Sheryl Crow isn’t a fan of AI, and she’s made her thoughts on Drake’s use of the technology clear. Earlier this year, during Kendrick Lamar’s and Drake’s rap feud, the latter released a diss track aimed at Lamar titled “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which featured AI-generated voices of the late West Coast rapper Tupac and Snoop Dogg.
In a new interview with the BBC, Sheryl Crow spoke out against the use of AI in music, particularly targeting Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle.” She described the technology as a “slippery slope” and “a betrayal” that “goes against everything humanity is based on.” Crow revealed that she was first introduced to AI last year when she encountered a songwriter who had generated John Mayer’s vocals for a track: “I know John and I know the nuances of his voice. And there would be no way you’d have been able to tell that he was not singing that song.” She added that she was “terrified” and “literally hyperventilating.”
Regarding Drake’s use of AI, Crow said: “You cannot bring people back from the dead and believe that they would stand for that. 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. It is antithetical to the life force that exists in all of us.”