We Have Now Entered 'PLANET FROG'

You won't be surprised to learn I get a lot of email about AI from publicists.

As a creative person and professional marketer, this is especially bemusing. From a holistic POV, I pretty much loathe this purportedly "inevitable" technology and genuinely see it as an existential threat to artistry, to say nothing of the harm it stands to inflict upon humanity. As much as tech billionaires and their significantly less moneyed online acolytes insist that this stuff will totally improve my life in transformative ways as-yet unimaginable, I mostly see it right now as a net negative to society. Despite a few administrative functions like automated transcription providing modest short-term benefits, none of this seems worth the environmental and economic destabilization it seems increasingly likely to cause in the near future.

In short, I am the guy who shows up in Instagram comments of the cheap and lazy to declare "AI SLOP" every chance I get.

Just last month, one of my favorite rappers from Queens posted what was evidently an AI generated image to promote his then-forthcoming new album. The comments on IG amounted to a deluge of disappointment from fans expecting more or at least better from Action Bronson, who up until this point could be counted on for originality in his cover art and a distinct sense of taste in how his work across mediums is visually presented. Despite an all-caps insistence on the necessity of resorting to AI to achieve his vision ("HOW THE HELL ELSE WOULD I GET THE FROG TO DO WHAT I WANT. DON’T YOU WORRY ABOUT MY METHODS OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION"), any graphic designer worth a damn could've produced a pic of a green frog holding green frog popsicles without the use of Midjourney.

On an appearance on, uhhh, Joe Rogan's podcast, Bronson addressed his reaction to the negative fan response online with no small amount of incredulity:

Action Bronson: "Bro, the other day, I posted a picture of a frog that I AI-generated–just because I wasn't able to get the frog to do what the fuck I wanted to do in real life. Like, I want the frog holding frog popsicles. He was being difficult, so I had to fucking use another guy. And everyone was blasting me 'like, yo, not you, not you, I can't believe you used AI.'... People were fucking flipping out on me.

Joe Rogan: "So people are upset?

Action Bronson: "I generated a picture of a frog."

Joe Rogan: "Who is mad at you for this?"

Action Bronson: Whoever is on my Instagram. And my fans and the people who are, you know, just hating on AI. I get the idea of like using it in a, you know, in a conniving way, but it was a picture of a fucking frog... I said that that was going to be my album cover. They were like, 'yo, you're taking away opportunities from other artists.' Well, let me just clear this up: I wouldn't have hired you no matter what, because I do all my artwork anyway. There was no job to be taken away. If that's the argument, you could throw that one out.

As is to be expected, the show's host echoed the aforementioned tech elite's talking points in reply:

Joe Rogan: "I think it's just a bunch of people looking for things to complain about, A. And then there's also like a sentiment in the air, which is that AI is coming for everybody's job. So anytime someone uses AI that could have been used by people, there's a certain percentage of people that are going to kind of rightly be upset. But you're not going to stop it... That wave is 2,000 feet high and it's moving 100 miles an hour and you're not going to stop it. You're not gonna stop it. This is just what AI is."

Action Bronson: "I didn't realize the severity. I mean, I guess I do now."

Thankfully, when PLANET FROG dropped earlier this month, the artwork was a proper painting more in line with the aesthetic found on prior Bronson albums like Cocodrillo Turbo and Only For Dolphins. (It's probable that AI was used in the making of at least some of the promotional/music videos for the album too, but that's a conversation for another day.) Still, he stubbornly kept the amphibian slop in the mix by using it as a limited edition vinyl cover variant–which, like most of his relatively low-run vinyl drops, promptly sold out. It's not the only questionable choice Bronson has made of late, partnering with online gambling platform Fanatics Sportsbook for a video series called Cookin' Up Parlays. (Again, a conversation for another day...)

In one of the most recent publicity emails I received promoting Rap Fame, which from what I gather is some sort of AI-friendly "rap app," I got some small validation for my visceral opposition to this technology in the hip-hop space. (The press materials describe it as "the #1 hip hop community and creation app with over 20 million tracks and 1M monthly active users.") According to a survey of nearly 1,600 of its users, 75% of what they describe as "underground hip-hop creators" don’t use AI in the music-making process, with only 2% indicating "regularly" using generative AI tools for that purpose. This, apparently, is in stark contrast to surveys done of those operating in other genres.

As someone who knows a lil bit about market research methodology, and who has conducted some unscientific polling of underground hip-hop types himself, I know not to blindly trust a press release on its face. Still, the sentiment seems to echo what I've experienced within the CABBAGES community of late, one in line with the long-standing authenticity discussions I've been privy to and participated in as a music journalist and critic for some two-and-a-half decades.

Apparently, Rap Fame's co-founder and CEO Alena Golden drew a similar conclusion from this data collection, quoted in press materials as saying, “Hip-hop artists aren’t looking for shortcuts; they want to write their own music and tell their own stories." The company further cites the value of community feedback to its surveyed users; in other words, nobody wants to be clowned or dismissed by their peers for making music with generative AI shortcuts.

What's particularly cringey about Bronson using obviously AI-generated art to promote PLANET FROG is that the album comes off as one of his most organic-sounding records to date. His established live ensemble–the perfectly-named Human Growth Hormone–is credited on a handful of its 13 tracks, specifically the delightfully jazzy "MY BLUE HEAVEN" and the eastern hemisphere funk-infused instrumental "CHUTNEY." Multi-talented bandmember Matt Carrillo, aka Yung Mehico, also boasts production on the '70s-indebted "IGUANA" and "LEBRON HENNESSY," while HGH guitarist Julian Love also plays on the latter cut. Also credited on several cuts here is Kenny Beats, whose star has only risen after co-producing NYC indie rock outfit Geese's much-discussed breakout album Getting Killed.

The realistic among us know that AI has already deeply infiltrated so much of what we consume. Slop abounds, yet our ability to identify it in visual mediums is actively tested on a daily basis. This near-ubiquity manifests on social media, in television advertisements, and just about anywhere else things get promoted. On the audio front, however, it's perhaps even more insidious (or as Bronson might say, conniving), with streaming services platforming AI-generated music from make-believe acts to the detriment of real flesh-and-blood artists.

Even if the underground or independent rap community continues to express resistance to it on some level, the forced normalizing of AI in nearly every aspect of our online lives stands to smother smaller acts before they even have a chance at being discovered, let along growing a fanbase. Bigger names like Lil Wayne and Timbaland have adopted or become for-profit evangelists for it, putting pressing on existing stars and veterans to do so too. At a recent Max B concert at Brooklyn Paramount, the onstage visuals accompanying the finally freed rapper's otherwise solid performance included some truly sloppy slop, and his cohort French Montana is very much on that wave as well.

Facing an industry-wise inflection point, with a new generation of rappers emerging to fill our ears, listeners deserve an alternative to AI acceptance. The opportunity for role models to guide the way and champion true creativity is immense, and one truly wishes Action Bronson would be among those leaders. If only that frog would properly hold the damn popsicles...

Three new tracks to snack on...

Casper Ghostly (Pastense & Uncommon Nasa), "Floor Thirteen"

Errol Holden, "EYE BEAR WITNESS"

MHK-ULTRA (MIGHTYHEALTHY x Sankofa), "Jack Palance Tears"