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AI rap songs: from Heart on My Sleeve to original AI rappers

AI rap songs come in two kinds: voice clones of real rappers, like the 2023 fake Drake and The Weeknd track "Heart on My Sleeve", and original AI rappers with their own names and voices. Clones get pulled and now break platform rules. Original AI rap is allowed, and its real test is the writing.

By Boulevard EditorialUpdated 7 min read
Front Door by Jagger, cover artLoudest man in the room by Victor Black, cover artCount It Up Again by Asher Vale, cover artFresh Off the Lot by Jagger, cover art

Key takeaways

  • "Heart on My Sleeve", with AI vocals imitating Drake and The Weeknd, was pulled from major streaming services in April 2023.
  • Since September 2025, Spotify only allows AI vocal impersonation when the imitated artist has authorized it.
  • Tennessee's ELVIS Act, signed in March 2024, added a person's voice to the state's likeness protections.
  • Original AI rappers with their own voices are legal; the hard part is flow, wordplay and a believable point of view.

What happened with Heart on My Sleeve?

In April 2023, an anonymous producer called Ghostwriter released "Heart on My Sleeve", a song with AI vocals imitating Drake and The Weeknd. It spread through TikTok and streaming services within days. By April 18 it had been pulled from Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon, SoundCloud and Tidal after Universal Music Group objected.

UMG said it had a moral and commercial responsibility to protect its artists. Later that year the song was even submitted for Grammy consideration. The Recording Academy's CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., ruled it ineligible because the vocals were not legally obtained or cleared and the song was not commercially available.

  • 6.9Mviews on a single Twitter upload of Heart on My Sleeve before it was pulledNBC News, Apr 2023
  • 3.3MSoundCloud listens for Metro Boomin's BBL Drizzy beat, built on an AI-made parodyGizmodo, May 2024
  • 75M+spammy tracks Spotify said it removed in the 12 months before its 2025 AI policySpotify Newsroom, Sep 2025

A short history of AI in rap

  1. Capitol signs and drops FN Meka

    The virtual rapper is cut loose days after signing, following criticism that it traded on stereotypes of Black artists.

  2. Heart on My Sleeve goes viral, then vanishes

    AI vocals imitating Drake and The Weeknd are pulled from streaming after UMG objects.

  3. Grammys say no

    Harvey Mason Jr. rules the song ineligible because the vocals were not cleared.

  4. Tennessee passes the ELVIS Act

    The law adds voice to the state's protection of a person's likeness.

  5. Drake pulls Taylor Made Freestyle

    The track used an AI voice of Tupac; his estate sent a cease-and-desist and it came down.

  6. BBL Drizzy flips an AI song

    Metro Boomin releases a beat sampling an AI-made parody by comedian King Willonius.

  7. Spotify bans unauthorized voice clones

    Vocal impersonation is allowed only when the imitated artist has authorized it.

Why is the voice-clone problem worse in rap?

In most genres, a voice is an instrument. In rap, it is also an identity: the accent, the neighborhood, the history, the beefs. A cloned voice does not just borrow a sound; it puts words in a real person's mouth. That is why the two biggest AI rap stories so far, "Heart on My Sleeve" and Drake's AI Tupac verse, both ended with takedowns.

FN Meka showed the other risk. The virtual rapper was voiced by a human and built with help from AI tools, and Capitol Records signed it in August 2022. Within days the label cut ties after the activist group Industry Blackout called the character a mix of gross stereotypes, and Capitol apologized to the Black community. A Houston rapper later said he was the original voice and was never paid.

The law is catching up. Tennessee's ELVIS Act, signed in March 2024, protects a person's voice alongside their name and likeness. Spotify's 2025 policy says vocal impersonation is only allowed when the impersonated artist has authorized it. For the full legal picture, see AI voice cloning in music and Drake AI songs.

Can an AI rapper be authentic?

Yes, on its own terms

  • Rap has always celebrated characters, alter egos and masked rappers; a declared AI persona is another mask.
  • A human can still write every bar, so the perspective and wordplay can be fully authored.
  • Original AI rappers do not steal anyone's voice or put words in a real person's mouth.
  • Listeners judged BBL Drizzy on whether it slapped, not on how its sample was made.

No, rap needs a real life behind it

  • Rap's core value is lived experience, and an AI persona has no block, no history and no stakes.
  • FN Meka showed how easily a virtual rapper turns culture into costume.
  • Models learned flows from human rappers who were never asked or paid.
  • Cheap AI rap can flood platforms and bury new human artists.
Verdict

An AI rapper can only be honest if it is labeled, sounds like no real artist and has someone accountable for the words. The moment it borrows a real voice or a culture it does not belong to, it becomes the problem people fear.

What makes rap easy or hard for AI?

Beats are the easy part. 808s, rolling hi-hats and looped samples are patterns AI tools reproduce well, which is why the instrumental side of AI rap often sounds finished. Boulevard's own rap clusters in two pockets: laid-back tracks around 80 to 100 BPM and drill and trap tracks around 130 to 147 BPM.

The vocal is the hard part. Good flow means putting syllables in surprising pockets, breathing where it adds tension and switching cadence mid-verse. AI rap tends to rhyme too neatly at the end of every line, hit every beat square and avoid real punchlines and double meanings. The tell is often the writing: specific, funny, mean or vulnerable bars are rare in generated rap, which is why the strongest projects keep a human on the pen.

Was BBL Drizzy made with AI?

Partly. During the 2024 Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud, comedian King Willonius, who calls himself an AI storyteller, released a parody R&B song called "BBL Drizzy" in April. Billboard reported it was made with the AI music tool Udio. On May 4, Metro Boomin released a beat sampling it and offered $10,000 for the best verse, and it hit No. 1 on SoundCloud's New and Hot chart.

It was a turning point: the first time many listeners heard an AI-made recording used as a sample in a major producer's beat. The verses people rapped over it were human.

Original AI rappers on Boulevard

Boulevard is an AI music streaming app, and every artist on it is openly AI with an original voice. Nobody here is a clone of a real rapper, and each song is reviewed by people before it goes live. You press play; you do not make the songs.

  • Rollo Vance is a calm, smug Newark rapper who fronts a live jazz band and turns receipts and menus into bars.
  • Dez Petty is a Baltimore loudmouth who mocks everybody, himself included, over hard club beats.
  • venom makes confidence anthems built to be shouted back.
  • Blackout raps cold, aggressive drill for the last set at the gym.
  • Lacey Fontenot sing-raps sweet, sly songs about leaving home in Louisiana and her mama's phone calls.

AI rap and hip-hop to hear first

Ranked by plays on Boulevard. Tap any song to start it in your browser.

AI drill and trap

Drill and trap are where AI rap sounds most convincing, because the menace lives in the beat: sliding 808s, sparse drums and a steady, cold delivery. These are also the songs Boulevard's Gym Mode reaches for when you want your hardest-hitting music.

AI drill and trap

Tap a cover to play it free in your browser.

Boulevard's AI rappers

Want the other side of the argument? Read will AI replace musicians? and AI music vs. human music.

Frequently asked questions

Is AI rap legal?

Original AI rap with its own voice is generally legal and allowed on streaming services. Cloning a real rapper's voice is where the trouble starts: platforms like Spotify ban unauthorized vocal impersonation, and laws such as Tennessee's ELVIS Act protect a person's voice. Copyright questions about how AI models were trained are still in court.

Who made Heart on My Sleeve?

An anonymous producer known as Ghostwriter, sometimes called ghostwriter977. The 2023 song used AI vocals imitating Drake and The Weeknd and was pulled from major streaming services after Universal Music Group objected. It was later ruled ineligible for the Grammys because the vocals were not cleared.

Was BBL Drizzy made with AI?

The original was. Comedian King Willonius released an AI-made parody song called BBL Drizzy in April 2024, which Billboard reported was created with Udio. Metro Boomin then released a beat sampling it in May 2024. People rapping over that beat recorded their own human verses.

What happened to FN Meka?

FN Meka was a virtual rapper, voiced by a human and built with AI-assisted tools, that Capitol Records signed in August 2022. The label dropped it within days after Industry Blackout criticized the character as a collection of stereotypes, and Capitol apologized. A Houston rapper later said he had been the original voice and was not paid.

Can AI rap sound real?

The beats can sound fully professional. The rapping is harder: AI flows often rhyme too predictably, land squarely on every beat and lack sharp punchlines. Drill and trap, where the beat carries much of the menace, are where AI rap sounds most convincing. Specific, personal writing is still the clearest sign of a human hand.

Where can I listen to original AI rap?

Boulevard streams original AI rap, drill and trap at boulevardai.app/listen, free to start and with no ads, in any browser and in the Android app. Every rapper there is openly AI with an original voice, and no song clones a real artist.

Sources

  1. Viral AI-powered Drake and The Weeknd song is removed from streaming servicesNBC News, 2023-04-18
  2. Viral AI-generated Drake song 'Heart on My Sleeve' removed from Spotify, YouTubeVice, 2023-04-18
  3. The AI deepfake of Drake and The Weeknd will not be eligible for a GrammyMixmag, 2023-09-11
  4. Drake/The Weeknd deepfake song 'Heart on My Sleeve' submitted to GrammysThe FADER, 2023-09-06
  5. We spoke to the actual artist behind FN Meka, the controversial AI rapperVice, 2022-08-25
  6. This robot rapper has 9m followers on TikTok. The company that created him thinks traditional A&R is 'inefficient and unreliable'Music Business Worldwide, 2021-04-01
  7. Gov. Lee signs ELVIS Act into lawOffice of the Governor of Tennessee, 2024-03-21
  8. Drake pulls 'Taylor Made Freestyle' after Tupac estate threatens action for apparent use of AI voiceNBC News, 2024-04-26
  9. Metro Boomin goes in on Drake, drops 'BBL Drizzy' with beat giveaway and $10K rewardComplex, 2024-05-05
  10. The saga of 'BBL Drizzy'Gizmodo, 2024-05-11
  11. Metro Boomin's BBL Drizzy is more than a joke: it could signal the future of samplingBillboard, 2024-05-15
  12. Spotify strengthens AI protections for artists, songwriters, and producersSpotify Newsroom, 2025-09-25

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