artificial-intelligence

AI Biggie Covers Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind,” Twitter Is Divided

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Some of our favourite artists have already dropped off noteworthy new music in 2023. Unfortunately, their releases as of late are chiefly being overshadowed by the songs coming out via artificial intelligence. From hearing Kanye West take on Hit-Boy’s “2 Certified” thanks to technology to heavy hitters like Drake and Michael Jackson covering Ice Spice’s “Munch (Feelin’ U),” the entertainment has been endless, albeit damaging to the music industry. Earlier this week, a video of the late Biggie Smalls rapping Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind” began circulating online, sparking plenty of debate amongst the hip-hop community,

The 1994 cut previously arrived on the New Yorker’s Illmatic album and remains one of the most popular in his discography to this day. Of course, The Notorious B.I.G. lost his life just three years after this, and though he and Nas had plans to collaborate (the latter previously revealed on The Breakfast Club that he “got too high” in the studio for anything to come to fruition), it ultimately never came to be. This is the closest we’ll probably ever to see to a joint effort, and while some users are loving Biggie’s flow on his friend’s song, others are frustrated with AI’s presence in the industry at the moment.

Biggie’s Unofficial “N.Y. State of Mind” Cover

@aiverse2

Ny state or mind 🔥#fyp #ai #aicover #biggie #fypage #nas #fypシ #rap

♬ N.Y. State of Mind – Nas

“This made me realize Nas has the greatest flow of any rapper ever,” one Twitter user said, markedly praising the 49-year-old. Another, less pleased listener chimed in, “The gap between Biggie’s flow and Nas’ flow is f*cking me up right now. This sounds so much worse than his voice on his flow lol. Too much energy with the wrong tone.” Elsewhere, someone argued that the computer-generated audio fails to “capture Big’s essence one bit.”

Apart from the comedic, discourse-causing covers, we’ve also heard brand new lyrics written and beats crafted for Champagne Papi, The Weeknd, and more, rivalling some of their previous releases in the hearts of fans. In wake of this, music labels are beginning to take action in defence of their artists to protect their work and vocals. Keep scrolling to read Twitter’s reactions to the viral Biggie AI cover, and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments afterward.

Social Media Reacts

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Latest AI Drake Song Recycles 2019 Soundcloud Track

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Drake is an inescapable force, even more so now that he’s the focus of AI-generated songs. This week, another song emerged online, following the success of “Heart On My Sleeve,” as UMG and other parties attempt to bar artificial intelligence from dominating the music industry. A new song titled “Not A Game” surfaced online and began making the round but according to The Verge, the song has actually been around for years. The publication explained that the song’s composition includes elements from another song, while Drake’s voice serves as a new component.

The vocals initially appeared on the website Looperman, which hosts loops and samples for producers, for noncommercial purposes in late 2019. A number of renditions of the records popped up since then. However, it only began to gain steam with the use of AI Drake. The individuals who use the vocals must credit Sean Pharo. However, on “Not A Game,” Pharo’s vocals are processed through AI to replicate Drake’s while the production, created by Cedes, is modified. Ultimately, neither Cedes’s production nor Pharo’s vocals had significant traction until AI Drake’s inclusion.

AI Drake’s Domination

Over the past few weeks, there have been a number of AI-generated Drake songs that have landed on YouTube, Soundcloud, and even streaming services. “Heart On My Sleeve,” for example,” features automated vocals from Drake and The Weeknd. Given the fact that it’s been years since they actually collaborated, fans were ecstatic to hear the two of them on the same track, even if it wasn’t real. Ultimately, UMG had the song removed but not before fans speculated whether or not this was some sort of publicity stunt. 

The rise of AI-generated vocals has led to concerns within the music industry, though hip-hop, as a whole, hasn’t necessarily shunned technological advancement. While UMG and Drake spoke out against the use of AI, artists like Hit-Boy have embraced it. The King’s Disease producer shared a snippet of his single, “2 Certified” featuring AI Kanye. “AI is getting insane. @kanyewest rapping 2 certified sound too crazy,” he wrote with a mind-blowing emoji.  While divisive, AI could serve as a fantastic tool for producers trying to land placements.

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Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Believes AI Is ‘Huge For Creativity’ But Acklowledges ‘The Scary Part’

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daniel ek
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AI recreations of popular musicians’ voices have become a rising trend, with Drake and The Weeknd’s fake “Heart On My Sleeve” song being pulled from streaming platforms, Grimes saying she’s OK with it, and Liam Gallagher calling an Oasis AI album “mega.” Still, Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, offered his thoughts on just what this means for the future of the music industry,

“On the positive side, this could be potentially huge for creativity,” Ek said on a conference call, according to Billboard. “That should lead to more music [which] we think is great culturally, but it also benefits Spotify because the more creators we have on our service the better it is and the more opportunity we have to grow engagement and revenue.”

Earlier this year, the streaming service announced an AI DJ aspect to the app, which develops song recommendations for users based on their listening history and features narration from an AI bot.

“I’m very familiar with the scary part… the complete generative stuff or even the so-called deep fakes that pretend to be someone they’re not,” Ek added during a recent episode of Spotify’s For The Record podcast. “I choose to look at the glass as more half-full than half-empty. I think if it’s done right, these AIs will be incorporated into almost every product suite to enable creativity to be available to many more people around the world.”

Currently, Universal Music Group and the National Music Publishers’ Association are some standing against AI, as the record label released a recent statement to the publication:

“The training of generative AI using our artists’ music (which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law) as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on DSPs, begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation. We’re encouraged by the engagement of our platform partners on these issues – as they recognize they need to be part of the solution.”

Khalid Criticizes A.I. Generated Songs

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Khalid is among many artists and creatives with mixed feelings about A.I.-generated songs. There has been a slew of tracks surfacing on the internet of big-name artists covering other artists’ songs. You’ve probably heard Ye or Drake over an IceSpice song once or twice on your TL. Khalid shared some of his concerns regarding the viral A.I. generated tracks.

In a recent interview with TMZ paparazzi, Khalid was asked about the recent waves of A.I. generated Drake tracks and more. Additionally, he was later asked if he would be okay with someone doing the same thing to his voice. “I have mixed feelings about it,” he told the paps. “I feel like A.I. is definitely going to be a helpful tool and it’s one of those things you can’t escape.” “Hopefully, you know, I still get to have my job for a really long time.” It’s fair to say we all hope to keep our jobs now that A.I. has crash landed on the scene. However, the American Teen songwriter was definitive in his criticism when asked about someone using his voice.

Khalid Sounds Off On A.I. Generated Music

Khalid performs during the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball.
Khalid performs during the Hot 99.5’s iHeartRadio Jingle Ball at Capital One Arena on December 13, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

Furthermore, Khalid was asked if he would work with any dead artists with the use of A.I., it was a hard pass for the Texas native. As detailed in the interview, Khalid mentions authenticity being taken away as these A.I.-generated tracks begin to take shape. Evidently, the authenticity in the art is lost when the actual humans whose voices are being emulated, are not involved in the creative process.

Khalid is one artist that prides himself on the authenticity and quality of his work. We wouldn’t have songs like “Location” or “Reasons” without authenticity. The human element is what makes music, music. While the A.I. voice emulators are cool and a great tool, it doesn’t beat the real thing, and Khalid agrees. What are your thoughts on A.I.-generated music? Will this be the new wave for music now? Let HNHH know what’s up in the comments section below!

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Grimes Is Actually Encouraging Use Of Her Voice In AI Songs In Response To The Viral Drake And The Weeknd AI Track

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Grimes Met Gala 2021
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In recent days, a lot of attention has been paid to AI-generated music, specifically a song that used copies of Drake and The Weeknd’s voices. The track got removed from streaming platforms, but not before Meek Mill listened to it a bunch of times. Grimes, ever one to embrace new technologies, has some thoughts about this and about the use of AI clones of her own voice.

Yesterday (April 23), Grimes took to Twitter to share a screenshot of an article about the Drake/Weeknd AI song. She wrote, “I’ll split 50% royalties on any successful AI generated song that uses my voice. Same deal as I would with any artist i collab with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty. I have no label and no legal bindings.” She added in another tweet, “I think it’s cool to be fused w a machine and I like the idea of open sourcing all art and killing copyright.”

That led to some good follow-up questions. One Twitter user asked, “would the title of such a song credit you as a featured artist, or how would you prefer it?” Grimes replied, “Sure – anything anyone wants. Im just curious what even happens and interested in being a Guinea pig.” Somebody else wondered, “Hey can you pls tell everyone that they need to upload to elf.tech [Grimes’ website] in order to get approval from Media Empire?” She responded, “I feel like we shouldn’t force approvals – but rather work out publishing with stuff that’s super popular. That seems most efficient? We cud use elf tech for it tho – but I think we’ll notice if a grimes song goes viral.”

Grimes also noted that she’s working on AI-ifying her voice herself, tweeting, “We’re making a program that should simulate my voice well but we could also upload stems and samples for ppl to train their own.” Somebody asked about how that endeavor is going and Grimes replied, “we were p far along last I checked. I sorta just spur of the moment decided to do this lol but we were making a sim of my voice for our own plans and they were almost done.”

Finneas seems to be on board with Grimes’ vision: He shared her original post and added, “So lit.”

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Drake AI Returns With “Winter’s Cold” Song

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A.I. technology is either the best or worst thing to happen to music since Napster, depending on who you ask. Moreover, its supporters see it as a new avenue for creativity, reference tracks, and new ways to put your work out there. On the other hand, its detractors see the dangers of copyright, false songs taking money away from artist, and laziness that A.I.-generated or assisted tracks pose. Regardless of which side you’re on, the last few weeks have seen an onslaught of A.I.-related material. The latest is a new track “from” Drake following his fake track with The Weeknd that set the industry ablaze.

Furthermore, this cut is called “Winter’s Cold,” and it’s unclear how much A.I. was involved in its creation. This technology can either turn an existing voice recording into an artist’s voice, or recreate lyrics and production based on the artist’s existing material. No matter how you slice it, fans seem to really enjoy these tracks. “Firstly, let me just say that that AI shit is evil & immoral,” a fan tweeted. “What’s already happened, and what could potentially happen to artists and the industry with this tech is despicable. HOWEVER, with all that said, THAT AI DRAKE WINTER’S COLD SONG IS THE HARDEST S**T TO DROP THIS YEAR!!”

Drake A.I. Drops Another Banger, “Winter’s Cold”

In fact, that sentiment seems to be a common one on social media. Of course, the argument also exists that it’s easier to replicate some artists than others, and Drake is perhaps the best example of that. His voice is just too recognizable, and he worked with so many styles that any lane of his could reemerge with relative ease. However, major labels aren’t having it. “UMG’s success has been, in part, due to embracing new technology and putting it to work for our artists- as we have been doing with our own innovation around AI for some time already,” Universal Music Group’s statement began. Moreover, they issued it after the Weeknd collab went insanely viral and they started taking it down from many platforms. It’s also worth noting that the 6 God isn’t a fan of this tech.

“With that said, however, the training of generative AI using our artists’ music (which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law) as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on DSPs, begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation,” they concluded. Wherever you may fall on that debate, stick around on HNHH for the latest on Drake and A.I. tech in music.

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Tom Brady Threatens Lawsuit Over AI Usage

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Tom Brady discussed many avenues the former NFL QB may run across in retirement. Brady decided to call it quits for a second time after the 2022-23 season. One of the avenues Brady has mentioned in the past was trying stand-up comedy. That news caught the attention of many in the comedy realm. As stand-up isn’t as easily done as one might see it to be. However, one comedy podcast decided to take Brady’s stand-up gig to a whole other level.

Dudesy is the first podcast run entirely by AI. The show’s hosts, Chad Kultgen and “Freewill” Will Sasso, discuss the world of artificial intelligence in the most unserious of ways. Recently, the show created an entire 1-hour comedy special with Tom Brady. The special was made by AI but featured a voice similar to Brady’s. When the special dropped on the podcast’s Patreon channel, word began spreading quickly on the AI impression of Brady. The special became so popular that Brady himself even learned about it.

Tom Brady Doesn’t Find AI Stand-Up Funny

However, Brady didn’t see the humor in the created special. Brady’s legal team sent a cease and desist letter to the podcast’s hosts. But the hosts don’t really see the harm in the special. However, they have complied with Brady’s legal team and have removed the special from their content pages. However, the hosts mentioned that this incident has not stopped them from potentially having other AI-generated content featuring celebrities and public figures.

Maybe Brady was jealous over such a great comedy special that he didn’t create. However, that may not be the biggest issue here. AI is continuing to break down walls on what it is capable of. This Tom Brady comedy special is just the latest example. The show has become larger than ever thought possible with the Brady AI special. However, for now, the show may want to stick to ‘Stone Cold Steven Austin Reading Will Sasso’s Childhood Diary.’ At least, that’s what one fan believes. It’s me. I’m the fan. Do you believe that Brady was right in taking legal action against the show? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section. For the latest in AI and sports, keep it right here with HNHH.

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