The Weeknd says Coachella’s on-stage pyrotechnics ‘almost cooked me’ in response to a fan video capturing the close call.
The Weeknd almost couldn’t feel his face if he’d gotten any closer to the pyrotechnic display at his recent Coachella performance. A Twitter fan page dedicated to the Toronto singer shared a video of his surprise Coachella performance on April 22, to which The Weeknd replied.
The clip shows the Grammy Award-winning singer hyping up the crowd when a plume of fire spouts up near his arm, causing him to back away. Fortunately, the artist was unharmed.
“ALMOST COOKED ME,” The Weeknd wrote, quote-tweeting the fan page’s post and acknowledging his close encounter.
The singer’s voice was recently used as part of a viral AI-generated “collaboration” with Drake (whose voice was also AI-generated), which was ripped down by Universal Music Group last week. By then, the track had already gained a half million views on YouTube and hundreds and thousands of plays across other streaming platforms.
In what has been described as an endless game of whack-a-mole, AI-generated tracks appear across DSPs like Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and Tidal faster than giants like UMG can whack them down.
Meanwhile, as AI-generated tracks explode in popularity, Drake has been outspoken against them — particularly as AI-generated Drake tracks seem to be among the most popular. An AI-created version of Drake covering Colbie Caillat’s “Bubbly” has emerged among the most absurd explorations.
Still, it wasn’t until the viral AI-concocted version of the rapper covering Ice Spice’s “Munch” that Drake wrote, “This is the last straw,” on his Instagram. The artist pointed out his parent label UMG’s efforts to tackle the seemingly endless AI-generated tracks cropping up.
But at this stage, it’s already proving depressingly challenging to keep tabs on the ever-expanding list of unauthorized songs appearing online.