Drake collaborated with satirical rapper Snowd4y for a remix of his song "Hey There Delilah", titled "Wah Gwan Delilah".
Some thought it was AI (artificial intelligence), Plain White T's found the result embarrassing, and the jokes haven't stopped.
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As if he didn't already have enough to deal with in the midst of his feud with Kendrick Lamar (or perhaps to distract from it), Drake appeared on a remix of Plain White T's satirical cover of "Hey There Delilah," titled "Wah Gwan Delilah," which has caused...confusion? Annoyance? Laughter?
Let's examine it
On Monday, a new remix of “Wah Gwan Delilah” was uploaded to Snowd4y’s SoundCloud account. It appears Drake joined the comedian in a series of jokes about women and references to Toronto locations like Yonge-Dundas Square. (“Wah gwan” is patois for “What’s up?” which is a common phrase in the city, which has long had a significant Caribbean population.)
As the song went viral, it reached the Plain White T's themselves, who posted a video on X and TikTok with the caption "too shocked to talk." Singer Tom Higgenson also commented that "it's crazy that everyone thinks it's real," seemingly referring to the initial rumors that Drake's lyrics were generated by artificial intelligence. Higgenson also made a series of facial expressions, giving the impression that he smelled something bad.
See also: Bad Bunny: Furious with AI-generated song that imitates his voice
However, these rumors are likely untrue. Drake posted the song on his Instagram, seemingly confirming its authenticity.
It’s easy to see why everyone was confused. As WIRED’s Evy Kwong pointed out on TikTok on Thursday, artificial intelligence has become so pervasive that it’s cast doubt on everything. When the song “Heart on My Sleeve” was released, it took several listens for many to realize it wasn’t really Drake and The Weeknd.
Many fans might never have realized that the Beatles' "Now and Then" wasn't just a flawless, wasted film if Paul McCartney hadn't promoted the AI needed to save it.
See also: “Now and Then” – The Beatles’ New Song with AI Tech
Johnny Cash covers Taylor Swift from his grave. The examples of AI's ability to fool our ears seem truly endless.
With Drake’s authenticity on “Wah Gwan Delilah” seemingly confirmed, the floodgates opened. As Billboard noted, Rap Twitter had a field day with the prevailing notion that after his defeat to Kendrick, Drake is now simply losing his mind in general and embracing his identity as a Toronto native to restore his image.
This will likely backfire. While the Drake Reddit insists that it's satire and if no one gets it, "the joke's probably on them," other parts of the internet can't seem to keep a straight face—or at least a non-embarrassed one. Vulture, in its analysis of the remix, simply stated, "Post-controversy Drake can't be serious.".
Lamar, on the other hand, is extremely serious. He is meticulously planning his “Ken & Friends” concert, announced Wednesday, to take place on June 19—Emancipation Day—in Inglewood, California.
Does this mean the Drake-Lamar feud is over, or is it that Drake wants to put it behind him? Maybe. As C. Brandon Ogbunu and Lupe Fiasco wrote in WIRED a few weeks ago, technology has radically transformed the way these conflicts play out. While it used to take days or even months to release a new record, whether a mixtape or an album, it can now be online in minutes.
Read also: New Spotify Features: Exclusive AI Playlists
If Drake wants to get attention by doing a remix on Snowd4y's SoundCloud account, let him do it – either way, success will depend on the internet's response.
Source: wired
