Timbaland recently announced his launch of his own Artificial Intelligence company called Stage Zero and his flagship virtual singer named TaTa. While Timbo’s artist isn’t a rapper, his influence in the music culture could inspire the next AI hip-hop artist. But had an AI rapper before, and it failed miserably.
Timbaland Reveals His New AI Artist TaTa
Timbaland had the internet in shambles when he announced that he was creating his own AI music company called Stage Zero and introduced his first signee, a singer named TaTa. To be clear, TaTa is not a real person but a virtual creation developed through artificial intelligence.
According to a Billboard article, published last Wednesday (June 5), the Grammy Award-winning will produce the music and TaTa will be performing under a new genre he dubbed “A-Pop.”
“I’m not just producing tracks anymore,” Timbo said in a statement. “I’m producing systems, stories, and stars from scratch. [TaTa] is not an avatar. She is not a character. TaTa is a living, learning, autonomous music artist built with AI TaTa is the start of something bigger. She’s the first artist of a new generation. A-Pop is the next cultural evolution, and TaTa is its first icon.”
News of Timbaland’s AI venture drew harsh backlash from fans who believed that Timbaland is out of touch with reality and is attempting to substitute genuine, skilled singers with AI artists created from a computer.
“Timbaland has joined the pantheon of goated legends that lost touch and apparently surrounded themselves with people that don’t know how to say ‘this ain’t it…,'” opined Paimon Alipour, a DJ and producer, on X, formerly Twitter.
“I think Timbo was using all those artist that submitted him music over the past 2 years to train his AI model. Holy s**t man. Wow,” another fan wrote.
Although Timbaland’s artist is not a rapper, the veteran hitmaker’s cultural influence in music could prompt an AI company to develop a virtual rapper. But we had a virtual rapper, and it didn’t work out so well.
Capitol Records’ AI Rapper FN Meka Sparks Fan Outrage
In August of 2022, Capitol Records announced that it signed their first virtual rapper named FN Meka. The AI-generated artist resembled a whacked-out version of 6ix9ine with its braided green-colored hairstyle, matching green eyes and wearing high-end apparel.
The AI rapper was created by Anthony Martini and Brandon Le, co-founders of Factory New, a virtual record label who were the first to sign the robot rapper. According to Martini, the rapper’s voice is a real human, but everything else is based off AI technology.
FN Meka’s first single was “Florida Water,” which features the Gunna and gaming streamer Clix. On the song, Meka spits materialistic lines like, “Oh, just put it on my tab/I don’t see the prices, throw it in my bag/Always in a foreign when I dash/Clean water VVS diamonds bust down/Make it splash.”
But FN Meka’s debut in the rap game was short-lived when fans discovered a previous 2019 song called “Moonwalkin'” where the virtual rapper used the N-word in his lyrics. You can listen to the song below. Additionally, some of FN Meka’s content on TikTok featured him fabricating police brutality and images of weapons.
Following the angry protests from fans over FN Meka’s offensive content and lyrics, Capitol Records announced it had dropped Meka. However, much of his content can be viewed on the robot’s TikTok and Instagram pages.
In the end, AI is here and it’s not going away. While some might not like where AI is headed, we have to adapt or get left behind. Producers and artists using artificial intelligence in their recordings may be walking a tricky tightrope, especially if they want to replace talented real-life singers or rappers with computerized artists created in a lab. Music creation should be authentic and created by the human touch and voice, not generated by a computer and analytics.
