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Universal Music Group is in the early stages of talks with Google about licensing artists’ voices for songs created by artificial intelligence, according to The Financial Times. Warner Music Group has also discussed this possibility, The Financial Times reported.
Advances in artificial-intelligence-driven technology have made it relatively easy for a producer sitting at home to create a song involving a convincing facsimile of a superstar’s voice — without that artist’s permission. Hip-hop super-fans have been using the technology to flesh out unfinished leaks of songs from their favorite rappers.
One track in particular grabbed the industry’s attention in March: “Heart On My Sleeve,” which masqueraded as a new collaboration between Drake and the Weeknd. At the time, a Universal Music spokesperson issued a statement saying that “stakeholders in the music ecosystem” have to choose “which side of history… 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.”
“In our conversations with the labels, we heard that the artists are really pissed about this stuff,” Geraldo Ramos, co-founder and CEO of the music technology company Moises, told Billboard recently. (Moises has developed its own AI-driven voice-cloning technology, along with the technology to detect whether a song clones someone else’s voice.) “How do you protect that artist if you’re a label?” added Matt Henninger, Moises’ vp of sales and business development.
The answer is probably licensing: Develop a system in which artists who are fine with having their voices cloned clear those rights — in exchange for some sort of compensation — while those acts who are uncomfortable with being replicated by technology can opt out. Just as there is a legal framework in place that allows producers to sample 1970s soul, for example, by clearing both the master and publishing rights, in theory there could be some sort of framework through which producers obtain permission to clone a superstar’s voice.
AI-driven technology could “enable fans to pay their heroes the ultimate compliment through a new level of user-driven content,” Warner CEO Robert Kyncl told financial analysts this week. (“There are some [artists] that may not like it,” he continued, “and that’s totally fine.”)
On the same investor call, Kyncl also singled out “one of the first official and professionally AI-generated songs featuring a deceased artist, which came through our ADA Latin division:” A new Pedro Capmany track featuring AI-generated vocals from his father Jose, who died in 2001. “After analyzing hundreds of hours of interviews, acappellas, recorded songs, and live performances from Jose’s career, every nuance and pattern of his voice was modeled using AI and machine learning,” Kyncl explained.
After the music industry’s initial wave of alarm about AI, the conversation has shifted, according to Henninger. With widely accessible voice-cloning technology available, labels can’t really stop civilians from making fake songs accurately mimicking their artists’ vocals. But maybe there’s a way they can make money from all the replicants.
Henninger is starting to hearing different questions around the music industry. “How can [AI] be additive?” he asks. “How can it help revenue? How can it build someone’s brand?”
Reps for Universal and Warner did not respond to requests for comment.
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Veronica Correia was just like any other Drake fan during the weekend that the Canadian star was in New York for a pair of shows at the Barclays for his “It’s All A Blur” tour. However, the Rhode Island native upped the ante by tossing her 36G bra onstage and ended up having not only a viral moment but a private one with Drizzy himself.
Veronica Correia, who owns a coffee shop in Cumberland, R.I., was a guest on the Club Ambition and the interview went swiftly into the moment when she decided to toss her bra onstage and the rest is pretty much history.
As most have noted, Drake did ask to meet the mystery woman and eventually invited Correia backstage. She also says that the two have exchanged DM messages but it was just general back and forth and nothing that would be deemed as crossing the line.
Correia then explained that Playboy reached out to her after she revealed herself on social media to do a photoshoot and that too has made it to the masses.
As a businesswoman, Correia is looking to leverage the moment back toward her business. In a TMZ interview, Correia shared with the outlet that she’ll call the new creation the Drizzy Drizzle or the 36G.
Check out the clips of Veronica Correia below.
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Photo: @olivia.veronica.corr / Instagram
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We all know that when Drake puts on a show, he goes all out as he loves to give his fans a moment to remember, but we had no idea that the King of The North was raking in record breaking cash while doing so.
According to Touring Data, the Certified Lover Boy artist pulled in a $5 million per night when his It’s All A Blur tour made it’s stop in Washington for some shows at the Capital One Arena and earned him a whopping $5.032 million in a single night.
Keep in mind that this is $10 million off of ticket sales alone.Combine that with sales from merchandise and you have yourself enough money to retire comfortably for the rest of your life… well, kinda. Cost of living in 2023 is pretty ridiculous.
The news comes months after it was reported that Kendrick Lamar’s Big Steppers tour became the highest grossing rap tour in music history generating a historic $110 million altogether. But with the numbers that Drake is putting up we wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually eclipses K. Dot’s record and claims the top spot all to himself and proves he’s still the top dog in the rap game as far as his hardcore day-ones are concerned.
With 15 shows left on his schedule and a whole lot of money to be made in the process, don’t be surprised if Drizzy ends up taking home the tour crown when it’s all said and done.
What do y’all think? Could Drake break Kendrick’s tour haul by the time he wraps up his tour? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Fat Joe lives a life but Drake apparently lives a different life. The rapper recently admitted he is jealous of Champagne Papi.
As spotted on HipHopDX the South Bronx, New York native continues comment on the culture via his ongoing Instagram Live series. Last week he hosted a live stream where he discussed why Drizzy is one of the greatest to ever do it. He also added that while he has a historic run in music that may never be duplicated he also says that he gets serious love from people in very high places.
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“Let me tell you why I might be jealous of Drake,” Fat Joe explained. “I’ve never seen a guy people love more. Because it’s rumors his airplane — which looks like the flyest plane in the world — was actually given to him by a friend. Someone who wants to be down with the man who has a 15-year run of unstoppable hits.”
The “Lean Back” rapper went to speculate that that Drake’s private jet was also gifted. “Then there’s a guy who owns all the crypto sh*t, he buys the 2Pac ring for $1 million and he gives it to Drake. Who the f*** is giving people this type of sh*t? Yes, I’m not making this sh*t up!” Joe went on to joke that he can’t even get dad gifts. “Bro, they won’t give me a f****** pack of socks! They won’t give me a croissant. F***, this some bullsh*t.”
You can see Fat Joe talk Drake below.
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Drake is currently in the midst of his It’s All A Blur tour and sparked an interesting trend at his shows that doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. After playfully calling out women for not throwing bras onstage during his sets, Drake encountered a bra size that left him baffled at the sheer size.
Drake recently completed a two-day run (July 28 & 29) in Washington, D.C. at Capitol One Arena and paused his set to discuss one woman’s bra that left him stumped. The Canadian superstar, clearly having a good time with the moment, shouted out the woman’s 36L bra size and launched into a hilarious monologue about how high the letters can go. TikTok user @threehana caught all the shenanigans on her phone.
“36L? L? How many letters does it go up to?” Drake asked, right before going into counting on his fingers how many letters were used for the bra. “There’s another one over there that looks big but we’ll talk about it later personally. Nah, this is custom work right here.”
Drake added, “This is crazy, this can’t be real, who’s is this?” before picking up a sizeable but still smaller 42H bra to compare the two sets. Apparently, there were two 42H bras thrown.
In part two of the video, Drake appears to think that women are just purchasing large bras to toss onto the stage.
“Y’all just buying big bras and throwing them onstage. Are we just giving out tickets to women with the biggest t*tties in the world?” Drake continued before ending the monologue and launching back into his set.
The video from @threehana went viral on X (formerly known as Twitter) and we’ve got some reactions from the social media site below. Also, these women throwing the big bras must be rich, just saying.
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Photo: Marcelo Hernandez / Getty
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Drake and Pusha T‘s feud might not have the spotlight it once did but it appears to be far from over. The Canadian superstar took a light shot at King Push and Pharrell on Travis Scott’s new album UTOPIA, and fans have their thoughts per usual.
Travis Scott dropped UTOPIA on Friday (July 28) and so far the early returns on the album say that Cactus Jack has another one in the can. Among several standout features that include the likes of Beyoncé, 21 Savage, Future, SZA, Young Thug, Playboy Carti, and more, Drake is also part of that star-studded list. Drizzy shows up on the track “MELTDOWN” and the last few bars of his feature had the aforementioned targets.
From “MELTDOWN”:
My schedule is out, come spin us, for realMan, f*ck all that spinnin’ the narrative sh*tI melt down the chains that I bought from yo’ bossGive a f*ck about all of that heritage sh*tSince V not around, the members done hung up the Louis, they not even wearing that sh*tDon’t come to the boy ’bout repairing some sh*tDon’t come to the boy about sparing some sh*tYou lucky that Vogue was suing, ’cause I would’ve been with the Wassas in Paris and sh*t
As it stands, Drake is alerting his opposition that he’s on his “It’s All A Blur” tour and inviting the smoke in the first line of the lyrics quoted above. On Twitter and Genius alike, fans are noting that the “melt down the chains” line is directed towards Pharrell, who reportedly designed a series of chains the rapper wore in the “Jumbotron Sh*t Poppin” video from Her Loss, his collaborative album with 21 Savage.
The lyric that begins with “Since V not around” is a clear nod to the late Virgil Abloh, who was the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear line, a role Pharrell now occupies.
On X (formerly known as Twitter), Drake, Pusha T, and Pharrell’s names are trending. We’ve got the best reactions below.
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We all know that everyone loves Drake. But one fan’s love in particular went viral after she went old school with it and threw her bra to the singer during one of his shows at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York just last week.
According to TMZ, 21-year-old Veronica Correia became the talk of the town after she blessed the King of The North with a parting gift and threw her size 36G bra on stage to which Drake jokingly told the crowd, “Locate this woman immediately.” Numbers don’t lie, right?
Locate the woman they did and now she’s getting offers to put her God given assets on display for the world to see, and she just might do it.
TMZ reports:
We spoke with Veronica, who gave us a breakdown of that entire night, particularly the big bra moment … and says Drake’s already responded to one of her posts, but she hasn’t hit the guy back yet.
She also got a DM from Playboy, offering her the chance to join the team in some capacity — an offer it sounds like she couldn’t refuse. For those unaware, Playboy’s done away with its long-running magazines and has switched over to an OnlyFans-style business model. While Veronica hasn’t been that gung-ho for OF, despite getting asked, something about Playboy must’ve called to her.Drake don’t waste no time, b.Check out the moment Veronica changed the trajectory of her life, and sound off in the comments section below.
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After being criticized by Elliott Wilson for avoiding rap media to only speak with “outsiders”, Drake clapped back on social media.
On Monday (July 24th), DJ Akademiks shared a clip of the Rap Radar Podcast host doing an interview with Trippie Redd at the Rolling Loud Miami festival over the weekend. The Certified Lover Boy rapper seized the opportunity to hop into the comments of the post, which was shared on Instagram, to add a little shade to the situation.
“Lol man shits on not coming to his platform for a second time and now Elliott 10 toes doing Yes Julz run up interviews at Rolling Loud,” he wrote, also adding laughing emojis. “Just admit the youth took over big dog.” The former Editor-In-Chief of XXL didn’t take long to acknowledge the comment, and to hint at a possible retort in line with his reputation for being outspoken with his perspective as one of the leaders in the field. He shared a screenshot of the comment on his Twitter account with the caption, “Oh, it’s go time? Cool.”
The Honestly, Nevermind rapper has been upset at Wilson since the 52-year-old journalist called him out for pointedly avoiding Hip-Hop media outlets in the wake of his interviews with Caleb Presley of Barstool Sports and TikTok personality Bobbi Althoff. “Moment of clarity: No disrespect to Lil Boat,” he wrote in a tweet that’s since been deleted. “Yachty’s convo with The Boy was comfy and had some cool moments. I was more so clowning the comedy shenanigans with outsiders to our culture. It would be great to hear Drake speak to us again. Even if it ain’t me.”
Drake last appeared on the Rap Radar Podcast with Wilson and Brian “B Dot” Miller in 2019, shedding some light on his artistic journey in a two-hour discussion. Wilson’s critique comes as the Toronto artist has also drawn criticism from Ebro Darden of HOT97 and Apple Music 1, who chided Drake for throwing shade at Childish Gambino’s hit “This Is America” during a show on his current tour while not speaking on issues.
“Drake doesn’t have to,” Ebro wrote on Twitter. “Nor should he if he doesn’t feel it. But to say “This Is America” is overrated and over awarded when that song came at a time when people needed someone to say something. And he doesn’t feel the need to. That’s all.”
UPDATE: 2 Dope Boyz founder MekDot has been dragged into this feud, or whatever you want to call it.
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Drake is an artist that has just as many fans as he does folks who can’t stand him, and that was made clear after a new image surfaced on social media last night (July 18). The image in question featured Drake and rising rapper Sexyy Red with the Canadian superstar saying he just met his “rightful wife.”
Drake is currently in New York City on a seven-show run that kicked off on July 17 at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. During the run, Drizzy has already coaxed stars such as Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry alongside his wife, Ayesha Curry among other notables. Lil Yachty was also in tow and was introduced to the crowd by the OVO Sound honcho.
However, what has the attention of the people is a photo Drake shared on his Instagram story feed cozied up backstage with Sexyy Red, with the “Pound Town” rapper getting a loving smooch. The caption within the photo reads, “Just met my rightful wife” and that was all Twitter needed to get the discussion trending in all kinds of directions.
Drake is known for keeping his ear to the street and has collaborated in the past with a number of rising rappers who caught a wave while boosting their profile. Some online assume that the Toronto superstar is eyeing a collaboration with his St. Louis counterpart while others are assuming that love is on the horizon, which is just speculative at this point.
Check out the reactions from all sides below.
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Photo: @champagnepapi / Instagram
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Being friends with Drake has its perks. Just ask John Calipari and his Kentucky Wildcats college basketball program.
Spotted on HipHopDX, legendary college basketball coach John Calipari isn’t shy about taking advantage of his decades-long relationship with the Canadian Hip-Hop star.
While he is on tour with 21 Savage, Drake invited Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats basketball program to practice at his $100 million mansion that features a basketball court called “The Sanctuary” while using Drizzy’s massive pool to help beat the unprecedented Canadian heat.
Rocking his OVO polo because you have to be rocking Drake’s gear while at his crib, Calipari shared a video of himself and his Wildcats enjoying time at the pool after practice.
“Alright, we’re at Drake’s relaxing,” Cal flexed in a video shared on his Twitter account.’ “Really wish you were with us. What is that? Is that a hotel? Oh my gosh, and here comes goofballs. You would think these are a bunch of 18-year-olds. I ain’t going in,” while “Having Our Way” played in the background.
In other videos shared on the Kentucky Wildcats Twitter account, forward Tre Mitchell revealed that his favorite Drake record is “Champagne Poetry” off his 2021 project, Certified Lover Boy.
Why Were The Kentucky Wildcats Up North?
HipHopDX reports the team was fresh off winning the gold medal while competing in the Global Jam tournament, so that should qualify all suspicions as to why the Kentucky Wildcats were north of the border.
We’re sure even though Drake is currently breaking fan’s hearts and pockets during his tour; he is secretly hating he is not at his crib practicing with the Wildcats so he could get some revenge following the poor layup performance when Coach Cal let him cosplay as a player for a day.
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Never forget!
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