Gramming-winning Songwriter Evan Bogart Makes a Biggie Rap with AI | The Future of Music Issue

We asked a Grammy-winning songwriter Evan Bogart to show us how to make a song using AI. We got a brand-new Biggie rap. Two months ago, an anonymous songwriter wearing a sheet over their head set the music world aflame when they shared a song they recorded on their own featuring an uncanny copy of Drake’s voice, made possible with artificial intelligence. “Heart on My Sleeve” — still imperfect, but catchy and close enough to convince many listeners it could be a potential Drake hit — caused a national stir as the music business and the rest of the world tried to figure out what to make of it. The song lasted just two days before Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, spoke out about infringement and the major streaming services removed it. But the point was made clear: AI music is here, and it’s not going away any time soon.

What has remained unclear, however, is exactly how these songs are getting made in the first place. The uninitiated might see these tracks as mind-blowing magic tricks where, at the push of a button, anyone can churn out a ready-made hit by a name-brand superstar. But under the hood, it’s a much more complicated process that still requires a human being with songwriting and producing skills to be even halfway convincing.

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