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00:00We're going to try to just stay cool.
00:03We're going to be talking about AI and the creativity process, the creative process.
00:08And I want to start out by helping remind the audience, you know, you're somebody who has worked with some
00:15of the biggest stars in music.
00:17Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, Drake.
00:20It's a long list, and it goes on and on.
00:22And you have personally been involved in creating some of the most recognizable, iconic anthems of our time.
00:29Yeah.
00:31There are many of these artists, not necessarily the ones I named, but there are many artists who are worried
00:35about artificial intelligence and its involvement in the creative process.
00:41My question for you is, what do you say to alleviate those fears?
00:46What do you say in response to people who say AI has no business in the way we create music?
00:53I believe that, you know, it's just a tool.
00:55You know, you can't use it as a crutch, you know.
00:57And also, it can't just press the button itself.
01:00It needs human input.
01:01So it's still, like, coming from us.
01:03But, you know, it's just, like, a good aid to, you know, give you more ideas, like, stuff to chop
01:09up.
01:09Just, like, ways to imagine the music in different eras, different, you know, just things to stay creative.
01:15Was there a moment where you were like, whoa, this changes everything?
01:19I mean, I say that every day, you know what I mean?
01:21Because it keeps advancing.
01:23It's just, like, getting better.
01:24And it's kind of like the more I feed it, what I do on a genuine level is kind of
01:28spitting back that same level at me.
01:31So I'm kind of, like, sparring with it, you know.
01:32It's like it got me taking piano lessons again.
01:34I got diamond records, and I'm doing piano lessons twice a week as if I just started, you know what
01:39I mean?
01:39Because I'm, like, AI is coming with it.
01:42So I got to make sure my musical knowledge is expanding.
01:45So hip-hop is sort of obsessed with this idea of ownership and originality.
01:50And there was already this big technological disruption with sampling when people said it wasn't real music.
01:54Now, of course, it's foundational.
01:56Right.
01:56Is this just another version of that fight, or is AI fundamentally different?
02:01I mean, I believe so, you know, because I think about, like, a person that was, like, studying piano for
02:0720 years and learning grooves and rhythms, but then MIDI comes out.
02:12And then you could just press notes and align them in a way that it sounds like a person is
02:16playing it.
02:16So they probably was terrified of that.
02:18So I don't look at it no different.
02:19Hey, you've talked publicly about, during the early part of your career, almost two decades, you were in a contract
02:29with a particular music company.
02:32Right.
02:33And you found that to be very restrictive.
02:36And you've talked publicly about that.
02:38It's also caused you to be really fiercely, staunchly in favor of artist independence.
02:44Talk about how technology democratizes the music creation process and gives and enables more of that independence.
02:54Yeah, for sure.
02:55I mean, just even looking at the AI, I think about some of the stuff that I can do with
02:59it now.
03:00And I'm like, if I had this when I was 18, like, you know, I probably wouldn't have to look
03:05for, you know, a person.
03:07And I feel like I had to latch on to that.
03:09I ultimately ended up in a deal that I was in for 18 years, which is insane for me having
03:14actual hit records and diamond records and stuff.
03:16But it's like, you know, I think it's, we're just in a place where if you got imagination, you can
03:21flourish, you know?
03:23Like, and that's what I work on.
03:24My whole career was built off just like imagination.
03:26I'm like the least technical producer.
03:28I feel like I just throw paint at the wall and I end up with a niggas in Paris or
03:32a sicko mode or, you know, whatever it may be.
03:35So if anyone can use AI and make technically good music, what matters more, taste or talent?
03:42Definitely taste.
03:43You know, you still got to curate it.
03:45You still got to chop it up.
03:46It's no different from you going to a record store.
03:48Like, you get, give two different people the same five records to sample.
03:53Somebody's going to come out with, you know, it's going to be different interpretations.
03:57So it's just like, you know.
03:57So something we think about a lot in our craft in journalism, and I know this happens in other fields,
04:04is that when you turn over some of the basic skill building processes to the machines, to the robots,
04:12what does that do to the ability for you to learn the skills that you need to build on later?
04:18I worry about that in journalism, and I want to make sure that people are still learning the basic building
04:25blocks.
04:26You talk about learning how to play the piano.
04:28Right.
04:29How do you ensure when you fall back on technology that it's not robbing people of that opportunity?
04:35Yeah, man.
04:36And that's kind of crazy you say that, because I even feel like for a minute, and that's why I
04:41started doing the piano lessons again.
04:42I kind of started relying on loops and tech just to kind of dump and just see what happens.
04:48But now it's like, it's actually AI that made me, like, no, this is like, they're playing some crazy chords.
04:54Like, I got to go back and expand my knowledge, you know what I mean?
04:57And it's like, to me, it's inspiring me to want to get better and, you know, more knowledgeable at what
05:02I do.
05:02So if the internet or the world gets flooded with infinite music, is it harder for artists to break out?
05:08Is it, will there still be superstars like Beyonce and Drake and Hit Boy?
05:14Before AI was booming, we still was getting 100,000 songs uploaded every day.
05:19So now it's like, it's no different, you know?
05:21And it's like I said, like, AI can't walk down the street and sign an autograph for a fan that's
05:25going crazy for them.
05:27So you're going to always have, like, the human experience in that aspect.
05:30Well, we've been talking about how you use technology to enhance the creative process and change the way you make
05:38music.
05:39And I think we're going to get a demo of that so that we're not just talking about it theoretically,
05:45but we're going to see it in action.
05:48Yeah.
05:48And I think we're going to do that.
05:50Yes.
05:50We're going to do a demo soon.
05:52Yeah, let's do it.
05:53Let's do it.
05:54Yeah, so, I mean, basically this is a program that I built to be, like, an open source album where
05:59I can just dump all the files from my album and allow people to recreate and have their own, you
06:04know, version of what I did.
06:07So, yeah.
06:08You want to do it?
06:08No, no, no.
06:09You do it.
06:10Please.
06:11All right.
06:11But tell us what you're doing while you're doing it.
06:13Walk us through it.
06:15So, essentially, it's a good example of what Hit Boy was talking about, right?
06:20Instead of using AI to create more music, we're building something to enable others to essentially learn how to make
06:27music by using Hit Boy's music, his actual catalog.
06:31So, what you see on screen is three tracks from his upcoming unreleased album, and we've taken all of the
06:38components.
06:38So, like, the snare, the percussion, the bass, the vocals, the melodies.
06:42And these are real snare sounds, not AI generate.
06:45They're all, exactly, they're all created by him.
06:47And this, you can essentially take different components from each song and create a net new composition.
06:54So, I think what this will do will enable more people to learn how to make music and get inspired
07:02and then start, you know, become a producer or the next superstar, as you talked about.
07:06So, let's pick maybe, you know, a snare from here and hit play, and then we're going to layer on
07:14some more components.
07:17So, maybe a melody from here, and then maybe a, let's do a drum from another song.
07:27So, this is now from three different songs.
07:30They're all being synced in real time.
07:32So, if you think about music, they have different speeds, different keys, and this is doing it in real time.
07:39And it gives us the ability to essentially create a net new song from his catalog.
07:44And let's add a, let's try a vocal as well.
08:02What do you think it needs, Hit?
08:09What does he think it needs?
08:12What's that?
08:13What do you think it needs?
08:14I think it needs bass.
08:16It needs bass?
08:17Yeah.
08:17Let's go.
08:18Let's go.
08:18Yeah.
08:19All right.
08:22Let's add a bass.
08:29What other vocal do you have?
08:33Other vocals.
08:34Other vocals.
08:35Other vocals?
08:38Let's do this one.
08:58So, the AI is basically doing the layering, and the mixing, and the syncing.
09:03And it enabled us to build this platform, right?
09:07Because, I guess, neither of us are technical, right?
09:12We're not engineers, but we're able to get together in a room and brainstorm ideas and say, hey, why shouldn't
09:17this exist?
09:18And then have the tools to be able to build that.
09:23Can you talk a little bit about the ways you use Lovable to build this, right?
09:29Maybe talk a little bit about their UK-based startup that is very much on our radar.
09:34In fact, we're probably going to have them at an upcoming conference.
09:38So, I'm curious how you incorporate their technology.
09:41So, I mean, I discovered Lovable over a year ago.
09:45Got obsessed because I had many ideas but could never build them.
09:49And started building.
09:50I ended up actually joining the Lovable team last year.
09:53And I was there for a while and then got connected with Hit and then ended up leaving so we
09:58could build stuff together.
09:59So, I mean, Lovable is basically my AI engineer, right?
10:03So, it enables me to go from idea to something that goes live in production and now is on this
10:09stage here.
10:10And soon we're going to release this into the public's hands so fans are going to be able to interact
10:15with Hit Boy's music in a completely new way.
10:17That's something that's going to come from you and your team, not a Lovable product.
10:22Is that right?
10:23No.
10:23That's Hit.
10:24He owns this.
10:25And open source.
10:27We call it open source for the reason that you can take components, right?
10:31Because historically when you buy an album, you listen to the full song.
10:35Here we're giving you all of the different components from each song and you're able to create your own remixes
10:41of that.
10:41So, that's the kind of meaning behind the open source.
10:44There's been so much controversy of like who gets paid, how artists get paid, the labels.
10:49You know, does Spotify have too much power?
10:51Who has the power in this new world?
10:55I mean, you have to empower yourself.
10:57That's like, you know, that's why I'm here.
11:00You know what I mean?
11:00Being in that deal for so long, you know, all my new music is coming out and it's self-funded.
11:05And it's like, just like all of my ideas, all the stuff that I've been wanting to get off when
11:10I had that dark cloud over my head.
11:12Now it's like I can breathe.
11:13And you have things like Lovable.
11:15You have different, you know, just tools that you can use to really get the ideas out.
11:20Hit, tell us what should we be looking forward to?
11:23What are you working on right now that we should keep our eyes open for?
11:27I'm definitely, you know, always working on production stuff.
11:30But I actually have two albums of my own coming out.
11:33The first one is called Success is a Dirty Word.
11:36And that's just kind of like talking about the story of like, you know, it's not all it's cracked up
11:42to be all the time.
11:42You know, I made giant records and still had to be stuck in a deal because of language and the
11:49contract and just ancient, outdated ways.
11:51That's why I am embracing AI.
11:53I am embracing things that's pushing life and things forward because it's like I was stuck in an ancient thing
11:59that's like it shouldn't have been that way.
12:01But, you know, so I'm just embracing the future.
12:03But yeah, Success is a Dirty Word.
12:04That's like what I'm like excited over.
12:06And that album's coming Friday?
12:09Next Friday, yeah.
12:10Next Friday.
12:10And is there AI in this album?
12:12It's the first time I've said it right now, you know.
12:15Next Friday, you heard it here first.
12:18And how much do you use AI in this album that's about to drop?
12:22You know, just like different little ways.
12:24Like, you know, I might want a female vocal and I might sing a part myself and just flip the
12:29switch.
12:30And now it's like a sound like a female singing and I can kind of finesse it and make it
12:34sound like, you know, like it's like a real artist.
12:38And getting back to that question about your relationship with the music publishing companies, how are you going to distribute
12:46this?
12:47It's independent, you know what I mean?
12:48Just like I'm uploading.
12:49I'm actually putting it on hitboy.ai, hit-boy.ai.
12:53And it's like kind of like you can pay what you want, you know what I mean?
12:57Like you can go streaming on Spotify and Apple and that stuff too.
13:00But if you want to support me directly, hit-boy.ai and you can basically just pay whatever you want
13:05to support the movement, you know?
13:07Do you think AI and music together, will that create culture or just more content?
13:15A lot of culture for sure, man, you know what I mean?
13:17It's like I run into different producers that I respect.
13:20That's kind of, they're exploring with it.
13:22They're trying different ways and implementing it, you know, putting it into their own toolbox.
13:27And just like I think we're about to really like, it's like a boom.
13:31It's an explosion right now.
13:32Like you better go crazy.
13:33Yeah.
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