Kid Rock recently released his new album, Halfway 2 Jesus, and appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher to discuss the project. One of the most notable topics was his track “Heal My Faith,” the widely criticized collaboration with his friend Eminem. During the conversation, the Detroit artist revealed that he used artificial intelligence to assist with the song, as captured by Blue Georgia on Twitter.
“I sang that hook myself, I did the harmonies myself,” he explained. “My singers weren’t around. I’m an impatient guy. It’s not about the money of getting the choir… I can save time. So I go into AI, I prompt the harmony notes, I prompt the lead notes. ‘Southern gospel choir,’ blah, blah, blah. I have to do this several times, I put it together, I love that. So the choir on there is AI. It’s a tool in the bag.”
“Did we put [singers] out of work, though?” Rock continued. “They said this when the electric guitar came. Did we put drummers out of work when the drum machine was invented? I know AI’s something different… It’s a tool right now. I see the dangers of it, I 1,000% believe it needs to be regulated at the highest levels.”
The discussion also touched on how the country-rock-rap artist combined vocals from multiple singers to create a choir effect on his Lil Wayne-assisted track “7 Sins.” This suggests that the two songs took different approaches to production and recording, with “Heal My Faith” serving as a more isolated case of AI use.
Of course, Kid Rock’s collaboration with Eminem attracted criticism for other reasons. Slim Shady’s fans were disappointed to see him work with Rock, a strong MAGA supporter, after years of criticizing United States President Donald Trump. Although the two artists had been friends long before Trump ever considered running for office, the collaboration still sparked considerable backlash.
Kid Rock and Eminem don’t appear to be bothered, however. While the track has since faded from the spotlight, Kid Rock’s revelation about using AI has sparked another wave of criticism. Still, as conversations around artificial intelligence become more common, it’s possible that people may eventually become less bothered by its use in music.
