—without their consent— went viral on TikTok and YouTube last April, it ended the conversation about AI music as a short-lived fad. The song, created by an anonymous user named Ghostwriter, was yanked off of streaming services less than a month after being uploaded but had already amassed over 11 million views on social media, according to, as people believed it was a real collaboration.
Considering how others outside our community have historically undermined Black music, Johnson suggests that history is repeating itself through AI’s current rise in the industry.
And then there are others a bit more daring in claiming an actual stake in the AI music uprising and, thus, putting Black innovation at the forefront, like legendary producer Timbaland — who teased his own track last May, in which he planned to commercialize AI software to “evolutionize how songs are made.” “It’s going to really be a new way of creating and a new way of generating money with less costs,” Timbaland claimed.
Contrary to popular belief, AI music is as much a concern for artists as it is for consumers intrigued by the computer-generated offerings — especially those who still crave real music made bypeople, as an AI takeover could threaten the existence of authentic music as we know it.