About

Heart On My Sleeve is an AI-generated song made using artificial intelligence technology to imitate the voices of Drake and The Weeknd, such as a tool like ElevenAI. It was originally posted to TikTok in mid-April 2023 and quickly spread to other platforms in the following days, where it stirred up a lot of debate over artificial intelligence and its possible consequences for creative industries.

Origin

The song was first posted by TikToker ghostwriter 977 on April 15th, 2023. It was titled "Heart on My Sleeve" and ghostwriter977 claimed that they had created the song using AI to imitate the voices of Drake and The Weeknd in the since deleted original posting (a repost is shown below).^[1]

In later posts and comments, ghostwriter 977 declared that their intention was to "turn the industry upside down."^[2] They claimed to a be a ghostwriter for major labels who was upset with the lack of recognition received for their work. They also fully expected a lawsuit, writing "go stream before the lawsuit."^[3]

Prior to the ghostwriter977 post, others had tried out the idea of AI-generating songs by Drake and other artists. For example, TikToker gengarcade created an AI Drake rapping about beans in December 2022, receiving almost half a million likes on TikTok in four months (seen below, left).^[4] Also in April, ai_music_covers released a TikTok of a Drake voice AI clone rapping in Korean, receiving over 666,000 likes in four days (seen below, right).^[5]

An AI cover of Drake rapping Ice Spice's "Munch" led the rapper to post, on his Instagram story on April 14th, "This is the last straw AI."^[9]

Spread

The ghostwriter977 post trended on TikTok on the weekend of April 15th and 16th, 2023. The audio of the track was used in over 1,000 videos that weekend, many of which showed people vibing to the song or challenging others to tell whether it was AI or real.^[7] The song, which was posted to Spotify on April 4th (almost two weeks before the viral TikTok) had accumulated over a quarter of a million plays by April 17th, 2023.^[6]

A viral tweet by Twitter user @rpnickson brought discourse about "Heart on My Sleeve" to Twitter on April 16th, 2023, receiving over 53,000 likes in less than 24 hours (seen below).^[8] The tweet called the AI song a "modern Napster moment," comparing the emergence of AI songs to the emergence of streaming and arguing it would transform the industry.

As the song spread online, many social media users wondered about possible legal consequences. According to reporting from The Financial Times, Universal Music Group recently asked Spotify and other streaming services to block AI from using their music to "train" its technology.^[10]

Also on April 16th, artist Beeple tweeted a creation he made in reference to the viral AI Drake song, receiving over 2,000 likes and 250 retweets in 24 hours (shown below).^[11]

Developments

Marketing Plot Theory

Some commentators online wondered whether the story told by ghostwriter977 was really so simple as it seemed. @MitchellLandon proposed, on April 16th in a Twitter thread which received over 750 likes (seen below left).^[12] Others made less elaborate arguments, saying it was actually Drake and The Weeknd behind the song and the whole situation as a publicity stunt (seen below right).^[13]

Banning On Platforms

On April 17th, the song was pulled from streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.^[15] That same day, Drake and The Weeknd's label, Universal Music Group (UMG) issued a statement criticizing AI-generated music,^[16] declaring via a spokesperson on April 18th:

…the training of generative AI using our artists' music (which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law) as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on DSPs, begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation.

As of April 18th, 2023, ghostwriter977 remained on TikTok, with a link to laylo where the song could be downloaded.^[17] However, the audio of the track on all of ghostwriter977's TikToks had been deleted.

Various Examples

External References