Hot 100 Hit: Is It Just AI Slop?

While absolute certainty remains elusive, evidence strongly suggests the involvement of artificial intelligence.

Fenix Flexin, primarily recognized as half of the Los Angeles rap duo Shoreline Mafia, has recently achieved solo success with his track “Rubberz,” which ascended to number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, almost immediately upon its release, questions arose regarding the song's genesis, with widespread speculation pointing to its being largely, if not entirely, generated by AI. While Fenix has refuted these claims, his efforts to fully dispel the suspicions have been minimal.

A significant factor contributing to the skepticism stems from the song's drastic stylistic departure. Fenix's prior work largely consisted of trap-influenced West Coast rap. In stark contrast, “Rubberz” exhibits a strong influence from ‘80s UK synth pop, featuring a vocal melody reminiscent of Morrissey and Fenix adopting an artificial British accent. Nevertheless, artistic evolution and experimentation are common, and this alone does not conclusively prove AI involvement.

More indicative, perhaps, is the inherent quality of the recording itself. A meticulous examination uncovers several audio artifacts and anomalies frequently present in AI-generated music. Distinctive brittle hi-hats, chorus vocals resembling a low-bitrate MP3, and abruptly truncated reverb tails are all noticeable.

In an interview with The Verge, Charlie Harding, a songwriter and co-host of the Switched on Pop podcast, pinpointed several telling indicators. He observed, “Ghostly backing vocals duck in and out unexpectedly. The drum reverb is full of unnatural digital artifacting reminiscent of a 64kbps MP3 downloaded off of Napster. Because most generative AI companies have trained their model on low-quality MP3s of unlicensed copyrighted material, we hear audibly degraded instrumentation.”

Submitting the song to various AI music detectors did not yield definitive proof. Multiple tests, conducted across five different tools, indicated a 20 to 30 percent probability of the track being AI-generated or at least AI-assisted. However, the inherent reliability of such detection tools is often questioned, as their development lags significantly behind the rapid advancements in music-making AI models.

Conversely, some of the accompanying materials have consistently triggered AI detectors. Both the single's cover art and a social media post celebrating its success were identified as AI-generated with over 97 percent certainty by multiple AI image detection tools. Similarly, upon analysis by various AI writing detectors and Gemini, the lyrics were consistently flagged as appearing to be AI-written. Producer and YouTuber Curtiss King also submitted the lyrics to Claude, which likewise identified numerous indicators of AI generation.

The lyrical content itself exemplifies the kind of logically inconsistent, almost nonsensical output frequently associated with AI. The rhymes are notably simplistic and clean, a characteristic unusual for an accomplished rapper. Absent are complex near rhymes or internal rhymes; instead, the structure adheres strictly to a basic AA, BB format, seemingly prioritizing the rhyme scheme over genuine meaning or narrative progression.

For instance, lines such as "Swipin’ cards and stackin’ chips, I saw you sinkin’ ships / Left me standin’ in the pourin’ rain, now I bought a heavy diamond chain" demonstrate this pattern.

The concept of "sinking ships" is introduced without context or subsequent development, leaving its meaning entirely ambiguous. Likewise, while individual lines within the chorus may hold isolated meaning, their combination results in a largely incoherent message.

Another example, "Bankrolls on the table," highlights this issue. Disregarding the awkwardly inserted “local cable” line, which reportedly irked Curtiss King significantly, the lyrics fail to clarify what Fenix is capable of or why he expresses dislike for it. Ultimately, the lyrics generate more questions than they provide answers.

The delivery of the lines also presents anomalies. Verse three, for instance, appears to conclude abruptly mid-thought with the phrase “Not the jewelry.” Harding remarked on a “complete lack of flow,” stating, “No half-competent rapper would ever sing the title line ‘I just let the rubber band snap’ in such an awkward manner. The syncopation is highly unusual, emphasizing all the wrong syllables.” He further elaborated that “by smashing so many syllables together, it forces the word the onto the downbeat, instead of the word rubber, forcing all of the subsequent syllables to accent with unnatural syncopation.”

Fenix's live “performances” of “Rubberz” have only exacerbated the suspicions. Initial in-studio appearances showcased the rapper awkwardly lip-syncing, at times appearing to struggle with the song's flow and lyrics, as if unfamiliar with his own material. His efforts to convince audiences of genuine live singing have been notably unenthusiastic.

The situation deteriorates further when Fenix attempts to sing live. Numerous video clips unequivocally demonstrate his inability to replicate the vocal range and distinct accent heard on the studio recording, alongside evident unfamiliarity with the lyrics. In many live performance recordings, even when Fenix is singing, the original recorded vocals are prominently layered over his. His actual live voice is kept exceptionally low in the mix, and while the DJ occasionally and strategically mutes the backing track to imply authenticity, these attempts largely fail to convince.

Fenix has defended these discrepancies by attributing the differences between the recorded and live versions to extensive vocal processing, including AutoTune. However, this assertion has been challenged by several prominent figures, including Harding, King, and Anthony Fantano. King drew an apt comparison, likening AutoTune to spellcheck: while it can be creatively manipulated to produce distinctive robotic effects, its primary function is error correction. As Fantano highlighted, AutoTune is not designed to expand a performer's vocal range or introduce an entirely new accent.

Ironically, perhaps the most compelling argument for “Rubberz” being authentically human-made is its perceived lack of quality. Harding quipped, “I would assume it was written by someone who has never written a song using an ‘80s kids practice keyboard.” If the track was indeed a product of generative AI, it would unequivocally suggest the use of an inferior model. Harding expressed concern that “audiences find this song interesting when it is created by one of the lesser generative AI music companies with a terrible model. More sophisticated models have already made big improvements in the audible artifacts and awkwardly sung rhythms.”

Fenix has shared clips purporting to be Pro Tools session files. However, this action does not provide conclusive proof of authenticity. Without the public release of the original recording and full project files, it is improbable that he will successfully overcome the persistent AI allegations, a disclosure that appears unlikely in the near future.