For better or worse, the AI-generated Drake and The Weeknd track signals change to the rap game
Forget journalism; AI's newest scary ability appears to be mastering Drake's easy-breezy flow. The internet is into it, but not everyone is sold.
Although software like ChatGPT’s ability to truly wield a pen has oftentimes been laughably questionable, AI software is nevertheless infiltrating the rap game—and getting frighteningly good at it. Artists like Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Tupac Shakur, Juice WRLD, and more have recently seen AI-generated versions of their voices used on different covers.
Listening to fake Rihanna perform Drake’s “Find Your Love” and fake Nicki tackle Ice Spice’s “Bikini Bottom” seemed, at first, like nothing more than internet fun and games. But a new viral song that features Drake and The Weeknd “performing” a new song neither of them had a hand in takes the trend to a new level, one that has both mesmerized fans and concerned some industry figures.
The track, titled “Heart On My Sleeve,” features eerily realistic renditions of Drake and The Weeknd’s voices over a Metro Boomin beat. Made ostensibly without the use of any human vocals or production, to the untrained ear the song doesn’t necessarily sound out of place within Drake’s discography (with some even opining that it’s better than his other recent work.) So far, the song has accumulated over 11 million views across different promotional videos, per Rolling Stone.