Yo, Imma keep this one short. I remember back in 2015, like, half way through the first season of the hit TV show Empire, I had an epiphany. Empire was about a family (the Lyons) run Record Label, hit making machine. The show was often accompanied by very real Hip Hop and R&B music and performances. Well anyway, on one particular episode, the youngest Lyon, Hakeem, played by Rapper/Actor Yazz debuted his new, soon to be hit single “Drip Drop“. The song, of course, was a sensation. For me, this was the first time my brain was like “Naaaahh! Nah bruh! Ain’t nobody writing these songs. These HAVE to be AI generated, lowest common denominator bops”. The show lasted for 6 seasons, and that unshakeable feeling followed me throughout every one of those seasons.
I get this exact same feeling listening to Bruno Mars music. Not only could his songs have been featured on Empire, but they often sound fishy and somehow manufactured. There’s a formula for sure, but that’s not exactly the ingredient I’m talking about. It’s a bit hard to explain, but the casual insertion of whatever the current catch phrases are. The weirdly simplistic analogies. The catchy hooks that sound like they’re trying to hypnotize you more than they are trying to touch you. It all comes together to sound like an AI mashup of every hit formula run through algorithm software.
I got a condo in Manhattan/
Baby girl, what’s happenin’?/
You and your ass invited/
So go on and get to clappin’/
Go pop it for a player, pop-pop it for me/
Turn around and drop it for a player/
Drop-drop it for me/
Wait? Drop drop it? Drip Drop? Coincidence?
Stop, wait a minute/
Fill my cup, put some liquor in it/
Take a sip, sign the check/
Julio, get the stretch/
Ride to Harlem, Hollywood, Jackson, Mississippi/
If we show up, we gon’ show out/
Smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy/
Hey Alexa! What would “A Player” say? Yo, Sono! Based on Tik Tok Gen Z lingo, write me a two verse hip ditty about being stressed out and paying for “This Bitch” rent and her vacations. And that’s not even touching how often his hits curiously sound like nostalgic plays on other classic hits. On the Finesse Remix with Cardi B, homie pleads “Blame it on my confidence, or blame it on your measurements. Shut the shit down on sight”, backed by a track and video that don’t even pretend not to be an In Living Color Frankenstein.
Hey, Im a dude who actually like Bruno and Silk Sonic. Marvelous entertainers. Very catchy tunes. But quit playin! This shit is so obviously AI. Change my mind.