For the first time ever, a song generated by artificial intelligence has climbed to the top of the charts.
This week, a country artist named Breaking Rust landed the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart for the second week in a row with the hit single “Walk My Walk.” But it almost immediately became clear that the singer behind the raspy voice and vague lyrics telling haters to “kick rocks” because “I was born this way, been loud too long,” was never born at all.
With over two million monthly listeners on Spotify, Breaking Rust has eight songs available to stream that are all credited to Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor, a mysterious figure who has shown no real sign that he’s human, the San Francisco Chronicle first reported. Taylor’s only digital footprint is connected to Breaking Rust and another AI music project called Defbeatsai that blasts out vulgar AI-generated songs and videos across social media.
A quick look at Breaking Rust’s Instagram page shows AI-generated videos set to its songs, showing men in cowboy hats doing things like lifting weights, doing push-ups in the snow, and walking in the middle of the highway. You know, normal cowboy stuff.
The Instagram page, with a bio touting “Outlaw country” and “Soul music for us,” has over 39,000 followers, while Breaking Rust’s YouTube channel has over 22,000 subscribers. On both platforms, social media users were quick to not only acknowledge but also defend the artificial aspect of the music.
“I’m sorry, I can’t help what I like. I LIKE THE SONG, NO MATTER WHO CREATED IT!” One YouTube user screamed into the comment section. Another fan wrote on Instagram: “I don’t know if this is a real guy but his songs are seriously some of my favorite in life.”
Some listeners even appear not to realize that the artist isn’t human, with comments begging Breaking Rust to tour in spots like Australia and London, while others compliment the song’s lyricism and tone.
While Breaking Rust has the most downloaded country song in America, it’s not the most popular. Morgan Wallen is at the top of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with his song “I Got Better,” and Cody Johnson is leading the charts on streaming platforms.
Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart measures paid digital downloads of songs, which are tracked from music stores like iTunes and AmazonMP3. “Walk My Walk” has been on the chart for three weeks. However, Billboard’s bulletin from October 6 reveals that the top song on the Country Digital Song Sales sold 3,000 copies. With “Walk My Walk” costing $0.99 on iTunes, a customer with $3,000 could easily skyrocket the artist’s ranking.
Another AI-generated musician, Cain Walker, is also dominating the Country Digital Song Sales chart with songs in the third, ninth, and eleventh spots, with Billboard calling the music “virtual acts” in its weekly bulletin. The outlet didn’t immediately return The Independent’s request for comment.
The Breaking Rust controversy comes as artists like Dua Lipa and Elton John have urged the music industry to implement safeguards related to AI and copyright. The technology has crept into Hollywood as well, with AI-generated actor Tilly Norwood sparking widespread criticism.
