NEWS
Young Guru, Jay-Z's engineer, joined fans and industry veterans alike bashing superproducer Timabaland announcement of launching an A.I. entertiainment label.
While longtime friends, Guru would share his thoughts on Timbo's involvement with artifical intelligance in a Instagram cover. Respectfully in disagreeance, Young Guru wrote the following:
"I'm going to say it again. I swear I love you bro but this ain't it. Do you not realize what is going on in the world. Your voice is powerful and way too important to do anything like this. I have students who worship you. They are going to say 'if Tim can do it, then it is ok for me to do it.' These are the times, right here, that history is defined.. Human expression can never be reduced to this!!! This is way bigger than music!!! I say this in all love."
In response, Timbaland shared a video featuring an AI-generated character who mocked critics. “Y’all crying about AI taking your spot, but your songs barely mix,” it joked, drawing more heat for its tone. Rapper Rexx Life Raj said, “Unc went out sad,” while Lauren Speed-Hamilton questioned AI’s growing grip on entertainment.
Doubling down, Timbaland posted a clip of music exec Ray Daniels defending the concept. Comparing Tata to cartoon icons like Mickey Mouse, Daniels claimed AI artists can sell music just like animated characters sell toys. Timbaland later clarified that he still collaborates with real artists and doesn’t train AI models on their work.
Despite his reassurances, the controversy continues. For critics like Guru, the debate isn’t just about tech—it’s about preserving the soul of music.
A.I. been creepin’ into hip-hop for a minute now. At first, it was just helpin' producers cook up beats and melodies with apps like Amper and Magenta. Then came the next-gen Auto-Tune, flippin’ voices like magic.
By the late 2010s, bots were spittin’ bars, copyin’ legends like ‘Pac and Em. Deepfakes took it further—fans makin’ ghost verses from dead or livin’ rappers. Kanye and Timbo tapped in heavy, but not everybody’s feelin’ it.
When Ghostwriter and Timbaland’s AI artist Tata dropped in 2023, it sparked real talk
NEWS
Oliver Tree’s team has provided a new update following the singer’s death in a helicopter crash on June 14, confirming that a new artist grant will soon be established in his memory to help creatives secure funding, a plan he had detailed in his will before his passing.
Accompanying a collection of photos highlighting Tree’s performances, travels and creative work through the years, a post shared Sunday (June 21) on his Instagram account revealed that the musician’s remains have been brought back to California, the state he called home and where he will be laid to rest. “His legacy will live on through his foundation/endowment named ‘Dr. Oliver Tree’s Extremely Epic Grant For Baby Geniuses’ coming soon,” the caption reads. “This is something that Oliver had put together before his passing.”
“We will make sure his wish comes to fruition so that more joy, love and art can be spread into the world, that was his final wish,” the statement continued, adding that “the constant love, support and positivity” shown by fans throughout the past week has helped his “family, friends and collaborators make it through these extremely difficult times.”
Tree was among six people who lost their lives in a helicopter collision in Rio de Janeiro. The musician was in Brazil for his The World’s First Tour run and had performed what would ultimately be his final concert on June 6 in São Paulo. The other victims of the crash were identified as passengers Lucas Vignale, Gaspar Prim and Lucas Brito Chaves, along with pilots Alexandre Souza and Charles Marsillac.
Just months before his death, Tree discussed his plans to direct his fortune and future earnings from his music toward a grant program for artists during an appearance on the Zach Sang Show. “I take no credit for anything I’ve ever done,” he said during the April interview. “Furthermore, I don’t believe that any of the wealth or things that get made from it is mine. So when I die … my will is set up so that when I pass, my family, nobody is going to get a penny.”
“If I have a wife or kids or anything, they’re not getting a penny,” he added at the time, explaining that the initiative would focus on helping artists create work rather than funding education. “I’ll get my kids through college, that’s the agreement, but there’s not gonna be a silver spoon. All the money is going to go back to artists.”
