Ghostwriter, the mysterious mastermind behind the artificial intelligence generated Drake and The Weeknd collaboration “Heart on My Sleeve,” has submitted the song for Grammy consideration, Variety reported.
A representative for the song’s penman confirmed that the track has been presented to the Recording Academy for recognition as best rap song and song of the year. Those two categories are awarded to songwriters as opposed to performers.
Since both Drake and The Weeknd were not involved in any part of the song’s creation beyond a computer imitating their vocal patterns, the pair of Canadian performers would not be recognized on the off chance “Heart on My Sleeve” gets nominated in either category.
Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told the New York Times that because a human wrote the lyrics, the song is “absolutely eligible” for an award from a creative standpoint.
Shortly after its April release, Universal Music Group (whose subsidiary Republic Records has both Drake and The Weeknd on its roster) filed a copyright claim to wipe the song from streaming services after it racked up millions of listens. Since then, unofficial third parties have reuploaded it across various platforms.
The biggest obstacle the song faces, beyond the stiff competition for a coveted industry award, is the fact the song lacks the “general distribution” required by Grammy rules. The legal action taken by UMG has prevented “Heart on My Sleeve” from being commercially available through official channels like online retailers, physical stores and streaming services.
In July, Mason spoke to Variety about the controversial use of the AI and a new rule to handle the challenge. He specified that the Recording Academy will not recognize “a work that contains no human authorship.”
“What we intended to say was that material using AI can be submitted, but the human portion of the composition, or the performance, is the only portion that can be awarded or considered for a Grammy Award,” Mason continued. “So, if an AI modeling system or app built a track — ‘wrote’ lyrics and a melody — that would not be eligible for a composition award. But if a human writes a track and AI is used to voice-model, create a new voice, or use somebody else’s voice, the performance would not be eligible, but the writing of the track and the lyric or top line would be absolutely eligible for an award.”
On Monday, Ghostwriter previewed a Travis Scott and 21 Savage AI track entitled “Whiplash.” So far, the post has received 2.5 million views.
