Jay-Z’s longtime engineer Young Guru explained his problem with Timbaland using AI to make a song with the late Notorious B.I.G.
Young Guru discussed the rise of AI at length in an interview with Okayplayer. He explained why he called out Timbaland for pushing AI’s ability to create music with the voices of deceased artists.
“The reason that I said something to Tim, number one, is because me and Tim have worked together and we have a relationship and that’s why I started in love,” Young Guru said. “I was like, “Tim, I love you, but this is dangerous because of who you are. If you set the precedent that this is okay, then every other kid is going to feel like oh, well Tim did it.’”
Young Guru didn’t view himself as anti-AI, but he objected to the way some people used it. He worried about Timbaland legitimizing harmful practices.
“When you take Big’s voice and you have him saying things that he would have never said, or it’s your interpretation or some other writer’s interpretation of what you think Big would have said, this kind of violates him and his legacy,” Young Guru said. “How do you think his daughter felt? How do you think CJ felt hearing their dad’s voice?”
He added, “How do you think Faith feels? How do you think Big’s mom feels? They’re not getting paid from any of these things that are being put out.”
Timbaland hasn’t officially released his AI-generated Biggie song. The producer posted a snippet of it on Instagram in May.