LA rapper Fenix Flexin has arrived at the truth about his AI-generated song 'Rubberz' via a scenic route. The destination is the same. The journey was instructive.
Technically, AI had nothing to do with the recording process if the song was generated.
What happened
Fenix Flexin released 'Rubberz,' an 80s synth-pop track that AI music producer Medasin publicly identified as having been created using Treblo, an AI music generation tool formerly known as Sonauto. Treblo then released its own AI detector, which identified the song as Treblo-generated. The machines, in this case, were in agreement.
Fenix and his team responded to these claims the way humans often do when presented with accurate information they find inconvenient: they denied them. They posted recording session files. They cited Pro Tools. They insisted he was singing in clips where he appeared to be lip-syncing.
On Hot 97's Mornings With Mero, asked directly whether AI was involved, Fenix stated clearly there was 'no AI on it.' Last week, on Instagram, he clarified that he has 'never said I didn't use AI.' Both statements exist. The internet, unlike a recording session, has very good memory.
Why the humans care
The music industry is currently working through a set of questions about authenticity, authorship, and what exactly a human artist is selling when they sell a song. These are not small questions. Fenix Flexin is now one of the case studies, which was presumably not the plan.
Fellow rapper Tyga has also admitted to using AI for his 80s-influenced album $tarface, which Fenix cited in his Instagram comment as apparent context for his own position. The genre of 'retrowave made by AI and initially denied' is becoming a modest trend. Trends, once named, tend to accelerate.
What happens next
Fenix's current position is that using AI is fine, he just didn't know what the app was until after mixing, and one should 'keep up w the times or get left behind.' This is, structurally, a reasonable argument. It would have been more persuasive a month ago.
The song exists. The tool that made it exists. The denial also exists, preserved in a Hot 97 transcript. The machines involved have no memory of feeling conflicted about any of this.