GoKawiilThere is no such thing as a universal “song of the summer” anymore, but if you’re into rap music, Fenix Flexin’s “Rubberz” is a pretty strong contender.
Officially released in June, it currently sits at #58 in the Billboard Hot 100 and has a music video with 7 million views. Lyrically, it’s got everything you’d want: boasts about cash and jewelry, and bars that work as a double entendre for braggadocio and depression.
But there are two interesting twists to “Rubberz.” First, it isn’t a rap song at all; it’s a synth-pop tune that would be at home in a moody ‘80s playlist. Also, since it dropped, it’s been the focus of accusations that it was completely or partially AI-generated.
The argument reached a peak this weekend after an independent music producer claimed he’d figured out not only how Fenix had made “Rubberz,” but that the rapper’s labelmate, Tyga, also seems to have used a little-known generative AI music app to create some ‘80s-themed tunes of his own.
And now, the creators of that same AI music app have effectively snitched on both: the service’s new built-in detector is now flagging the songs made by both Fenix and Tyga as likely AI generated.
This may finally settle the argument fans have been having all summer. It won’t settle the one they’re about to start.
Tune Up
People were suspicious of Fenix from the beginning; “Rubberz” is not only an unusual genre shift for the artist, it also doesn’t sound like his voice in the song.
Fenix Flexin grew up in East Hollywood and he sounds like it, and when he first debuted as part of the group Shoreline Mafia in the late 2010s, you could always recognize which bars were his because of his somewhat nasally, congested voice. The voice on his June 5 release of “Rubberz,” however, is completely unrecognizable. It’s a lot brighter and crisper, and the accent sounds closer to a very chipper Morrissey.
Both he and the credited producer, Purps on the Beat, have denied using AI at every turn. Fenix told Channel 5 that he “freestyled” the lyrics, and in the comments of an On the Radar performance, he replied to people accusing him of using AI: "No sirrrrrrr, recorded same as all music I do! Only difference is auto-tune reverb and me using my fake uk accent lol."
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