Now, Timbaland Has Made An AI Song with The Notorious B.I.G.

Legendary producer Timbaland has used AI-crafted lyrics and vocals for a posthumous collaboration with The Notorious B.I.G.

The AI version of The Notorious B.I.G. is making its rounds. Just one week after the late Brooklyn wordsmith was heard on an artificial intelligence-crafted cover of Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind,” producer Timbaland has made an entirely new song using Biggie vocals.

“Alright so, I’m sitting here with my brother, Creatr God, and we know that it’s a lot of talk about AI and we know how the feelings of violating certain things,” says Timbaland, legal name Timothy Mosley, in a clip previewing the song. “But let me tell you something: I got a solution, I’m working on it. It’s gon’ be beneficial to everybody.

“But, in the meantime, I gotta share something I’ve been working on because I always wanted to do this and I never got a chance to. I always wanted to work with Big and I never got a chance to — until today. It came out right! Play!”

Responses to the song have been mixed, while artists like Offset and Young Guru – who once criticized the use of AI in hip-hop – complemented Mosley on Instagram. As artists and music listeners continue to debate the ethics of AI-generated music, last month, Universal Music Group pulled a faux Drake and The Weeknd collaboration from streaming services. The company also asked platforms like Spotify to halt the ‘training’ of technology using their artist’s music.

“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, begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on,” UMG said in a statement. “The side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation.

Read more reactions to Timbaland’s song below.