NEWS
Timbaland has unveiled his plans to venture further into artificial intelligence, despite recently receiving criticism for using AI-generated Biggie vocals.
As Timbaland explained to Forbes magazine in a recent interview, he plans to “commercialize artificial intelligence software” with the goal of “revolutionizing 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,” he said. “I’m already here. This is what I’m doing. I’m going to lead the way.”
According to Forbes, the software was developed by Light Energy Labs, a Miami-based company the producer cofounded last year with software programmer and producer Zayd “Creatrgod” Portillo.
It is Timbaland’s belief that AI voice filters will “open up an unprecedented world of creativity in music.” As a result, he hopes his startup and AI voice filter technology will “usher in the new era.”
Besides benefiting emerging artists, the software could also benefit established ones, he said. Also, it may mean that a producer can use the voice of “a music legend who is no longer with us.”
However, he pointed out there are a host of “legal issues centering on copyright and revenue-sharing” that need to be resolved before the music can be released.
The internet has been saturated with AI-generated songs in recent months — notably “heart on my sleeve”, a track with AI-generated vocals from Drake and The Weeknd that was released earlier this year.
But in Timbaland’s opinion most AI voices have been amateurish, and that “it’s not being done in a way that would make artists and record labels feel proud to be involved.”
In his view, the industry and consumers need high-quality voice filters, human involvement, and a verification system showing that AI voices were authorized: “I don’t want to be afraid of what’s going on. I want to be the guy to figure out a solution.”
Reneé Rapp is seen as a “huge inspiration” by SZA.
The 25-year-old artist performed SZA’s Good Days in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, accompanied by two acoustic guitarists and a harp player. SZA, 35, was deeply moved by the rendition.
She posted a short video of the moment on Instagram Stories and wrote: “Renee is a HUGE inspiration, energy, voice spirit.”
During her chat with the BBC, Renee shared her thoughts about the track. She said: “I mean, I love SZA. I mean, she was one of my favorite artists in high school. And she's remained one of my favorite artists to this day. I think she's amazing. She's also, I mean, she's an incredible songwriter, but I think because she has so much swag. People don't realize how good of a singer she is. She's a fantastic vocalist and is really, really, really articulate. And I don't cover a lot of songs anymore. So I wanted to cover something that was, like, slightly challenging and also really vocally impressive, and frankly, hard for me to do.”
Renee is currently in the middle of promoting her second album, Bite Me, and opened up about how much more enjoyable it was to create compared to her first project.
She explained: “I mean, I feel like everything was incredibly different. I stopped listening to people that don't make music, because if you don't make music, then why the hell am I listening to you. And I also think the biggest difference, I think I just got a lot better. I think I have just become a better songwriter. I think I understand how to make pop music now in a way that I didn't really before. And I was very sure about what this album was and thematically, what it needed.
“So I felt like I was quite like, headstrong in like, what was gonna work and what wasn't. Because, nobody knows something better than yourself. I think a lot of things were different. I also just, like, had a lot of fun making it, like, I made it with like, three people, mostly, like, it was always like, four of us in the studio all the time, and we got so close, and some of us were already so close. So it was also just like a mess. It was such a mess, like we were just tweaking every day. It was so fun. And I don't think I enjoyed making the first one as much.”
