Mary J. Blige Did A Fucking Suno Commercial
When she is at her absolute best, Mary J. Blige makes some of the most viscerally human music you ever heard in your life. That's what she has been doing ever since she arrived in the '90s. Her voice registers raw, convulsive emotions — heartbreak, betrayal, joy, indignity, distaste for hateration and holleration in this dancerie. When she sings something like "Real Love" or "I'm Goin' Down," you…
Mary J. Blige, the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, recently appeared in a controversial commercial for Suno, an AI music generation platform. In the commercial, Blige is seen in a studio, receiving demonstrations of what the AI can create. When she hears what is presumably a Suno-generated version of one of her songs, she remarks, "I just process because I don't know what the hell y'all talking about, so I like to learn what you talking about."
This seems to be a reaction to the poor quality of the generated song. The commercial coincides with the launch of Suno Studio 2.0, a new version of the platform featuring custom audio plugins. Suno's CEO, Danny Goldberg, claimed in a press release that the commercial was not intended to be prominent, but it has gone viral nonetheless.
The commercial has sparked criticism, notably from Jermaine Dupri, a contemporary of Blige and an occasional remixer. Dupri took issue with the idea of automating the mixing process, calling it "wack" and criticizing the company for trying to sell young people on such technology. Three major record labels are currently involved in copyright infringement lawsuits against Suno, with one new lawsuit filed just yesterday.
Written by urgent.news from Stereogum's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
