Category: New Music

Timbaland recently announced his launch of his own Artificial Intelligence company called Stage Zero and his flagship virtual singer named TaTa. While Timbo’s artist isn’t a rapper, his influence in the music culture could inspire the next AI hip-hop artist. But had an AI rapper before, and it failed miserably.

Source: XXLMag

Timbaland Reveals His New AI Artist TaTa

Timbaland had the internet in shambles when he announced that he was creating his own AI music company called Stage Zero and introduced his first signee, a singer named TaTa. To be clear, TaTa is not a real person but a virtual creation developed through artificial intelligence.

According to a Billboard article, published last Wednesday (June 5), the Grammy Award-winning will produce the music and TaTa will be performing under a new genre he dubbed “A-Pop.”

“I’m not just producing tracks anymore,” Timbo said in a statement. “I’m producing systems, stories, and stars from scratch. [TaTa] is not an avatar. She is not a character. TaTa is a living, learning, autonomous music artist built with AI TaTa is the start of something bigger. She’s the first artist of a new generation. A-Pop is the next cultural evolution, and TaTa is its first icon.”

News of Timbaland’s AI venture drew harsh backlash from fans who believed that Timbaland is out of touch with reality and is attempting to substitute genuine, skilled singers with AI artists created from a computer.

“Timbaland has joined the pantheon of goated legends that lost touch and apparently surrounded themselves with people that don’t know how to say ‘this ain’t it…,'” opined Paimon Alipour, a DJ and producer, on X, formerly Twitter.

“I think Timbo was using all those artist that submitted him music over the past 2 years to train his AI model. Holy s**t man. Wow,” another fan wrote.

In response to fans’ accusing him of abandoning real talent and exploiting submissions from unsigned artists to develop his AI singer, Timbaland posted a message on Threads addressing the backlash.

“I know I’m trolling but let’s have real conversation. I love my independent artists. This doesn’t mean I’m not working with real artists anymore, Timbo wrote in his missive, which can be video below this post.

“And nah I don’t train ai off y’all music. This just means more creativity for creators,” he added, along with a clip of music executive Ray Daniels supporting his A.I. endeavor.

Although Timbaland’s artist is not a rapper, the veteran hitmaker’s cultural influence in music could prompt another AI company to develop a virtual rapper. But we had an A.I. rapper, and it didn’t work out so well.

Capitol Records’ AI Rapper FN Meka Sparks Fan Outrage

In August of 2022, Capitol Records announced that it signed their first virtual rapper named FN Meka. The AI-generated artist resembled a whacked-out version of 6ix9ine with its braided green-colored hairstyle, matching green eyes and wearing high-end apparel.

Read More: Do We Need Another AI Rapper? We Had One – It Failed Miserably | https://www.xxlmag.com/ai-rapper-fail/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral