This Viral AI-Generated Drake Song May Be More Than Meets The Eye
If you need more proof that AI-generated content is firmly entrenched in the valley of the uncanny, perhaps this song may convince you. Titled "Heart on My Sleeve," this song has gained immense popularity on social media platforms such as TikTok and Twitter. Its creation is allegedly credited to artificial intelligence.
The track features eerily accurate imitations of famous artists Drake and The Weeknd. The lyrics sound like something these artists would write (some AI tools can mimic lyrical and writing styles), and the vocal tracks might fool untrained casual listeners who don't listen to these artists frequently.
It opens with the recognizable Young Metro intro, followed by a catchy club beat with what seems like Drake's rapping and The Weeknd's chorus. Some speculated that it could be a leaked song, but Twitter users quickly uncovered evidence that the track might be an AI experiment. The fact that this song caused confusion at all is noteworthy.
The song's origin is under investigation, with the online detective work led by AppSumo's Mitchell Cohen, an entrepreneurial business mogul leading the B2B service company's memberships division. According to his findings, the song can be traced back to a TikTok account named ghostwriter977.
The account encourages users to click on a link in its bio to access the full song, but the link redirects to a website asking for their phone number in exchange for the song. Originally, you could also find the song on YouTube, but it has since been taken down according to a DMCA notice by Universal Music Group. At the time of writing, the song had more than 223,000 views on YouTube.
What's really going on here?
Upon further investigation, Cohen discovered that the website is owned by a startup called Laylo, which provides creators with tools to expand their fanbase and subscribers through text message "drops." While Cohen has not explicitly accused Laylo of creating the track as part of a marketing ploy, the company seems to be fueling the speculation by retweeting his entire thread and responding with a ghost emoji.
Laylo founder Alec Ellin's tweet history also exposes his secondary role as a hardcore Drake fanaticist. Digging further into his Twitter shows evidence of his involvement, as he recently "liked" tweets related to this story. The ghostwriter977 account has also posted another AI-generated Drake-like song as a YouTube Short. It's a cover of Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly," and the creator used the tags "Drake" and "AI" in their description.
If Laylo is indeed behind these AI-generated tracks, it would be an ingenious marketing strategy to attract new users and customers. However, the implications for the music industry are profound: The possibility of AI-generated songs imitating established artists raises questions about copyright, authenticity, and the future of music production.
As we await an official response from the artists involved, "Heart on My Sleeve" reminds us of AI's rampant growth of impressive capabilities, and its potential impact on various industries, including entertainment. Even if this track can't fool the biggest Champagne Papi-stans, it feels like only a matter of time before AI tools get sophisticated enough to do so.