by Mariah the Scientist & Kali Uchis · 2024
The song “Is It a Crime” by Mariah the Scientist & Kali Uchis is about defending the right to fall in love multiple times despite others’ judgments, questioning why loving freely is seen as wrong by society.
This song has been Shazamed over 246,049 times. As of this writing, Is It a Crime is ranked 16
‘Is It a Crime’ by Mariah the Scientist & Kali Uchis is a song about love, judgment, and being true to your feelings even when others don’t understand. We’re going to talk about what this song really means and why it makes people feel so much. ⬇️
From the very first notes, we’re pulled into a moody, confessional space—a world where love isn’t neat or easy but messy, passionate, and sometimes misunderstood. The song feels like wandering city streets at midnight, carrying a heart too full to hide.
The chorus crashes in like a wave: “Tell me, what’s it to you? Tell me, is it a crime to fall in love a couple times?” There’s frustration here, but also defiance—why must love be policed, measured, or explained? We can almost hear the artists demanding, with both ache and attitude, the right to feel deeply, again and again, without shame.
In the verses, vulnerability seeps through every line (“I love the way that you walk and the air you breathe… It ain’t love they see, but it is to me”). The lyrics challenge outsiders’ judgments and double standards, especially when Mariah or Kali sings, “Some may say a girl shouldn’t lay her cards on the table / Well, I’m a woman, I’m not a girl.” There’s a gritty wisdom here, a refusal to shrink for anyone’s comfort, and an insistence that love, in all its forms, is nobody else’s business.
The song burns with questions—Is loving fiercely a crime? Is being open-hearted a flaw?—and each repetition of the title feels less like a plea and more like a battle cry, as if daring the world to answer honestly for itself.
In the end, “Is It a Crime” isn’t just about falling in love—it’s about reclaiming the right to feel, to be misunderstood, and to wear your heart on your sleeve without apology.
Writer(s) of Is It a Crime:
