If you thought AI’s strange hold over 2023 couldn’t get any weirder, then check this out: an AI-generated rap song featuring Donald Trump’s voice now sits at number 2 on the iTunes rap chart.
Titled “First Day Out,” the song was crafted by artist Hi-Rez, who adopted the alias “Trump the Don” for the track.
The song’s release uses Trump’s infamous mugshot, taken as he was booked and released on bond in Georgia on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election.
“An absolute joke”
In what Hi-Rez described as “an absolute joke,” the song has found immense success, gaining three million views on X since its release last week.
“First Day Out” is currently number 2 in the iTunes hip hop and rap charts, sandwiched between Doja Cat and Tom MacDonald & Adam Calhoun.
Donald Trump released a “First Day Out” rap song HAHAH! pic.twitter.com/yW6bgwodX6
— Hi-Rez The Rapper (@HiRezTheRapper) August 25, 2023
Hi-Rez wrote – or generated – the song to mock the former president’s legal challenges.
“Out on bail, out on bail. I won’t see inside a cell,” the AI-generated voice chants in an eerily accurate imitation of Trump’s vocal style.
“Coming for the deep state. I will stop the New World Order. But before that I’ll finish walls at the border,” the song says, hinting at well-known talking points Trump raises in his public speeches.
Many have reacted to the song, including commentator Candace Owens, who expressed her enthusiasm on her YouTube show, stating, “It’s just absolutely genius!”
Donald Trump Jr. also endorsed the song, labeling it “hilarious.”
It’s certainly a windfall for producer Hi-Rez, who confessed himself that it took him all but 30 minutes to make the tune.
While the lyrics lampoon the narrative that the former president is keen to articulate, they also serve as a nod to the staunch supporters of Trump, who remain loyal despite his legal challenges.
The rapid rise of “First Day Out” on iTunes has shown the influence of AI-generated content in today’s digital age and comes after AI mash-ups of Johnny Cash singing “Barbie Girl” went viral.
This has prompted discussions about who gets the money when artists mash up the work of different musicians while also using their voices to generate new content – something unique to the era of AI.
In the comments section of Hi-Rez’s YouTube upload of “First Day Out,” Hi-Rez says, “Got demonetized here please stream on spotify/apple and buy on itunes to support to help me keep making these because youtube is not going to pay me **** haha.”
Raising money through inauthentic work will rub some artists up the wrong way. Is it fair to collect from such satire? It’s not an easy question to answer.
It might be Trump today, but AI mash-ups could rip anyone off in the future, as demonstrated by the Black Mirror “Joan is Awful” with Salma Hayek.
Major record labels are already working with streaming services to find a way around this to secure fair payments for their artists’ work.
The lyrics
Here are the full lyrics to AI Trump’s “First Day Out.”
[Intro]
I wanna go to LA
Well
Shout out Patriot J, Benny Johnson, Big Bongino, Alex Jones
Free my dogs on lockup
The radical left’s gone crazy
[Verse]
Out on bail, out on bail
I won’t see inside a cell
Shout out Thugga, free my slime
Slat slat, Y-S-L
They tryna lock me up
But I’m plugged in in A-T-L
Got homies doing life in jail
They living in hell
These DA’s acting silly
My mugshot is worth a billi
Sold some merch and made a milli
Shout out Meek Milli, out in Philly
Shout to Da Baby, shout to De Sosa
Benny Butcher, them my rollers
Call me racist?
But these rappers riding with me
They my soldiers
Maga, Maga, Maga
I am not who they’re after
I’m just in the way
They want to get to you
But I won’t let them
Cold-hеarted, no I’m modest
Getting back to whеre I started
I don’t need to do the race
I’ma beat them RICO charges
And if I go to prison
You can’t do me like the Clintons
I’ll be laid up, eating steak with Secret Service chillin’
Screaming “orange man bad!”
The whole world mad
Thug life, shout out all of my Maga based chads
Coming for the deep state
I will stop the New World Order
But before that I’ll finish walls at the border
[Outro]
YSL, slat slat, shout out Thugga
Finny got nothing on us
