A song about immigration, whose music, vocals, and artwork were all created using artificial intelligence, has entered the top 50 most-listened-to songs in Germany, possibly a first in a major music market.
“Verknallt in einen Talahon” is a parody song that blends ’60s schlager pop with modern lyrics based on racial stereotypes about immigrants.
The song reached the 48th spot in Germany, the world’s fourth-largest music market. Within a month of its release, it garnered 3.5 million streams on Spotify, ranking third on the platform’s charts in the Global Viral Charts.
The songwriter of the song, Joshua Wagbinger, known as Butterbro, mentioned that he composed the song’s chorus by inputting his lyrics into Udio, an AI tool that generates vocals and instruments from text prompts.
He then added the verses using music tools after the chorus gained popularity on TikTok. In an interview with German podcast Die Klangküche (Sound Kitchen), the IT specialist and amateur musician expressed his aim to turn the song into a creative project.
The song has garnered attention in the German media not only for its production methods but also for its lyrical content. Translated as “In Love with Tarahon,” the song references the German version of the Arabic phrase “taeal huna,” commonly used in Germany to describe groups of young men with immigrant backgrounds.
The lyrics satirize the classic “good girl falls for the bad boy” narrative from ’60s songs like “Leader of the Pack” by The Shangri-Las, portraying the AI-generated love interest as someone who wears luxury brands and gives off a strong perfume scent.
Waghubinger aimed to create a song that humorously addressed macho behavior without discrimination and set out to make it viral on social media, as he revealed in an interview with Die Klangküche magazine.
However, Marie-Louise Goldman, culture editor at the conservative tabloid Die Welt, raised concerns about the song potentially straddling the line between parody and discrimination.
Felicia Agaye, a writer for the music magazine Diffus, expressed concerns about the song’s popularity and how the term “Tarahon” had turned into an insult against immigrants among young people in Germany and Austria.
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Numerous AI-generated songs in a similar style have been circulating on German social media, blending ’60s MOR schlager pop with suggestive lyrics.
Music producers are increasingly utilizing AI to create vocals resembling those of famous artists. In 2023, The Beatles released “Now and Then,” featuring an AI-assisted rendition of John Lennon’s vocals.
A song using Tupac Shakur’s voice generated by AI was briefly posted on Canadian rapper Drake’s Instagram account in April but was taken down after legal threats from the late rapper’s estate.
Source: www.theguardian.com
