DEEPFAKES

Juice WRLD And Cordae’s ‘Doomsday’ Video Puts Deepfake Technology To Mind-Bending Good Use

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Generally, I find all the deepfakes and AI use in music today — especially when it comes to deceased artists’ posthumous releases — ethically iffy, if not downright creepy. I’m willing to make an exception for Lyrical Lemonade’s off-the-wall “Doomsday” collab between Juice WRLD and Cordae, though. For one, Juice and Cordae were very tight in real life, and for another, both were extremely close with director Cole Bennett, who was instrumental to both of their careers.

But mostly, it’s because the project came out super tight, which is something you can’t always say for similar works. In this case, we get another opportunity to hear both young rappers at the respective heights of their game — something they got too few chances to give us while Juice was alive — as well as to hear Juice really rapping. Also, the deepfake effect in the video is used in a creative way, allowing Cordae to perform for the both of them as he morphs back and forth between his own face and Juice’s.

Eminem, whose song “Role Model” is sampled here, even makes an appearance at the beginning of the video and his association with Cordae and Juice is just enough to make you wonder whether it’s more digital trickery, or really the man himself showing love to the younger rappers (and Cole, who directed his “Godzilla” video).

Check out the “Doomsday” video above.

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

Frank Ocean’s Surprising ‘New Look’ Has Everyone Making The Same Joke About A Certain Religious Figure

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Frank Ocean
Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

Despite Frank Ocean being one of the world’s biggest superstars, capable of headlining Coachella, no one ever seems to know exactly what he’s up to. That is, of course, by design; the famously reclusive singer-songwriter flies way below the radar, eschewing the trappings of fame for a much more humble — and mysterious — existence.

So, anytime he surfaces, there’s usually a flurry of interest. Fans can’t get enough of wondering whether he’ll release new work, announce a tour, an odd sex toy, or in this case, debut a new look. The avant-garde performer born Christopher Edwin Breaux popped back up recently with a new selfie, revealing that in his absence from the spotlight, he’s not only grown a full beard but also some truly luxurious, shoulder-length locks.

Of course, this new appearance gives him a very strong resemblance to a certain religious figure that many a Black grandma had a painting of hanging on the wall, and fans just couldn’t stop making exactly that joke in response.

Of course, there were some other creative entries to the joke canon. One fan pointed out Frank’s aesthetic similarity to a character in one of hip-hop’s cinematic staples, while others lamented their own resemblance to the newly hirsute singer.

The winner is, of course, professional comic Zack Fox, who gave his take on Instagram:

zack fox frank ocean deepfake response
Instagram

However, all this might be moot; the image appears to be yet another example of the misleading realism of AI and deepfake technology. It’s getting truly scary out here! Whatever the real Frank Ocean is doing, let’s all hope this doesn’t freak him out and send him even further underground, or we might never get new music from him again.