AI-Generated Drake & Weeknd Song Goes Viral, Might be Marketing Ploy
Drake & Weeknd AI-Generated Song Goes Viral ... Startup Marketing Ploy???
A new AI-generated song featuring fake Drake and The Weeknd is taking the internet by storm -- but it might just be a tech startup behind this ... according to a deep Twitter dive.
The track is called 'Heart on My Sleeve' ... and it's all over TikTok/Twitter right now. Purportedly, this was created with nothing but the use of AI programming -- meaning there wasn't a human involved in the making of what sounds like a banger ... with what absolutely sounds like Drizzy and Abel. In other words, AI efficiency is getting scary good.
AI generated Drake & The Weeknd song.
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 16, 2023 @barstoolsports
We are so fucked. pic.twitter.com/Agwd4skLQP
Right from the beginning, you hear the familiar Young Metro intro ... which then goes into a bass-heavy club beat with Drake starting the opening verse. It's incredibly solid -- and it sure sounds like something Drake may have even written/rapped. Ditto for Weeknd's chorus.
On its face, you'd think this was a leak ... but Twitter sleuths are claiming it isn't, and that it's solely the work of a robot -- which is frightening if true ... especially for the labels.
This song is VIRAL on all platforms right now.
— Mitchell Cohen (@MitchellLandon) April 16, 2023 @MitchellLandon
But I think it's all a genius marketing stunt...
Not by Drake, but by a SaaS startup.
Here's a 30-second summary of the ai Drake song and my prediction of who's behind it. 👻 pic.twitter.com/puklgqjElZ
Now, as for who may have created this track and why -- as an AI program needs to be told to do something like this by a person somewhere along the line, unless we're already in 'Terminator' territory -- one man thinks he has the answer ... and he might be on to something. Shout out to Mitchell Cohen of AppSumo for doing the heavy lifting here.
He started a Twitter thread that did a lot of digging in the origins of 'Heart on My Sleeve' ... and it all seems to have started with a TikTok account by the name of ghostwriter977.
And the bio link goes to a Laylo page asking people for their phone #.
— Mitchell Cohen (@MitchellLandon) April 16, 2023 @MitchellLandon
That'd be a strange move from Drake.
Or a strange move from an ai ghostwriter wanting more streams. Why not just link it directly?
Also, what is Laylo?
Here's where it gets interesting... pic.twitter.com/6TxW0rnNZp
That account claims to have the full song at the link in their bio, but when you click it ... it takes you to a weird site that is then asking for your phone number, with the promise of sending you song that way. If it sounds fishy ... that's because it very well may be.
The site that the link takes you to is owned and operated by a startup company called Laylo ... and they tout themselves as being able to give creators more tools to reach more fans/subscribers ... via "drops." Anyway, this ghostwriter account also uploaded another AI Drake song a couple days ago ... where he's covering Colbie Caillat's 'Bubbly.'
Worth noting: the song is "Bubbly" lol and it also kinda bangs. pic.twitter.com/Nu0EQarUde
— Mitchell Cohen (@MitchellLandon) April 16, 2023 @MitchellLandon
Mitch stops short of saying it definitely is Laylo's doing ... but the company itself is feeding into the narrative that it is ... seeing how they retweeted his entire thread and responded with a cheeky ghost emoji. Because of this, Mitch and others feel like this a genius marketing ploy just to attract new users/customers to Laylo ... assuming it is, in fact, them.
As for Drake and Weeknd ... yeah, they might wanna get on this. 'Cause this song is too good to be out in the world without their sign-off.
Also, yes ... we're so, so doomed.