{"id":802713,"date":"2026-08-04T19:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/802713\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T19:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:32:11","slug":"so-is-fenix-flexins-rubberz-ai-or-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/802713\/","title":{"rendered":"So Is Fenix Flexin\u2019s \u201cRubberz\u201d AI or What?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fenix Flexin<\/a>\u2019s summer anthem \u201cRubberz\u201d was plagued by artificial-intelligence allegations almost as soon as it dropped. On its way to the Billboard Hot 100<\/a>, the song<\/a> started a comment-box and social-media war over its own provenance, the ethics of AI, and whether anyone cares. (Turns out they do.) People thought the rapper\u2019s distinctively nasal voice had developed an unlikely kinship with Morrissey<\/a>. The track went viral on Instagram\u2014mostly because, as Pitchfork\u2019s Alphonse Pierre wrote<\/a> in early June, \u201cit\u2019s ridiculous that an L.A. rapper known for twerk anthems and prescription drug punchlines now suddenly is pretending he grew up getting his heart kicked in on the streets of Manchester.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fenix denied the claims and, under mounting scrutiny, stood fast. \u201cNo sirrrrrrr, recorded same as all music I do!\u201d he responded<\/a> to one naysayer. \u201cOnly difference is auto-tune reverb and me using my fake uk accent lol.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allegations and refutations continued to fly. It seemed as if Fenix\u2014a member of West Coast rap crew Shoreline Mafia<\/a>\u2014would secure \u201cRubberz\u201d the song of the summer mantle by virtue of pure, stubborn pride. Two developments have undermined his version of events, however. Last Thursday, the music producer (and self-proclaimed \u201csound scientist\u201d) Medasin posted a breakdown<\/a> of the song\u2019s AI-style hallmarks on Instagram. Among a firing squad\u2019s worth of apparent smoking guns was his discovery, in an old Fenix video, of the suffix \u201cSonauto.mp3\u201d in a version of the track\u2019s filename. Sonauto was Treblo\u2019s company name until a rebrand two days before the release of \u201cRubberz.\u201d Medasin also used basic prompts to generate his own Treblo creations that bore uncanny similarities to the single.<\/p>\n

Fenix denied it all, again. He sent Medasin what appeared to be clips of the song\u2019s creation displaying isolated stems, suggesting he could not have generated the track wholesale. Medasin, whose thesis was already overflowing with preemptive volleys and counterfactuals, batted away the refutation. Readily available stem separators automatically split a complete song into vocals, instruments, bass, and drums, commenters noted. Fenix deleted the clips and went quiet.<\/p>\n

As the controversy swirled, Treblo absorbed a surfeit of free publicity, with Fenix Flexin as its figurehead. Perhaps it was surprising, then, that the platform waded in on Sunday night with a new tool titled \u201cWas This Made With Treblo?<\/a>,\u201d as Wired<\/a> reports. The AI estimator has a microscopic likelihood of false positives, according to the site. \u201cRubberz\u201d fares poorly: The tool predicts that the song\u2019s origin is \u201cvery likely Treblo.\u201d (It produces similar results for songs from Fenix labelmate Tyga<\/a>\u2019s new album.) The tool\u2019s open source license<\/a> is available online, but has not been independently reviewed.<\/p>\n

In a statement to Wired, Treblo cofounder Ryan Tremblay backed up the tool\u2019s findings: \u201cSomeone appears to have used our model to find a sound that millions of people connected with, and that’s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Correction: A previous version of this story listed Fenix as a former member of Shoreline Mafia. It\u2019s been updated to note he\u2019s still part of the group.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>Is This Song AI? Real Artists Might Want to Keep You Guessing<\/a>