[IN RETROSPECT]
At the start of this year’s great rap war, Sy the Rapper got much love — and hate — by cosplaying Kendrick Lamar with the help of artificial intelligence. He shares what he learned from the ordeal.
UpRising: You got a mixed response back in April when you duped some music fans by dropping a diss track to Drake using a Kendrick Lamar voice filter. You’ve said it was all in good fun. What did you learn from the experience?
Sy the Rapper: Before my track, I was skeptical of AI and in fear that it would replace the actual artist one day. I learned that the world is still not ready for an AI artist—and they shouldn't be. I'm not pushing for AI artists. I'm not supporting that. I just think it's dope that we can make songs from our favorite artists. But this showed me that people still are not fans of AI, and we won't see a successful AI MC anytime soon, which is great.
Are there other ways you think AI can positively impact the music creation process?
If you want to be a ghostwriter, it will be great for reference tracks. Or maybe for a rapper like The D.O.C., whose unfortunate accident took his ability away. In instances like those—where the artist has something wrong with their vocal chords or something like that—AI could be used. Maybe an MC unfortunately passed away and they have rap books of material, that could be a beautiful thing… if the family and loved ones [give] permission. If an MC is incarcerated, perhaps. AI can be used for good. People see futuristic movies and think technology is bad. Technology is a tool, man. Whoever's using it and manipulating the tool determines if it's good or bad.
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