Are you ready for deep-fake-Drake? Many fans are, at least as an amusing lark, as an apparently artificial-intelligence-generated “collaboration” between “Drake” and “the Weeknd” began to go viral over the weekend, for how closely the styles of the two superstars are mimicked in a track titled “Heart on My Sleeve.”
It’s no joke, though, to artists and labels wondering whether such soundalike tracks can quickly be quashed, and whether gullible fans may have a hard time telling the difference if the trend accelerates. So far, “Heart on My Sleeve” looks to be on track to be a charting song, if it doesn’t end up being taken down, though Luminate says results won’t be in for another week.
The mystery account behind the AI song, identifying as Ghostwriter, left no clues about how the imitative track was brought into being, or what information was fed into programs to create it. But in two minutes and 16 seconds, “Heart on My Sleeve” consists of two distinct verses and a chorus sung by voices distinctly resembling the two stars, with lyrics referring to Selena Gomez, who was reported to have been dating the Weeknd in the mid-2010s. Sample lyrics: “I came in with my ex like Selena to flex, aye / Bumpin’ Justin Bieber the fever ain’t left, aye”… And, “Talkin’ to a diva yeah she on my nerves / She think that I need her, kick her to the curb ‘ All I know is you could’ve had the world … yeah, you were my world.”
Universal Music Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether it will be trying to file takedown notices for the track with streaming services. So far, despite the speculation of fans posting they expect the song to disappear at any moment, it remains up on DSPs.
Some are wondering if Drake and the Weeknd were picked arbitrarily for such a convincing cloning — which seems plausible, given their reigning superstar status — or if they were particularly selected for prodding because Drake and Universal Music Group have shown a public antipathy toward AI in the creation of soundalike music in recent weeks.
Last week, UMG asked the major streaming services to block AI companies from “scraping” the music they host to create imitations. Drake posted a headline about that, along with a mention of a viral recording that had what sounded like his voice rapping the lyrics to Ice Spice’s “Munch,” with the caption, “This is the last straw AI.”
“Heart on My Sleeve” is credited on Spotify to Ghostwriter, who has a verified account despite having posted only this single track. There, as of Monday at 10 a.m. PT, it was shown as having picked up 253,900 listens from 161,100 users. The names of Drake and the Weeknd do not appear in the artist or track descriptions, but word of mouth is obviously drawing a crowd.
On YouTube, “Heart on My Sleeve” had 197,000 views after two days. On that platform, Drake’s and the Weekend’s names are included in the song’s subtitle, as “(Drake AI Song feat. The Weeknd).”
The Ghostwriter account vowed: “This is just the beginning.” Comments from YouTubers under the video include: “This would literally go No. 1 on the charts if Drake released it.” “If you told me this was just an unreleased song I’d believe it.” “I wish I could be a fly on the wall when Drake himself first hears this. This slaps.” And: “What a time to be alive.”
A spokesperson for Luminate said that any chart positions for “Heart on My Sleeve” — assuming it continues to pick up in streaming and does not become the subject of a takedown notice — will have to wait a week, due to the track coming out toward the beginning of the current chart eligibility period.
Although the technology used to create such high-level fakery is fairly new, plenty of other such tracks preceded “Heart on My Sleeve” to the starting gate.
EDM artist David Guetta posted a clip with more than a million views that shows him playing a track using what sounds like Eminem’s voice. “I’m not releasing it commercially, obviously,” he wrote in the parentheses in the very title of the Eminem-soundalike number on YouTube.
Jay-Z’s longtime engineer, Young Guru, responded to phony Jay-Z vocals on AI tracks by writing, “On one hand I’m well aware that you can’t stop technology. Once the genie is out of the box you can put him back in. On the other hand we have to protect the rights of the artist. Not only artist but everyone in society. … People (are not) able to take your name, image and likeness without permission. We have to add the voice to this law.”