The AI Drake effect
what a time to be alive
Fresh off my first break-up, Drake's album Nothing Was the Same launched just in time for me to stream on repeat, so I could fill the void that young heartbreak left behind.
His lyrics raked his fingers through my hair and tucked a loose strand behind my ear. They cupped my flushed face and wiped away the tears streaming down my cheeks. Headphones on, I laid in bed, indulging in his luscious vulnerability.
My relationship with Drake's music climaxed at this stage of my early twenties. As we matured in our respective careers, I drifted to other rappers and paid less attention to the release of his (many) new albums.
But recently, an explosion of new Drake tracks rippled across my “for you” pages. Only it isn't the real Drake – bootleg producers are dropping AI-generated tracks faster than a Ferrari (or a Bugatti, another popular sports car frequently mentioned in rap songs).
I listen to the fake Drake track Winters Cold, nodding in pleasure to the beat and in agreement as I read the comments:
“This goes hard.” “This joint is ridiculously fire.”
"What a time to be alive."1
What dazzles and disturbs me about AI-generated Drake music is that it signals the possibility of a version of him that is just as good, maybe even better. After all these years of hustling for the top spot on the hip-hop streaming charts, he's now left to compete against the AI Drakes. If comparison is the thief of joy, what happens when you compare yourself to the AI version of yourself?
AI-generated art reveals to us an optimized output of our creative input. As I look toward the future of music, I wonder whether AI will water down an artist's music, drowning the listener's experience. Or, will AI scale the music production and listening experience towards a better and brighter frontier?
AI Craft-Cannibalization
In response to the release of an AI-generated Drake track, the real Drake replied, "This is the final straw." It's unclear whether the influx of dupes threatens him, yet if I were Drake, I'd be more frightened than flattered.
As a Hit Machine, Drake successfully saturated the market with bangers. Does he fear AI will oversaturate his market, leading his listeners to favor the faux songs? Will he be left with no choice but to replicate the successful sound of the fake Drakes? Will they swallow him whole?
I'm a writer, not a rapper. Reflecting on my relationship with AI tools, I lock eyes with the elephant in the room. When I feed a clunky sentence into a chatbot, I feast on the generated output while choking on the guilt for succumbing to a shortcut. I feel a slight sense of existential dread when contemplating how AI may eventually supplant writing in two ways: 1) the tools themselves will become as indispensable to writers as a search engine. 2) Writer-bots will take over the roles of human authors, journalists, and bloggers.
ChatGPT is autotune for writing. Drake, as many pop artists do, autotunes his voice. When a singer utilizes tools to aestheticize their voice, does that further separate the art from the artist? When we, as artists, optimize effort with tools, do we cannibalize our craft?
Craft-at-Scale
Let's consider a B-side of this prediction – a hopeful future. "Craft" is to exercise skill in making something. We develop skill through experience and effort. And effort = time + intensity.
Perhaps it isn't all bad to optimize the effort of making music. Lyricists can traverse the universe of words and phrases. Producers can test exponential versions of a track down to the minutiae of snare drum variations. AI tools will free up time, space, and energy for the creator to experiment with their flair.
“Flair” is the sort of magic that emerges from the artist. The artist's unique human experiences shape their flair, which they reveal through self-expression. When the artist performs, we are captivated by the stories they explicitly and implicitly tell us.
It takes years of effort to become a great lyricist or musician. But for the amateur, AI tools will lower the barrier to entry by allowing them to generate lyrics and tracks. I think this will create a new category of craft – AI as an instrument. AI as a craft. As for the superstars like Drake, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber, I try to fathom how AI will scale their music at mind-boggling production levels. Full-length albums that take days to listen to, concerts accompanied by fantastical visuals, intricately layered songs that incite eargasms.
AI illuminates the possibility of digital artistic immortality. In his song Take Care, Drake yearns, "My only wish is I die real." The AI Drakes can keep on generating songs for eternity alongside the resurrections of AI Tupacs and AI Princes. Imagine an ever-expanding discography that transcends generations.
The tech-optimist in me dances forth toward this future.
Outro
In 2015, Drake released the album If You're Reading This It's Too Late. I can't think of a more fitting title to sum up my thoughts on AI. If I'm reading, writing, or thinking about AI, it's too late. Someone else has already generated my shiny idea into the ether. We are creating and consuming AI content at such a warp speed that even writing about AI Drake feels like old news.
For now, I'll envision a soothing future in which I cue up my Drake Wellness app whenever I'm down and listen to guided meditations of him crooning life-affirming lyrics.
I'll program him to recite personalized pep talks: "Girl, you gonna nail this presentation today. I believe in you, girl, all the way."
Perhaps, I'll throw on a (real) Drake classic: “Sweatpants, hair tied, chillin' with no make-up on. That's when you're the prettiest. I hope that you don't take it wrong.”
But, I'll probably just listen to my favorite Drake album, Nothing Was the Same.
Nothing will ever be the same.
Thank you for reading Connection Crave. I’d love to hear your perspective on AI music.
Special thanks to my editor-friends for their time & feedback:
, ,, andA timely reference to a Drake & Future song
Beautiful, provocative read. I liked this: what happens when you compare yourself to the AI version of yourself?
This is a powerful piece, Rachael. It really got me thinking about Ai, and how it will change in the world in a way that other articles haven't. I'm a sucker for optimism, and so I'm hoping that it does more good than harm. I'm hoping we creatives can work with AI to make the world a better place, instead of deepening inequalities.
As a writer, I just wanted to point out this line. - "His lyrics raked his fingers through my hair and tucked a loose strand behind my ear." - The imagery here is amazing. I fell in love with this piece the moment I read this.