1010Benja shows that Suno could be more than just an AI-based music engine

I would never go so far as to say there’s no place for AI in music (I’m a Holly Herndon fan, after all). But I generally find music made with generative AI as well Offensively boringEspecially the outputs sun. So I’m having a hard time dealing with the fact that I really enjoy 1010Benja’s”Dream of Semiramis“.

Benga has not apologized for his use of generative AI in his latest EP, Time has nothing to do with what you choose… The other three tracks can’t hold a candle to what you find in 2024 Ten total. But the opener, “The Dream of Semiramis,” is infectious. Bursting from the speakers with a jungle beat, Benga’s amazing voice, and the clear human voice front and center.

You’d be forgiven for not immediately realizing that the song is produced by Suno. It lacks many dead giveaways. Even the most obvious AI part of the song — the chorus of backup singers — can be easily camouflaged amid the fast, synth-influenced passages. Heavily processed and synthetic sounds are a staple of many modern pop music genres, and by leaning into this weirdness, Benja manages to hide his origins.

My friend Patrick Holder did the beat. I recorded the vocals. Then we fed Suno the stuff, settled on something, took it out, edited it on Ableton, and then put it back into Suno. So when you look at Deezer, it identifies the song as being created by AI. We don’t hide it. We feel no shame about it.

Operation Benga certainly sets it apart from the rest Sono slope there. He wrote the lyrics, sang the songs, and worked with collaborators to perform the music. Then I fed it into Suno, took what the AI ​​output, brought it into Abelton, edited it, added more layers, then fed it back into Suno… rinse and repeat into nasium. Benga estimates he did this a few hundred times in “The Dream of Semiramis.”

While Benja claims to be agnostic about the tools he uses, he is under no illusions that using generative AI does not come with ethical baggage. He acknowledges the damage they’re doing to the planet, but says in a somewhat nihilistic way that we can’t stop greedy corporations or put the AI ​​genie back in the bottle: “The good guy’s not going to win this,” he says.

The only reason I use Jane at all is because my vision is currently far beyond my means. People have asked me: “Did you use AGI on this EP?” I say (sarcastically) “No, I hired a professional children’s choir.” What are we talking about? I didn’t pay rent last month, and I won’t pay rent this month. I don’t know where I’ll be.

It’s hard not to sympathize with Benja. Although it looks like he’s on the verge of breaking through and earning a coveted new music hit from her pitchfork to ten total, He is a struggling artist who has suffered from periods of homelessness.

However, it’s also worth noting that there’s not much in “A Dream of Semiramis” sonically that couldn’t have been achieved without the AI. Sure, he couldn’t hire a children’s choir, but it wasn’t like the AI ​​choirs found all over the world Time has nothing to do with what you choose… Particularly convincing. A similar effect can be achieved with some layered presentation and clever audio processing.

1010Benja hasn’t changed me – I’m still deeply skeptical of AI art. But he proved that the Sono, in the right hands, doesn’t have to be a downhill drive.