Is it Drake or AI? Viral track ‘Push Ups’ stirs debate

The song titled ‘Push Ups’ features a voice that does sound like Drake. However, the Grammy-winning artist has neither taken credit for the track nor released the same on any of his official platforms.

The track was first released on a YouTube channel named PaperChaserDotCom. | Photo Credit: Varun Krishan

A supposed leaked Drake track went viral on April 14 and fans are wondering whether it’s the Grammy-winning rapper or an AI. The song titled ‘Push Ups’ is a diss track targeting Kendrick Lamar and Metro Boomin, among others. 

The track was first released on a YouTube channel named PaperChaserDotCom. While the voice does sound like Drake, the award-winning artist has neither taken credit for the track nor released the same on any of his official platforms.

Interestingly, the track is still live and has already garnered over 5.6 million views. Additionally, various other channels on YouTube have uploaded the same track and none of them have been removed.

After ‘Push Ups’ went viral, Drake referenced it on his Instagram stories, notably by posting an AI deepfake that featured rap producer Metro Boomin as Nick Cannon in a scene from the 2002 movie ‘Drumline.’ However, this neither confirms nor denies his involvement in the song.

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Last year, a couple of AI-generated Drake songs went viral. In response, his label, Universal Media Group, issued a strongly worded statement condemning the use of AI and initiated takedown requests that led to the removal of one track from streaming services.

AI is incredibly powerful now and we have officially entered an age where it is extremely difficult to differentiate between original songs and their AI-generated counterparts.