Caresha Brownlee, aka Yung Miami, is getting vocal about recent struggles in her personal life and career. Yung Miami rose to fame in 2018 as one-half of the City Girls.
Together with JT, they released party anthems like "Act Up" and became a symbol of women's empowerment. However, after four albums, the duo decided to split, and many people have speculated about the behind-the-scenes drama between the former bandmates.
Both have admitted to the drama and say they are focusing on their separate projects. JT just released her album, City Cinderella, and Miami revealed that she is working on new music. But during her recent episode of "Caresha Please," which she co-hosted with Saucy Santana, the mom of two shared that she is struggling to find herself again after constantly being hit with negative comments about herself from people online.
Yung Miami (L) and JT (R)
Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
"You know what it is, Santana, I feel like I lost my personality," she started. "The reason why I lost my personality is because everything is so literally now. Like we can just be at the pool talking something, and the next day, you wake up, and it's a headline and it just goes so deep."
She continued, "It just feels like I lost myself because normally, you know, I used to be on (Instagram) Live all day, Santana. We'll be riding around and call Juicy Crab anywhere we on Live.
"Now, I'm scared to pop up my Live. That's like the other day, we at the pool, I'm like Santana I'mma turn off my Live 'cause I feel like people build you up to break you down."
Aside from the music, Miami became known for her big personality. She and best friend Santana would often get on Instagram Live together and joke on each other and share funny stories, which went viral from time to time. However, she feels that what helped her appeal to a broader audience is now one of the negative criticisms she receives.
"So the reason why people fell in love with me, now it's just like, oh you so ignorant, you so this, and I just feel like I don't have a personality no more, and it just really hurts," she admitted.
The "Rap Freaks" artist also talked about her relationship with Diddy and finally broke her silence about the abuse allegations made against him. While Miami said she has experienced abuse in previous relationships, that was not her experience with the Bad Boy founder.
Diddy and Yung Miami in September 2023
Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images
“I can’t speak on something that wasn’t my experience and I can’t speak on something that I don’t know,” she said after people condemned her for being silent. “I can’t speak on these allegations because I wasn’t around at the time.”
She continued, “I met Diddy when the world was celebrating him and giving him his flowers while he was still alive,” she said. “So I was celebrating him with the world and I just feel like everybody is crucifying me for it.”
In November 2023, singer Cassie Ventura sued Diddy and accused him of rape, domestic abuse and other heinous acts. They quickly settled the next day, and months later, a video came out showing the rapper chasing down the "Long Way 2 Go" singer and physically abusing her.
Miami admitted that their relationship was mutually beneficial and that they did fall in love, but she is against domestic violence, and they ultimately separated.
The 30 year-old, however, was able to take what she learned from the disgraced mogul and apply it to her businesses and her career going forward.
"I think that when you get around people, you see certain things. You should be able to learn from somebody and I felt like I was able to see how should my business be operating," she said.
"I should have a chief of staff, I should have a business manager, I should have all these things in place and that's what I was learning. I took that more of like a learning experience as far as tryna become a mogul. That's why I'm like, I'm a mogul. I'm a businesswoman. I'm not just a rapper like I'm bigger than rap."
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While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
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The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
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