A producer and rapper is taking credit for the viral Kendrick Lamar AI diss track that surfaced online.
Los Angeles-based music maker Sy The Rapper shared an Instagram video showing how he created the diss track, which was a supposed response to Drake and J. Cole. According to Sy, he first made the beat for the track. The artist then wrote and recorded lyrics that sounded similar to something Lamar would actually say, paying close attention to the annunciation of certain words and letters. He then manipulated the vocals to make it sound more like Lamar. Lastly, Sy placed his beat tag on the record and released it into the world.
The song immediately took off on YouTube, attracting over 500,000 listens. However, many fans were not sold on the track from the beginning, with many concluding that it was AI all along. During an interview with Complex, after the AI track went viral, Sy provided time-stamped videos and audio files of him constructing the fake song and applying the AI filters. Additionally, he offered isolated stems and the grid to further solidify it was him behind the drop. Sy previously released a viral Kanye West AI song last year, though, in the midst of the many rap beef of recent weeks, the Lamar one gained way more traction.
“I just had to place myself in Kendrick’s shoes, and it didn’t seem like Kendrick would come out swinging for the kill,” Sy explained.
Despite the world now knowing the song was fake, Sy has not taken it down but wanted to speak out to clear Lamar’s name.
