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Young Guru Concerned Over AI-Generated ‘JAY-Z Voice’

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A clip of an AI-generated JAY-Z verse has gone viral, and Young Guru is concerned.

Young Guru is JAY-Z’s long-time esteemed engineer. In an Instagram post, he went on to say, “We have to learn from past mistakes. You would be a fool to chase every person that is going to do this. We learned that lesson with Napster. The only way I see to deal with it is to change the law. There are so many different opinions. We could change the United States law tomorrow but the internet is world wide. What a time we live in!!” 

He went further to say that everyone else should be concerned and thinks that the government should step in and create laws prohibiting technology such as this one from using an artist’s image and likeness. “People should not be able to take your Name, Image and Likeness without permission. We have to add the voice to this law,” he wrote. “We have to learn from past mistakes. You would be a fool to chase every person that is going to do this. We learned that lesson with Napster.”

Young Guru signed to Roc-A-Fella in 1999 which sparked a career in working with artists like Jay Z. His most notable Jayz songs include “Dead Presidents,” “IZZO,” and “Girls, Girls, Girls.”

“I don’t even want to continue giving examples for fear that someone will go out and do it. The law has to change to protect everyone not just Public Figures,” he wrote. “And the super scary part is that we are just getting started, we feed the beast constantly everyday with more and more content to be studied.

The post Young Guru Concerned Over AI-Generated ‘JAY-Z Voice’ appeared first on The Source.

Reuben Vincent Is Decisive About Purpose On Debut Project ‘Love Is War’

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Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina by the way of Liberia, West Africa, Reuben Vincent states his claim as a storyteller with guidance from some of Hip-Hop’s elder statesmen, 9th Wonder and Young Guru.

Through their coaching, Vincent embodies the phrase: Tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.

His “today” started at 13 years of age with his first encounter with producer 9th Wonder, who was impressed by Vincent’s dedication even in his youth.

Almost a decade later, 9th Wonder has witnessed the 22 year-old’s growth, which stems from his insatiable persona.

“I know what my purpose is, how I want to attack it and I’m fully immersing myself in it,” says the “February 13th” rapper.

That growth leads us to Love is War where Vincent’s flexes his lyrical prowess as a warm-up into his thoughts and experiences throughout his life thus far. The album title derives from a myriad of life experiences including battle with self, marital differences between his Liberian-born parents and Liberia’s Civil War that affected and displaced majority of the country’s population.

“At times we are not given to right tools to love properly,” says the “Bottle “That builds internal wars. We have to go to war with ourselves to figure out how we want to progress. It’s You vs. You.”

His album cover, where he gazes into his reflection, shows a man with a lot of questions for both himself and the world. By the projects conclusion with an outro entitled “Point of View”, Reuben Vincent is decisive about the objective of his journey.

He raps: 

You could be up or stuck
The choice is fallen on you
Til God is calling' on me
My only call is the truth

“When I look in the mirror, I see a warrior who’s ok with the good and bad that comes with life,” Vincent says. “I also realize things I was searching for were right here in front of me the entire time.”

Love Is War features cameos from Rapsody, TDE’s Reason, Ant Clemons and more. Reuben Vincent is set to make his Dreamville Festival debut on April 2.

The post Reuben Vincent Is Decisive About Purpose On Debut Project ‘Love Is War’ appeared first on The Source.

Young Guru Reacts To The Kendrick Lamar AI Voice Filter, ‘We Are In A Very Groundbreaking And Dangerous Moment…’

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Young Guru recently took to Instagram where he showed concern over a video where someone used a Kendrick Lamar AI voice filter to make their voice sound like the Compton MC’s.

“This has dominated my Howard group chat for a couple days,” Guru said in the caption.  “Ok I’m at the point where I can voice my concerns with our current state of AI. I have followed as many versions of what AI could do for some years now. I remember being at MIT and students showing me a project where they were actively feeding a computer ‘All’ the jazz records that ever existed. So that AI could analyze and create music in any style of any musician. I didn’t think we would get here this fast with the voice.”

He added that while he thinks the technology is impressive, he cant but think what could happen if or even when this technology gets into the wrong hands, saying that we are in a “very groundbreaking and dangerous moment.”

 “Of course my mind goes to the ethical and legal aspects of what can be done with programs like Tacotron 2. You add that to the power of ChatGPT and you realize we are in a very groundbreaking but dangerous moment. It’s not the tech, it’s the evil that men do with the tech. There are legal aspects because at this present moment you can’t copyright a voice.”

He then envisioned a scenario where someone could use AI technology to make a song with their favorite rapper’s voice, or even worse. “The ability to create a Manchurian Candidate scares me. Think about that in every industry,” he continued. “There are still states that don’t even have a law against revenge porn. I’m sorry to go there but imagine the repercussion on our kids when 5 years from now some high school kid gets mad at his ex-girlfriend and creates a whole ‘deep fake’ that sounds and looks real. Imagine the political landscape where we can’t believe anything we hear because someone will claim they didn’t say it.”

Guru concluded by pushing for laws that prevent AI from being used in certain ways, but adding that we’re just getting started and have yet to see all that will come with AI.

“I don’t even want to continue giving examples for fear that someone will go out and do it. The law has to change to protect everyone not just Public Figures,” he wrote. “And the super scary part is that we are just getting started, we feed the beast constantly everyday with more and more content to be studied. Maybe the Luddites had a point. The book by Gavin Mueller Breaking Things At Work starts to take on a way more urgent role!!”

Screen Shot 2023 02 28 at 1.26.43 AM
Screen Shot 2023 02 28 at 1.26.43 AM

The post Young Guru Reacts To The Kendrick Lamar AI Voice Filter, ‘We Are In A Very Groundbreaking And Dangerous Moment…’ appeared first on The Source.

Reuben Vincent Shares Roc Nation Debut “Love Is War” Ft. Rapsody, Reason, Ant Clemons & More

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This is shaping up to be quite the New Music Friday, and Reuben Vincent is making his triumphant Jamla/Roc Nation debut. The lyricist has impressed in his Sway in the Morning freestyle and contributions to the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher. Anticipations have been building, and today (January 27), Vincent has shared his new album, Love Is War.

The project features looks from Stacey Barthe, Domani, Rapsody, Ant Clemons, Top Dawg Entertainment’s Reason, and more. Vincent, 9th Wonder, Young Guru, and The Soul Council hold down production credits.

Read More: Reuben Vincent Stays “Trickin’” On New Song With Domani

“I worked on Love Is War for two years. Conceptually, Love Is War is an acknowledgment that as young Black men, I feel like we aren’t taught and given the tools of how to love properly,” said Vincent.

“We don’t know how to love our people, our women, our brothers; and most importantly ourselves,” he also shared. “When you don’t know how to love yourself, you can’t love others the right way. Love Is War addresses that. These last two years, I’ve learned a lot about myself, but I still have much to learn. My goal is to love myself properly, and that comes with exploration (internally and externally).”

ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 30: Young Guru and Reuben Vincent attends BET Hip Hop Awards 2022 on September 30, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/Filmmagic)
Read More: Murs & 9th Wonder Connect With Rapsody & Reuben Vincent On “High Noon”

Further, “That is why I titled the album Love Is War, because it is a constant battle to get to that center in your life. We all battle ourselves to get to a place where we can both love and be loved.”

Stream Love Is War by Reuben Vincent, and let us know what you think of his latest.

Tracklist

  1. Butterfly Doors
  2. Geechie Suede
  3. Just Like A Dream ft. Ant Clemons
  4. Mon’e
  5. 2ime Flies
  6. February 13th ft. Rapsody
  7. Bottle Service ft. Reason & Stacey Barthe
  8. Look What You Did ft. Sonny Miles
  9. Trickin ft. Domani
  10. Levi Jeans Interlude ft. Jordan Ariel
  11. Point Of View ft. Josef Lamercier

Young Guru Proves Jay-Z Did “God Did” Verse In One Take

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Jay-Z recently set the rap world ablaze after the release of DJ Khaled’s latest album God Did, where he rapped for 4 minutes straight on the song of the same name. Fans and critics have called the verse one of Jay’s best of his career, and have called into question whether he actually did the verse in just one take.

Well, he did. And Hov’s engineer Young Guru recently posted to Instagram to show people that Hov did his verse in just one take. In the post he shared a picture of him and Hov in the studio and then the recording on the computer that shows Jay-Z unedited vocals.

“This is first and last time I’m gonna do this. I could care less if you believe me when I say that he did this @djkhaled verse in one take,” Guru wrote. ” Let’s be clear for the youth. Doing a song in one take is just a bonus of the level of talent. The song is what is important. You have to realize how much work is done before he goes in the booth.”

Guru went on to say “Questions like, “are these the right words”, “are you going in the right direction”, “is this the best flow” are all answered and addressed mentally way before you record. Then you say the verse over and over in teh control room to memorialize it. Does jay do EVERY verse in one take? No. But has he done A LOT of verses in one take? Hell yes!!! I have no reason to [cap]! Lookat the zoom in of the screen. There are no chops or breaks in that audio. This “I don’t believe you unless I see it” thing is foreign to me. So here is your proof. It doesn’t matter if you believed me….. God Did!!!”

Hov’s verse had been hyped up by DJ Khaled even before the release of the album. However, it seems like Khaled was right. Following the release of the song, Guru even broke down the double entendre’s Jay used in the verse.

The post Young Guru Proves Jay-Z Did “God Did” Verse In One Take appeared first on The Source.