Sorry music fans. If you happened to stumble upon a new collab between two of Toronto’s greatest exports, Drake and the Weeknd, Â just a few days ago, we’ve got some bad news for you. Turns out the song, called “Heart on My Sleeve” was a fake. The one-minute snippet that went viral over the weekend, was generated entirely by artificial intelligence by a TiktTokker known as @ghostwriter.
“This is just the  beginning,” they wrote under the song’s YouTube video.
In just a few days the song – which was removed yesterday by Universal Music Group (UMG) — had ben viewed more than 15 million times on TikTok, received 275,000 YouTube views, and 600,000 Spotify streams.
The song opens with piano and a booming base, as AI Drake sings a rap verse; “I came in with my ex like Selena to flex/Bumpin’ Justin Bieber the fever ain’t left.”
The AI Weeknd responds with a verse when he “alleges” Gomez cheated on him before their 2017 breakup. The song also includes a shout-out to award-winning producer Metro Boomin who has worked with artists like Kanye West and Nicki Manaj.
In an interview with Billboard Magazine, a rep from UMG said that they believe companies are have been using music to “train” their software.
“The training of generative AI using our artists’ music (which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law) as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on DSPs (digital service providers) begs the questions as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want 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.”
@piped.r9 Replying to @6foot3darkskin_ this one sound like him but don’t at the same time #drake #ai ♬ original sound – AiVoiced
While neither artist has publicly responded to the AI-generated song, just last week, Drake expressed his contempt at his voice being cloned on a fan-made video in which he appeared to be rapping on Ice Spice’s song Munch.
“This is the final draw AI,” he posted on Instagram.
There are many websites that give fans the opportunity to create new songs using voices that sound just like the real deal.
Recently David Guetta used a site called uberduck.ai to initiate the voice of Eminem on an instrumental track and Kanye West made headlines again when a AI-generated track of him singing “Hey There, Delilah” went viral.