‘Demonic’ Artist in Nashville Sparks Backlash from Country Star

The country music scene is up in arms over Billboard’s announcement that the No. 1 song on the Country Digital Song Sales chart this week is AI-generated.

‘It feels like a slap in the face as an actual creative who has sacrificed a lot to do this,’ multiplatinum recording artist Breland – who has collaborated with superstars like Keith Urban, Shania Twain and Thomas Rhett – told the Daily Mail on Wednesday.

He added that it is insulting to ‘see “artists” that aren’t even real people that don’t have thoughts, experiences, human emotions’ get the recognition humans deserve.

Breaking Rust’s AI-generated track, Walk My Walk, shot to number one seemingly out of nowhere. An Instagram account teasing the mysterious artist’s new music only began posting in October and a songwriter attached to the project is an unknown named Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor.

There is little information about Taylor available online and he is often described as an ‘elusive’ figure who also has another AI-generated country music act called Defbeatsai. The latter has released five songs via Spotify to date.

Breaking Rust, meanwhile, has several songs out from its Resilient EP, which was released in October and includes a track called Livin’ On Borrowed Time that has even more Spotify streams than its No. 1 hit song. 

The controversial project is fronted by an AI-generated bearded man, who is often seen in promotional images wearing a cowboy hat and posing in the shadows.

The ‘outlaw country soul’ – as stated on its social media bios – already boasts more than 183,000 followers on TikTok and more than 30,000 followers on Instagram. 

Breland, who is 30 and who has been working in the music industry since he was 14, told the Daily Mail he is suspicious of the AI song’s sudden rise on Billboard’s charts. 

‘I have not really seen or heard anyone talking about this artist, talking about this song and usually, in my experience, I’m familiar with the records that end up at the top of the charts in my own genre because I pay attention. I also know all of these artists personally, so I found this to be interesting.’

The My Truck crooner clarified that he has no evidence of foul play on Breaking Rust’s backers’ behalf.

‘Unfortunately, the overall business structure has never been one that particularly prioritized the safety or well-being of any of their individual human artists,’ he said. 

‘That’s the cutthroat aspect of the music industry that a lot of people don’t like, so I’m not going to expect a record label that is essentially a creative bank to not do what they can to protect their bottom dollar.’

For Breland, seeing a song that was created with artificial intelligence reach No. 1 is particularly difficult given the more than a decade of hard work and sacrifice that he has dedicated to building his career.

‘When I started, I wasn’t making any money and, for a period of time, I was having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet,’ he shared. 

‘I was giving voice lessons to aspiring singers and songwriters, I was writing songs for independent artists for a couple hundred dollars a piece, and that was all building blocks for me to be able to get to where I am now.’

The Throw It Back singer continued, ‘I’ve been blessed to tour around the world and have had records that have done well, but if I was in the beginning of my career and had to go against these unhuman algorithms that are putting out these songs, it would definitely be daunting.’

Breland pointed out that record labels are already allocating funds that could be invested into a real artist into AI acts, and said he is concerned about how radio will navigate which songs get airplay in the future.

‘Radio is supposed to play songs that people like. Well, what if the songs that people like are AI artists? Is radio going to put their foot down in a situation where Billboard already isn’t?’ he asked.

Breland called out Billboard via social media and even tagged the publication for their decision, but said he has not heard back.

However, just moments after the call-out, the magazine curiously posted a performance the singer recently did. Breland brushed it off as a coincidence. 

He concluded, ‘AI is like fire. It can be used as a candle or a bonfire or it can be used to start a forest fire or burn a building down. It’s really about how you use it. I think we all need to use AI responsibly.’

Neither Billboard nor Breaking Rust have responded to the criticism. The Daily Mail has reached out to reps for comment.

Breland isn’t the only one concerned by the AI singer’s success, as other stars such as Ice Cube have expressed their concerns with artificial intelligence. 

Speaking to Full Send podcast host Kyle Foregeard in May 2023, Ice Cube shared his fears about the rise in AI use in the music industry. 

‘The artists are getting lost in auto-tunes, and now that you have an AI computer. I think people don’t want a computerized rapper no more. They want to hear your voice. I don’t know any rappers by their voice no more. I used to know all the rappers just on hear their voice. Know who that is,’ he said, adding that he thinks ‘AI is demonic’. 

‘I think AI is gonna get a backlash from real people – real, organic people. So, I think artists need to go back to using their real voice and making sure people know this is authentic and not made from a computer,’ he added.

On X, country fans have also shunned the rise in AI-generated Breaking Rust. ‘This should be considered fraud. Simple,’ one disgruntled fan said.