Meet Lily Kaplan, Miami Songwriter Behind Ice Spice's "Did It First"

Lily Kaplan has been obsessed with anything that has to do with the guitar for quite some time now.

"Early on, I knew I wanted to learn to play," she tells New Times. "I was really into singer-songwriters, so I would spend hours learning John Mayer and Ed Sheeran songs on the guitar." Over the years, her confidence in her voice and songwriting grew. "Writing music helped me grow more comfortable and find my voice," she adds.

This past July, Kaplan's songwriting reached a wider audience than she could have ever imagined when a song she penned was released and charted on the Billboard Hot 100. She's one of the songwriters credited on Ice Spice's collaboration with Central Cee, "Did It First."

"The Ice Spice song came about really organically," Kaplan explains. She messaged producer Nico Baran in September 2023 to see if she could send him vocal loops. "From there, we just started collaborating a lot over text. The loop in the song is just one of hundreds we've worked on together. Hopefully, over the next few months, more of what we've been creating will be out in the world."

Before finding success in Los Angeles, she got her start at the Miami nonprofit Young Musicians Unite. She says the organization, particularly CEO and founder Sammy Gonzalez Zeira, played a crucial role in her songwriting journey. "He was the first person I ever co-wrote with and constantly encouraged me to start writing," she says of Gonzalez Zeira.

Gonzalez Zeira, who also performs as Magic Tusk, recalls an incredible public school music education in Miami Beach that led him to a full college scholarship in music and the confidence to shine on stage. "When I was about 27 years old, and I slowed down on touring, I asked myself, What's next?" He realized that many music programs that greatly enhanced his life were cut around 2008 when the state began reprioritizing testing and STEM over the arts.

He started YMU as a small guitar club at the Young Man's Preparatory Academy outside Wynwood. It soon became the largest music education nonprofit in Miami-Dade, serving 58 schools and about 10,000 students weekly. The organization provides Title 1 schools with instructors, lesson plans, instruments, and other music resources until the school can hire its own music teacher so that no one misses out on a music education. YMU's afterschool program does more than 180 shows a year, and it owns a recording studio in Allapattah. Students own the rights and royalties to their own music.

The results of the program are impressive, not just for musicians but also for schools. Historically, Carol City High School had an incredible, award-winning band program, but the music room was abandoned when music education was cut in 2008. The high school's director told Gonzalez Zeira he wanted to see his marching band grow back to 100 musicians. He had a closetful of broken instruments that YMU repaired at a low cost. "Eight years later, his marching band is about 150 kids. And they are amazing. I think they are the best marching band in Miami Dade County right now," Gonzalez Zeira says.

He met Kaplan in 2018 when someone sent him a video of a girl playing guitar on her bed. In eighth grade, she joined a YMU student ambassador band called Arrowhead and was soon one of its lead vocalists and guitarists. "I just remember her first show when I put her in the group. Her mother called me saying, 'My daughter is so nervous. I don't think she's going to make the show.' I was nonchalant, and I said, 'Of course Lily is going to make the show!'"

Kaplan also remembers that pivotal moment. "My most memorable experience with YMU was my first-ever performance on Lincoln Road. I was 13, and I was overwhelmed with anxiety. I remember feeling terrified and convinced I couldn't go through with it. But once I got on stage, all that fear disappeared. At that moment, I realized that music was at the core of who I am. It's been central to my identity ever since. That day not only shaped my relationship with music but also gave me the confidence to approach other aspects of life with the same courage."

Following the success of penning a song for Ice Spice, Kaplan moved from New York, where she attended New York University, to Los Angeles and signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group. "I'm thrilled to be able to do what I love every day and incredibly grateful to my team and everyone who's helped make this possible," Kaplan says.

YMU and Gonzalez Zeira changed the course of her life and brought her a real community, she shares. "I will always stay heavily involved with YMU and support them however I can. I'm so grateful for the years I spent with them and can't wait to see how they continue to grow and change lives."