Praises won’t stop coming the way of veteran genge artiste Jua Cali following a February 24 release of an artificial intelligence (AI)-made song that he posted on YouTube, among other platforms.
The upload is a remake of his 2009 hit “Bongo la Biashara”, in which he featured Mejja. The AI remix comes in a rhumba rhythm. The lyrics of the 2009 song remain the same, but the melody, beats, and even voices have received a tech makeover. Even the video of the remixed version has been made by AI.
On March 24, exactly a month after it was uploaded, it had amassed 123,000 views on YouTube, with comments such as “this is a masterpiece”, “hii ni moto”, “hatari”, among others trickling in.
Jua Cali told Nation Lifestyle that the project was an initiative of JR Stewart, a fast-rising Kenyan musician and rapper known for blending modern Afro-pop and rap styles.
“It was just fun. I listened to it and thought it was fun,” said Jua Cali, noting that he just gave JR the raw project and the rest was done by the machines.
“It was creative because it was different from what I usually do: rhumba. No one can imagine me doing rhumba.”
Jua Cali is not the only Kenyan artiste who has released an AI-made song. His upload, however, is unique in the sense that he labelled it an AI project. Most artistes do not.
The “Kiasi” hit-maker believes that it is tantamount to lying if an artiste presents an AI song without stating that it was made with the intervention of computerised systems.
“Say the truth so that someone enjoys it as AI. For that song, we labelled it so that in case there’s someone interacting with the song for the first time, they know it’s AI. It’s very important,” he said.
“I don’t agree with those who are making new music solely based on AI,” added Jua Cali. “There are people who make new music solely from AI, and they sell it. With that, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s fake. But if you use it [to embellish] something original, that’s okay.”
Music producer Ernest Owino Ogutu, popularly known as Riccobeatz Mr 808, has been experimenting with AI music-making tools.
Ernest Owino Ogutu, popularly known as Ricco Beats.
Photo credit: Pool
“Yes, I’ve used AI. I have also studied it a lot because this is a very volatile industry,” he told Nation Lifestyle. “It’s been there for some time, but in the past two to three years, there wasn’t so much disruption because people were figuring it out.”
Riccobeatz thinks there are many ways AI can be used in music-making, and one of them is what is called AI-assisted composition.
“In that one, as a human, you just create the music and everything, but then you can employ the use of AI a little, for instance, when mixing and mastering. But you have already created the whole thing. That is AI-assisted, and if you analyse it, it’s not a threat; it’s something good,” he said.
“Then there’s AI-generated music. In this case, the producer just keys in prompts. They just issue some commands to the system, and it creates something,” he added, saying that this may make some veterans uneasy.
“That’s AI-generated without any human participation. This is what threatens some people, who feel that their skills can be replicated by robots. They fear that what takes them a day can take a robot just 10 minutes. That makes some guys feel threatened,” the producer added.
“I can only employ the use of AI when I perhaps want to separate some stems. Let’s say I’ve found a track online and I’d like to remix it. Through AI, I can break it down and get the vocals separately,” he said.
“AI helps producers, musicians and engineers differently. For producers, it’s a plus for us. It can make work fast. You can produce faster. For a track that could take a week, now we are self-reliant. You can make a beat, and instead of sending it over to someone to play for you a guitar, or play a flute, you can do that with AI,” he went on. “And instead of sending it to a mastering engineer, let’s say you don’t have those skills yet, you can use AI to mix and master the track on the spot and within a day, you can have a record. So, it saves time.”
Jua Cali said that technological advancements have gradually made music production easier, and that AI will make it even more accessible.
“Technology has been assisting humanity to move forward. It all depends on how you use it,” he said.
He recalled that when he got into the industry, it required someone to spend a fortune to produce a song. When personal computers were mainstreamed, he noted, production became cheaper, and studios could even be installed in people’s homes.
“Technology came to help us who didn’t have money to pay for the big studios,” said Jua Cali. “That is what is happening with AI.”
Jua Cali performs at the Masaku Sevens after-party at the Machakos Golf Club on June 28, 2014. Through the urban musical genre called Genge, Jua Cali is credited with popularising the brand of Sheng of the 2000s.
Asked whether a time might come when anyone without as much as musical talent can produce hits because of AI interventions, Jua Cali replied: “AI is something made by someone. It can’t overrun humans. It can’t overrun someone’s creativity. It’s human first, then machine next. So, these ones assist us. We just take advantage of them, but you must put in your effort as a human.”
All in all, Jua Cali noted, humans must embrace technology. A big opportunity that AI offers musicians, he added, is the making of music videos.
“For instance, if I want to shoot a video in Alaska, I don’t need to go there. AI can just generate [a background] and depict me in Alaska. That helps you save your money and is sustainable,” he said.
The catch with AI, Riccobeatz noted, is that fans may feel cheated if they invest feelings in a song that wasn’t performed by a fellow human being.
“AI makes good songs, yes, but getting out the feeling becomes difficult,” said Riccobeatz, who has been producing music professionally since 2015.
One of the reasons why songs become hits, he said, is the story behind their composition.
“There is the story around the song that makes the human element unbeatable by AI,” said Riccobeatz. “You will hear a story about a band: when it began, the story of its founder, and such. Those stories also make the listener appreciate the story. They relate to your challenges. When they discover you are fully relying on AI, they won’t like it.”
He went on: “Music that’s produced by AI lacks elements that only a human can have. For instance, when a song comes out, there is usually a story around it. You will hear about the studio where it was made, who produced it, and such. That little thing that creates a story about the song helps a lot. AI doesn’t have such a thing.”
Genge musician Jua Cali performing during Blankets and Wine Event on October 1, 2023.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
AI-made songs also have the likelihood of copyright issues emerging in future. Riccobeatz explained that AI tools are trained using actual human-made songs.
“For it to create what it creates, it is trained using music created by real people,” he said.
Due to that, the producer noted, there is a chance that someone can come up to say you copied their composition to make an AI song.
“AI generates something for you, and you are happy. But after some time, you get a copyright claim. It may also be claimed by the AI company after some time. The problem is that it will one day be claimed, and it will be hard for you to prove, even with the terms you thought were clear. It’s all because they have trained the machines with real music made by real humans. There are many songs in the world. There are almost a million releases every week. So, there’s a lot of content to train AI,” said Riccobeatz.
On the risk of getting a copyright claim after some time, Jua Cali said any original composer has every right to challenge a song they feel has copied their work, whether AI-made or not.
“A song can sound the same as another. Such things will arise, and the person claiming their song has been sampled has every right to dispute,” said Jua Cali. “But I hope AI will continue making original works that are out of this world.”
Given his experience in the music industry, Riccobeatz said he can tell an AI-made song from a fully human-made one.
“If I listen keenly, there are artefacts I will hear. There are static elements I will hear in a song. Also, the vocals can tell. But you need to be very keen. Over the years, I’ve done a lot of recording. And I know there are cues only a human can take. However much it’s edited, there’s a detail I’ll hear. With AI, it’s not easy to detect,” said the producer.
“In the studio, there are accidents that happen; good accidents like someone touching the wrong key that comes up as a masterstroke. You won’t find such with AI,” added Riccobeatz.
