In what will surely be a definitive moment of the 21st century, an entirely AI-generated song featuring fake vocals from Drake and The Weeknd has been formally submitted for the Grammys. Written by anonymous producer Ghostwriter, the song, ‘Heart On My Sleeve’, took only a few hours to blow up to over 13 million views on TikTok alone when released online earlier this year.
‘Heart On My Sleeve’ had hundreds of thousands of streams on the likes of Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal, and 100,000 views on YouTube before Universal Music Group took it down.
Despite this, a spokesperson for Ghostwriter has confirmed to The New York Times that the song has been submitted for consideration at the Grammys under the ‘Best Rap Song’ and ‘Song of the Year’ categories – both of which reward the songwriter, not the performer.
Harvey Mason Jr, chief executive for the Recording Academy, the board behind the Grammy awards, confirmed that ‘Heart On My Sleeve’ could indeed be eligible, saying, “It’s absolutely eligible because it was written by a human.”
However, despite Mason Jr.’s statement, another requirement of Grammy eligibility may prevent the track from being considered, as songs submitted must be “available nationwide via brick-and-mortar stores, third-party online retailers and/or streaming services”.
Ghostwriter has also teased a new AI song featuring fake Travis Scott and 21 Savage vocals, writing, “It’s clear that people want this song. DM me on Instagram if you’re interested in allowing me to release this record, or if you’d like me to remove this post. If you’re down to put it out, I will clearly label it as AI, and I’ll direct royalties to you. Respect either way.”
If admitted to the Grammys, it will represent a massive blow for many artists such as former Sex Pistols and current PIL frontman John Lydon, Stereophonics leader Kelly Jones and acclaimed songwriter and composer Nick Cave, who declared AI artistry “a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human”.
Listen to a snippet of the song below.