Key Points:
- An AI-generated song about immigrants called “Verknallt in einen Talahon” has entered the German Top 50 charts.
- The song’s music, vocals, and artwork were created entirely using AI tools.
- The lyrics contain stereotypes about immigrants and use potentially offensive terms.
- The song’s creator, Butterbro, says it was meant as a parody but has drawn criticism.
- This may be the first fully AI-generated song to chart in a major music market.
A new song created entirely by artificial intelligence has entered the German music charts, marking what may be a first for a major music market.
The track, titled “Verknallt in einen Talahon” (In Love with a Talahon), reached number 48 on the German Top 50 list in August 2024.
The song was created by Josua Waghubinger, who goes by the artist name Butterbro. He used an AI tool called Udio to generate the music, vocals, and artwork for the track. Udio is a text-to-music platform that can create songs from simple text prompts.
“Verknallt in einen Talahon” combines modern lyrics with a style reminiscent of 1960s German schlager pop. The song’s lyrics focus on stereotypes about immigrants, particularly young men from migrant backgrounds.
The term “talahon” in the song title is a Germanized version of an Arabic phrase meaning “come here.” It’s now commonly used in Germany to describe groups of young immigrant men, often with negative connotations.
In the song, the AI-generated vocalist describes falling in love with a “talahon” who wears designer clothes and smells strongly of perfume. Some lyrics compare the subject to baklava, a pastry associated with Turkish culture.
Butterbro told a German music podcast that he intended the song as a parody of macho behavior “with a twinkle in the eye and without discriminating.” However, the track has drawn criticism from some cultural commentators.
Marie-Luise Goldmann, culture editor at the newspaper Die Welt, said the song walks a fine line between parody and discrimination. Music writer Felicia Aghaye called the song’s popularity “doubly problematic,” noting that far-right groups use the term “talahon” to stoke xenophobia.
Despite the controversy, the song has gained significant traction on streaming platforms. Less than a month after its release, it had 3.5 million streams on Spotify and reached number 3 on the platform’s global viral chart.
The success of “Verknallt in einen Talahon” comes as the music industry grapples with the increasing use of AI in music production. Major labels are currently engaged in lawsuits against AI music platforms like Udio, claiming copyright infringement.
Udio and another AI platform, Suno, have defended their technology as fair use. In a court filing, they argued that no company can control a genre or style of music, and that their use of existing recordings to train AI models is legal under copyright law.
The German case is notable as it may represent the first time a fully AI-generated song has charted in a leading music market. Previous high-profile uses of AI in music, such as the Beatles’ “Now and Then” released in 2023, used the technology to enhance or complete existing recordings rather than create entirely new works.
Butterbro has not made any public comments about the track since its rise in popularity.
Meanwhile, similar AI-generated songs mixing traditional pop styles with provocative lyrics are circulating on German social media, suggesting this may be the start of a broader trend.
As of August 19, 2024, “Verknallt in einen Talahon” remained in the German Top 100, holding the 83rd position.
