Is it a Crime

Album

Hearts Sold Separately

Label

Epic records

Genre

Rhythm & Blues

Duration

1:00

Composer(s)

Mariah Buckles;Karly Marina Loaiza

Entered Chart

Aug 16, 2025

Peak Date

Dec 27, 2025

Released

July 31, 2025

"Is It A Crime" is a sultry and soulful collaboration between Mariah the Scientist and Kali Uchis. The central question, delivered with equal parts seduction and defiance, is whether falling in love again could possibly be a crime. If so, both artists seem entirely willing to plead guilty. Mariah addresses the peanut gallery, those ever-present background critics who, armed with gossip and questionable taste, have already decided her relationship is doomed. Their chatter is beginning to seep into her thoughts, but she pushes back. The hook arrives like a raised eyebrow: Why, exactly, is love such a scandal? Kali takes over in verse two, leaning into the "love as a crime" metaphor. If romance is prison, she's already picking out curtains for her cell. She also slips in a pointed aside about the advice women often get: be guarded, be careful, never give too much away. Kali is having none of it. She knows what she wants, thank you very much. The title nods to Sade's smoky 1985 ballad of the same name, though Mariah and Kali's song isn't a cover, nor does it sample the original. It's more of a thematic nod. Mariah and Kali wrote the song with its producers Nineteen85, Mat1k and Oliver Easton. Nineteen85 is part of the OVO Sound collective and has worked on many of Drake's hits, including "Hold On We're Going Home," "Hotline Bling" and "One Dance." He previously worked collaborated with Mariah on three tracks from her debut album, To Be Eaten Alive, as well as her breakthrough single, "Burning Blue."

Sometimes I look around for someone who might understand it
I seen it in they eyes that they'll, they'll never get it
I think I lost my patience and now I can't contain it
They, they were wrong about us, I hate the way they paint it
I, I love the way that you walk and the air you breathe
I just let 'em talk, but it bothers me 'cause
It ain't love, it ain't love, it ain't love they see
But it ain't nothin' to discuss 'cause it is to me

And so what?
I fell, you fell in love a couple times
Tell me, what's it to ya? Tell me, is it a crime
To fall, to fall in love, in love a couple times?
Tell me, what's it to ya?
Tell me, is it a crime to fall?

Is it a crime? How's it a crime? No
'Cause if loving me is jail, then you're my prisoner
So let me throw away this key 'cause you won't give me up
Let 'em know we don't give a fuck
All they want is to see us breaking up (ooh)
You can search the seven seas and never find, no
A heart like mine

Better yet, can't forget my mind, no
Some may say a girl shouldn't lay her cards on the table
Well, I'm a woman, I'm not a girl
Is that a crime in this cruel world?

And so what?
I fell, you fell in love a couple times
Tell me, what's it to ya? Tell me, is it a crime
To fall, to fall in love, in love a couple times?
Tell me, what's it to ya?
Tell me, is it a crime to fall?

I fell, you fell in love a couple times
Tell me, what's it to ya? Tell me, is it a crime
To fall, to fall in love a couple times?
What's it to ya? Is it a crime to fall?