San Francisco record label Empire rocketed to the top of the music industry in recent years, becoming perhaps the biggest independent label in the country. It is best known for releasing Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” a colossal success that led the label to the recent purchase of a historic building in downtown San Francisco. However, Empire has now become entangled with accusations of using generative artificial intelligence, as artists behind two recent releases have admitted to incorporating the controversial technology.

Los Angeles rapper and Shoreline Mafia founder Fenix Flexin released the song “Rubberz” on June 5 through Empire and Flexxd Up Ent. It’s a far cry from Flexin’s typical style of minimal trap music, it sounds more like a slice of playful Italo disco, with a crooning, vaguely British vocal that matches Morrissey’s disaffected delivery. The song has become an unlikely hit, charting on the Billboard Top 100, garnering song of the week accolades from the New York Times’ “Popcast” and earning a place on the shortlist for song of the summer. Originally, Fenix Flexin denied the use of AI, but then backtracked and admitted it this month in an Instagram comment. The program he supposedly used, Treblo, confirmed via its detection software that it was generated using Treblo software.

Tyga’s new album “$TARFACE,” also released by Empire, faces similar accusations. The concept album eschews Tyga’s typical style of radio-friendly hip-hop for a style that sounds, well, very similar to “Rubberz.” The oddball ’80s synth-pop and disco beats have a distinctly lo-fi element to them, at times reminiscent of vintage video game scores. Like Flexin, Tyga initially dodged discussions of AI, bragging about vintage production techniques to People, before confirming to Vibe that AI indeed had a part in the creation of the album.

“We definitely used AI as a [tool]. And I know people are going to be mad about me saying this, but it’s where technology is going,” he told Vibe. “It’s no different than when Auto-Tune came out. Some people were opposed to it, but real artists took it and used it.”

Pitchfork gave the album a 0.0 rating, the first time the publication has given that rating in 20 years (the last was the infamous review for Jet’s “Shine On”), writing that “$TARFACE is smug and complacent, an amalgam of ’80s synth-pop and disco slapped together by someone who’s seemingly never cared to listen to one synth-pop or disco record in his life.”

Empire did not respond to a request for comment.

Most Read

Monterey couple who housed 300 in greenhouses pleads no contest
Travel | Bay Area family’s food empire swallows tiny town
Culture | Laid off after 24 years, Bay Area radio host writes scathing farewell
Crime

| Boys ages 12, 13 and 16 charged in California killing

Read our stories ad-free on the new SFGATE app.

This article originally published at San Francisco record label Empire caught up in AI slop accusations.