#016 | Kanye West or AI. Can You Tell The Difference?

Muse-Letter 016 - April 17, 2023

Yoooooo! What's up fam!

Welcome back to The Muse-Letter. The music industry is changing due to AI. Some people are accepting the change and others aren’t. We’re looking at Hit-Boy and his sneak peek of a song with a computer-generated Kanye West rap, and talking about Nigerian-British producer, LONDON, who is behind the “Calm Down’ hit with Rema and Selena Gomez.

I appreciate you having a read and being part of the Muse-Letter community. Without further ado, let's get into it.

Today’s newsletter is sponsored by a free app I’ve been using - Session Studio!

Anytime I collab with people, I’m constantly using different apps to send stuff out. From Dropbox to WeTransfer, it gets so confusing.

Session Studio is a new app I’ve been using and the best part is it’s completely free!

I use Session to store all my stuff and collaborate with artists in one place.

Download Session Studio now for a chance to win $2,000 worth of prizes with Session Studio Song Drop : Free App Download

Learn more about Session Studio Song Drop here!

This Week in Producer News 📰

Kanye West & Hit-Boy Join Forces For A New Song - Or Do They?

Hit-Boy shared a sneak peek of a new song on Instagram where you can clearly hear West rapping to Hit-Boy’s track from his Surf or Drown album “2 Certified”.

“I’ma need all the amenities/ You made a lil’ pape, I went at their neck and made history/ Dumbin’ out on my own beats/ Hot like I threw ’em in grease/ The one, not the two or the three/ I’m watchin’ the numbers increase,” he raps over the drill-flavoured beat.

You can see in the caption that Hit-Boy admits that it’s not the famous rapper, but rather the power of AI voice technology. Hit-Boy says in the video, “That shit is wild!” while other people in his studio are reacting to the crazy similarities.

There is a love-hate relationship with AI in the world with some embracing its wicked technology, while others fear the change and what it means for the music industry. JAY-Z’s go-to engineer Young Guru doesn’t share the excitement of AI. He has recently shared his thoughts on the issues of AI after hearing a computer-generated Hov verse where it was impossible to tell the difference from the well-known rapper.

Hit-Boy and his partnership with Kanye West began in the early 2010s, working together on “N-ggas In Paris,” “Clique” and “Cold.” Hit-Boy was actually signed to G.O.O.D. Music as an in-house producer. Their relationship soon died out when Hit-Boy left West’s label in 2013 when the deal had ended.

Hit-Boy told all on an Instagram post in 2020, claiming West stopped working with him because he had collaborated with Beyoncé.

“I haven’t been a fan of Kanye on a personal/ human level since he told me face to face he stopped picking my beats because I worked with Beyoncé,” he wrote. “this is after I produced n-ggas in Paris, clique, and a myriad of other songs/projects for him and his label GOOD Music in the 2 years I was signed with them.”

Hit-Boy called out Kayne’s reliance on co-producers and songwriters while celebrating the release of his and Nas’King’s Disease II in 2021 after he had too many drinks. Hit-Boy eventually linked up with his former label boss last year, producing Ye and The Game’s “EAZY” collaboration.

I’m interested in how the rest of the song is going to sound and what the music industry is going to start looking like if more artists and producers are using AI in their tracks.

Article of the Week 📜

Get To Know LONDON, Nigerian Producer Behind Rema and Selena Gomez’s Popular Hit, “Calm Down”

Meet LONDON, the 23-year-old Nigerian-British music maker, also known as Michael Hunter who has been collaborating on hits with artists like Rema, Wizkid, Ayra Starr, Tiwa Savage, and Black Sherif. Most notable, is his song with Selena Gomez and Rema, ‘Calm Down’.

“Calm Down,” has become a popular hit reaching No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 on the Global 200. The song has been very popular on TikTok and has even been used in protest by Iranian teenage girls using it for protest who was later found and reportedly detained by authorities. “To all the beautiful women who are fighting for a better world, I’m inspired by you, I sing for you, and I dream with you,” Rema tweeted in response to the video.

This isn’t Rema and LONDON’s first viral TikTok moment. Their 2021 single “Soundsgasm,” gained use on over a hundred thousand videos on TikTok and reached No. 15 on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart.

“We have the same frequency, the same taste in music,” he says of collaborator Rema. “That’s why whenever we work with each other, it’s always straight bangers.”

Rema and LONDON are currently working on a joint EP with Ayra Starr and his own album is set to come out next year. “We [Africans] are so hungry for that spotlight to be on us,” he says. “And now that we have it, there’s no way we’re going to [lose it].”

LONDON spoke with Billboard and discussed his humble beginnings and how the “Calm Down” track came to be.

“I was born in Kaduna, a small state in [northern] Nigeria. I used to play drums in church, so that’s kind of where I started off musically. After high school, I was trying to get into college — but the system in Nigeria is really weird. You have to know someone that knows someone to get into college. So I had to stay back home for two years or so. Instead of just staying at home doing nothing, I decided to learn something.”

“[When I was 18], I used to work as a graphic designer and I got introduced to Fruity Loops by a friend of mine at the same firm. Everything kind of kicked off from there. I started playing around with the software and learned how to make beats pretty.”

LONDON talks about the kind of music he was into when he was younger. “My mom was a big music lover. I never really had a taste of my own because I was forced to always listen to what she was listening to. Every morning it was her tunes waking me up. A lot of Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson.”

We get to hear about the collaboration for “Calm Down” and how it came to be. LONDON says, “Calm Down” is actually a crazy record because I wasn’t part of the beginning process. Andre Vibez, the other producer on the record, started the song with Rema. Rema played me “Calm Down” because I was executive producing his album — and he liked the song, but he felt like there were certain things missing. So we basically had to take everything apart [to make] everything work. We rearranged it, adding layers, adding some sounds, adding some effects, just to make everything blend together.”

LONDON made some changes to the song to make it what it is today. “The arrangement of the song and the strings. He said he needed more emotion on the song, so I helped him put more strings on the songs, he needed the drums to knock harder. So I just helped beef it up a bit. I helped him take the record to the next level. That’s pretty much what I did for his album in general. I produced 14 out of the 16 songs, and out of that 14, a few songs I co-produced with other people. When it comes to music [and] sound, we understand each other properly.”

He then talked about the struggle for African artists to be discovered and make it in the music industry. LONDON explains, “In Nigeria, it’s not really a thing to have a management body behind you. You basically just have to hustle, build your connections, always put your stuff out there for people to see. I used to like post little clips of me making beats on Instagram. That’s how I got discovered by [producer] Baby Fresh, who also played a big role in mentoring me.”

“Another person was Ozedikus, who produced Rema’s first hit, “Dumebi.” He used to put me through beat-making and take me around for sessions. When I’d go for the sessions, I always happened to connect with everyone and exchange numbers. It was basically all through connections. I had no manager at that time. It was all just solo efforts just trying to make it through the industry. But as you grow, you [need] a proper team to take you to the next level.”

It’s sick seeing producers being recognized after all their hard work and dedication to music-making. I can’t wait to see what else LONDON puts out. If you haven’t heard “Calm Down” yet, check it out as it’s a sick beat to listen to and boogie with.

Every Kit Bundle

Make sure to check out my biggest sale, where you can get every single kit ever released on Tsunami Audio.

Worth $559.85. Get every kit for just $149.99

Recent YouTube Video 🎬

Making an EP in 48 Hours With My Brother!

Check out my latest YouTube video where I make a sick EP with my brother!

Interested in sponsoring the Muse-Letter? Submit a quick form here.

Thanks for reading this week's newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to providing you with more content that helps you level up throughout 2023. In the meantime, make sure to take a look at the top-quality sounds I use on my website! 👇🏿

YouTube | TsunamiAudio | Instagram | Twitter | Discord

If you have any questions, ideas, or suggestions feel free to hit me up on IG! @prodbyocean

Appreciate you, fam.

-Ocean