Earlier this year, Drake released “Taylor Made Freestyle,” a track that featured AI vocals of the late Tupac Shakur and the very much alive Snoop Dogg (who was bewildered). In a BBC feature shared on Saturday, country icon Sheryl Crow criticized the Canadian rapper for using the technology that she describes as “slippery slope” and “a betrayal” that “goes against everything humanity is based on.”
“You cannot bring people back from the dead and believe that they would stand for that,” Crow said. “I’m sure Drake thought, ‘Yeah, I shouldn’t do it, but I’ll say sorry later.’ But it’s already done, and people will find it even if he takes it down.”
“It’s hateful,” she continued. “It is antithetical to the life force that exists in all of us.”
Crow’s hatred of AI began when her acquaintance paid to have an AI clone of John Mayer replace her vocals and she was so “terrified” by the result that she was “literally hyperventilating.” “I know John and I know the nuances of his voice,” she expounded. “And there would be no way you’d have been able to tell that he was not singing that song.”
She added, “AI can do lots of things, but it can’t go out and play live. So as long as we have live music, as long as we have hands holding a paintbrush, all is not lost.”
Earlier this year, Crow unveiled her new album Evolution. It’s not a great time to be Drake, considering Kendrick Lamar’s recent hate party at the Forum.