How a 23-Year-Old Artist Made Kendrick’s Viral AI Diss Track in 3 Hours

Last night feels like the first Thursday you could get 8 hours of sleep without missing anything since the rap civil war broke out. Still waiting for Drake’s “Push Ups” to hit streaming services, though ⏱️ In other news today:

• Song streams & revenue 💰️ 

• The creator of Kendrick’s viral AI diss track reveals himself 😳 

• NBA YoungBoy hit with 63 new charges after house search 🚨 

• New Music Friday releases 💿️ 

• Industry Insights 📈 

Song Streams & Revenue

It’s a new week and a new song revenue chart. As reported by Hits Daily Double, which tracks streaming revenue week over week, the above chart reflects the streaming period from April 5 to 11.

“Like That”s third consecutive week at #1 generated $161K from 35M streams. J. Cole’s “7 Minute Drill” earned $93K from 20M streams before it was removed from streaming platforms. GloRilla’s “Wanna Be” earned $66K from 14M streams in its first week.

This 23-Year-Old Made Kendrick’s Viral AI Diss Track in 3 Hours

Shortly after Drake’s leaked diss track “Push Ups,” was confirmed to be real, another diss track surfaced, but it was from Kendrick Lamar allegedly. In the age of AI, it’s become routine to scrutinize leaks for authenticity or artificiality. 

Members of Drake’s OVO camp suggested the song was real and implied Kendrick’s camp leaked it to gauge audience reaction before an official release. This turned into a conspiracy theory that Kendrick started rumors of the track being AI generated to avoid responsibility for the weak bars.

That prompted South Central LA artist and TikTok creator Sy the Rapper to come forward and tell the truth, taking ownership of the AI Kendrick diss track. 

Despite revealing the news on TikTok, critics were still skeptical that he was behind the track. In a new interview with Complex, the publication confirmed Sy sent them timestamped audio files of his raw vocal track before applying AI filters and isolated stems from the beat he made.

@sytherapper_

I saw people actually believing it so heres the truth its 100% A.I😂 #kendricklamardiss #kendrickdiss #kendrick #kendricklamar #drake #drak... See more

Did Drake’s camp back down?

“One of Drake's affiliates reached out to me because he believed that I was lying. I sent him everything,” Sy told Complex referring to the files he also sent them. 

Sy admitted he initially thought Drake’s affiliate would be mad at him for getting involved but said the interaction was cool and friendly. “When I sent him the proof, he was like, ‘Yo, man, since this is true, you are on the same lyrical level as Kendrick Lamar. Respect and keep working.’ I just took that as a dope compliment.”

How did he make the AI track?

Sy wrote some lyrics down and recorded them in voice memos on his phone. “Before I would say the phrase, I would say an actual Kendrick Lamar line. So I would say lines from “ELEMENT” just so my voice could be in the same cadence.”

He uploaded the voice memos to audio AI trainer Jammable, downloaded the AI-generated vocals, and pieced together the cuts he liked. “Everything is line by line. It's not just one take all the way through.” He laid the finished vocals over a beat he made for the final product that fooled the internet.

Sy says it took him about an hour to write the lyrics and 2-3 hours to record and generate the vocals.

As a longtime Kendrick fan and artist himself, Sy leveraged his knowledge and experience to craft lyrics and a beat he felt were on brand for K-Dot—something AI can’t do (yet).

How can you discern between an AI fake and the real thing?

Based on Sy’s experience with AI, he thought the leaked AI Drake diss track “Hi, Whitney,” was an obvious fake but many people fell for that dupe too. 

Sy says to spot a fake, pay attention to the cadence and emotion in a track. AI isn’t advanced enough to mimic those human elements, which gives away tracks like “Hi, Whitney.” 

“For instance, if you hear the way Kendrick raps on “FEEL,” towards the end of the song, he starts screaming. But when you try to express any type of emotion in the AI, it's like it can't understand emotion yet, so everything is monotone.”

NBA YoungBoy Arrested & Hit With 63 New Charges After House Search

NBA YoungBoy was arrested in Utah earlier this week, but as more details emerge surrounding his charges, the Baton Rouge rapper seems to be facing an uphill battle with his legal woes. He’s currently being held in jail without bail. 

According to FOX 13, his arrest on April 16 came after a search warrant was executed on his home—conducted by the FBI, Secret Service, and a SWAT team. Following the search, YoungBoy was arrested for his alleged involvement in a “large-scale prescription fraud ring” and was hit with 63 charges.

The charges include:

• Possession of a dangerous weapon by restricted person (2nd-degree felony; 1 count)

• Pattern of unlawful activity (2nd-degree felony; 1 count)

• Identity fraud (3rd-degree felony; 20 counts)

• Forgery (3rd-degree felony; 20 counts)

• Procuring/attempting to procure drug/prescription (Class-A misdemeanor; 20 counts)

• Possession of controlled substance (Class-B misdemeanor; 1 count)

Ultimately, he’s being accused of partaking in a scheme to illegally obtain promethazine with codeine—aka lean. He and others reportedly tried to acquire lean from pharmacies under false identities. 

The police report cites an example when YoungBoy allegedly called in a prescription for a 74-year-old woman in September. The pharmacy said he claimed to be a physician using "an actual, valid DEA number, NPI number and other identification for the real physician."

But the number YoungBoy allegedly called from didn’t match the number of the physician’s clinic. The doctor later confirmed he never wrote that prescription.

NBA denies any knowledge of the prescription scam, but a bottle of lean with a fraudulent name was found in his home during the search. He was already on house arrest, awaiting trial for federal gun charges, and there’s no word on how these new charges will affect his other case.

New Music Friday

It’s a quiet New Music Friday. No surprise diss tracks or major artists dropping, aside from Nicki Minaj’s Sleeze Mix. Here’s all the music you can listen to now—categorized by 💿️ for albums and 🎶 for singles:

• 💿️ Young New Wave by YNW Melly

• 💿️ Heads I Win, Tails You Lose by The Alchemist x Oh No

• 💿️ Dennis Daughter (deluxe) by Lola Brooke

• 💿️ Children of the Slums by Mozzy

• 🎶 “FTCU (Sleeze Mix)” by Nicki Minaj ft. Travis Scott, Sexyy Red, Chris Brown

• 🎶 “Tangled” by Money Man

• 🎶 “Jackpot” by Cochise

• 🎶 “Free Big Meech” by Skilla Baby

• 🎶 “Wait For Me?” by Jaden

• 🎶 “Let Me Go” by RealestK

• US Justice Department is reportedly preparing an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation. The move could have major repercussions for the company’s ticketing arm, Ticketmaster.

• 21 Savage is the only rapper to make TIME’s 100 “Most Influential People” list for 2024. Burna Boy did the write-up touching on 21’s widespread influence.

• Rockstar Games and 2k parent company to cut 5% of global workforce. ‘GTA 6’ maker Take-Two Interactive will also cancel select games as part of a cost reduction plan.

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