyond streaming numbers and chart placement because it demonstrated to Miami that her solo career could gain meaningful traction.

The rise of “Spend Dat” also helps explain why Miami’s recent success carries such personal weight. From the outside, the song’s chart performance could appear to be the natural continuation of a successful career, but Miami’s account reveals that there was considerable uncertainty before the breakthrough arrived. She had been questioning whether listeners would embrace her without JT beside her and had experienced the disappointment of a release that failed to meet her expectations. The pressure of starting again as an individual artist came after years of being closely identified with City Girls. When “Spend Dat” began climbing the charts, it gave Miami tangible evidence that her work as a solo performer could reach a much wider audience.

Miami and JT began moving toward separate careers in 2024 following the release of City Girls’ final album, RAW. The duo had previously enjoyed significant success and built a strong identity within hip-hop, making their decision to pursue individual projects an important change for both artists. Miami has previously discussed how their working relationship had changed and how the two women were moving in different directions professionally. For Miami, the split created an opportunity to develop her own sound and establish herself independently of the group that had defined much of her career. At the same time, it placed additional responsibility on her to prove that she could maintain momentum without the partnership that had helped establish her in the industry.

The emotional challenges Miami described make her decision to keep working particularly significant. She explained that returning to the studio helped prevent her from spending too much time alone with difficult thoughts. For an artist attempting to build a new career, maintaining a creative routine can provide structure during periods of uncertainty. Miami’s approach was not about pretending that everything was fine, as she openly acknowledged that some days remained extremely difficult. Instead, she found something she could continue doing even when the results were not immediate. Her experience also demonstrates how professional achievements do not necessarily reflect what someone may be experiencing privately at the same time.

Miami is now looking to document more of that journey through a planned documentary about her solo career. She has indicated that the project will cover both the difficult periods and the breakthroughs that eventually helped shape her current position. That could give fans a more complete understanding of what happened between the end of the City Girls era and the success of “Spend Dat.” Rather than focusing only on the chart numbers and public appearances, the documentary could explore the uncertainty, disappointment and persistence that Miami says defined parts of the transition. Her comments suggest that she wants audiences to understand that the confidence they see today came after a period that tested her emotionally.

Her music career is also continuing to develop as she works toward her debut solo album. Miami has not announced a release date for the project, but the momentum generated by “Spend Dat” gives her a stronger foundation than she had before the single became a hit. The success of the song may also allow her to approach the album with greater confidence after experiencing uncertainty about her solo direction. Fans will likely be watching to see whether she can build on the single’s chart performance and create a larger body of work that establishes her identity as an individual artist. The album could ultimately become the next major step in demonstrating what Miami can accomplish outside City Girls.

Yung Miami’s story adds another dimension to the success of “Spend Dat” because the song represents more than a chart achievement. It arrived after a period when Miami says depression sometimes left her crying in bed and questioning the direction of her solo career. Her decision to keep returning to the studio despite those difficult moments eventually coincided with a breakthrough that took the song to No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. That achievement has given her solo career new momentum while also showing why perseverance mattered during the quieter periods. As Miami works toward her debut solo album and a documentary about the journey, fans are getting a clearer picture of the personal challenges that existed behind the success they could see.