Did Metro Boomin Make BBL Drizzy? AI-Generated 'BBL Drizzy' Started as a Drake Joke

WhatsApp Group Join Now
Telegram Group Join Now
Instagram Group Join Now

Since the release of the song, it has been inevitable. The chorus gets stuck in your head, then follows you around, echoing through weddings, baseball stadiums, gyms, even a convent.

Willonius Hatcher is not sure exactly how many views his sensational song, “BBL Drizzy” has had.

When he first created the joke song — which referenced the rumor that rapper Drake had gotten a plastic surgery procedure on his glutes called a Brazilian butt lift — the comedian had only heard of rapper and musician Kendrick Lamar. Wanted to inject some humor into the vicious feud that ensued. . Subsequently, contemporary hip-hop producer Metro Bowman, who is fond of dunks on Drake, remixed the song and created the “BBL Drizzy” challenge, offering $10,000 and a free beat to the best lyricist. .

This remix shot the song into something beyond virality. It became woven into our cultural fabric, recognizable to anyone with a phone or ears. However, “BBL Drizzy” wasn't done yet.

Two weeks ago, Drake himself and another buzzy rapper, Sexy Red, sampled the song in a new track called “You My Everything.” In doing so, Drake — perhaps accidentally — became the first artist to clear a sample for an AI-generated track.

Some industry experts warned. good fortune That Drake opened a Pandora's Box that would change the music business forever.

“You can get lucky, write a song with funny lyrics, produce it, and put it out there, and you're laughing, 'Hey, we wrote this song,'” Martin said. Clancy, chair of the IEEE Global AI Ethics Committee said. “And it's funny, but the joke has very serious consequences when you go down the line.”

Creating “BBL Drizzy”.

Hatcher said good fortune That he is not a musician or a producer but a comedian. He wrote the lyrics to “BBL Drizzy” and then fed them into Udio, a creative AI model that paired the words with a vintage-sounding soul vocal.

Hatcher said, “AI allowed me to take my art to a much higher level. To make 'BBL Drizzy,'” he said, he needed a solo singer from the '70s, a band, a studio, and a cover artist. A photo shoot will have to be done. “It doesn't happen.”

If a song has been created entirely using AI, that track is public domain, says Joseph Fishman, a Vanderbilt law professor who specializes in intellectual property. good fortune This means that anyone can sample the song for free without the threat of a lawsuit.

However, in the case of “BBL Drizzy,” the lyrics were human-authored, meaning Sexyy Red and Drake's lawyers had to clear that portion of the sample with Hatcher's lawyers, Donald Woodard and Uwonda Carter. To compensate Hatcher, the parties entered into an agreement where she received an upfront cash fee, as well as a share of publishing profits from “U My Everything”.

Woodard and Carter declined to cite a dollar amount for the deal, citing privacy laws. However, Hatcher said it was a “very fair, really good deal for all parties.”

The details of the deal were actually worked out after the release of “You My Everything,” Woodard said, leading to a long night for the two entertainment lawyers.

“It's exciting, but it's also scary to be a part of this conversation,” Woodard said. “This issue affects all of our lives in the industry; it's something we have to protect. We have to protect talent and creativity.”

Since it's the first deal of its kind, Hatcher said he's glad he got any profit.

“Before 'BBL Drizzy,' the music industry wasn't really looking at AI in music in the most favorable light,” Hatcher said, noting that Drake has been an outspoken critic of AI in particular when fans of AI Created and shared by Clips of his voice. “It's crazy to be a pioneer.”

However, there are complex legal, ethical, and philosophical questions associated with the precedent that Hatcher's lawyers set in motion. Now that producers can sample AI-generated songs for free, some experts in the entertainment industry believe this could spell trouble for artists and musicians.

“98%” of jobs can be in trouble.

Martin Clancy, professor of music and chair of the IEEE's AI Ethics Board, said the music industry is already fragile for the majority of creators. Most musicians and producers have to hold down two or three other jobs just to make ends meet, Clancy said.

“So when something like this deal comes along… it sets a real risk, because you can see where the appeal is. [of having free samples] Yes, but it's a lot of people's jobs,” he noted. “It's not necessarily the Taylor Swifts of this world, but it's everybody else, like 98% of people who make a living in music. , it's certainly relative to their income … so how big is it going to be.”

Clancy said established producers, who provide value simply by putting their name or brand on a song, will be safe in this era. Musicians will always enjoy the prestige of working with a producer. However, “bedroom producers,” or those who rely on producing large quantities of beets to sell, can be eliminated entirely.

Gary Greenstein, an established music attorney and partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, agreed, saying that those who make beats on the side will likely “see that source of income dry up for them.”

Othello Bates, an up-and-coming producer who has worked with rap stars like Pop Smoke and Meek Mill, said: good fortune That he is concerned about AI's unfair advantages over human producers.

“People argue that because we're musicians, we take songs from the past, and we copy and flip it our way,” Othello said. “But the scale at which a computer can do it is far greater than a human being. A computer can scan and transcribe almost every song in the world.

He added that while he doesn't feel threatened yet, he hopes AI will be legislated and regulated to protect musicians' jobs.

Nikki Zahedi, senior vice president of management company Holwood Media and Othello's manager, agreed that AI could eliminate many of the headaches around cleaning up easily generated artifacts. However, he added that many of the samples are clips of popular songs, which are under copyright and thus cannot be generated by AI.

What he thinks can be easily replaced, however, is syncopated music: music used in commercials, movies, video games, trailers, etc. Hollywood Media receives weekly sync briefs from companies requesting specific types of songs for commercials or movie scenes, after which it contacts artists.

“It's a really good way for artists to make money,” Zahidi said. Recently, one of his clients earned $200,000 for a song that received nationwide airplay.

Jason Boyarski, the famous entertainment lawyer handling Prince's estate, said: good fortune That he thought sync music would be overtaken by AI first.

“I don't think AI is going to replace human creativity and originality, and that's why, at least in the short term, you're going to see more uses for it in the background music space, the library music space,” Boyarski said. ”

However, Boyarski argued that producers, in the short term, still play an important role in creating songs.

“There's a lot that goes into crafting a song – tweaking the sound, changing bits, it's hard to imagine that a song created by AI wouldn't involve meaningful changes,” he said. said

Greenstein agreed, noting that AI platforms like Sumo remove barriers to entry for small-time producers to become recognized. An unsigned music creator can post their AI-generated music on TikTok or Spotify, and if people like it, it will go viral.

“I don't see why that's a bad thing,” he said.

The only AI-related policy that Spotify has is against impersonation. Otherwise, AI songs are allowed on the platform.

For creators like Hatcher, Greenstein's scenario is a reality. Hatcher is now inundated with requests from companies who want him to make them a funny gang, or social media stars interested in sharing.

“Just as an influencer can now create six figures using their influence to promote a brand, AI creators will be able to make a living,” Hatcher said. “Whether it's making a movie, making a song, making a picture, whatever, they'll use their skills, with the help of AI.”

WhatsApp Group Join Now
Telegram Group Join Now
Instagram Group Join Now

Leave a Comment