JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A Mississippi artist is topping the Christian music charts, but he wasn’t actually born in Mississippi.
Rather, it is made in Mississippi.
Solomon Ray is an AI-created Southern Soul gospel singer with nearly 75,000 followers on Instagram.
The man behind this project is Topher Townsend, a Mississippi artist who has been creating music for over 20 years.
Townsend works for Turning Point USA nationally, has been a conservative Christian hip hop artist for many years, and uses social media to preach the gospel.
After years of creating music under the name Topher, Townsend decided to try something new: AI music.
Townsend shared the process of creating this music.
“I have a hook in mind, I have a few lyrics in mind, and I go in and use ChatGPT to help me structure the song, get it ready for Suno,” Townsend said. “Suno is where I put the lyrics in and then from there I just generate songs until I find something I like.”
From there, Townsend said he changed things up, like a producer would.
But there is some controversy behind this.
Some artists and listeners object to AI-generated music, saying it is not real music.
“Anyone who says this is 100% generated from lyrics is trying to fuel the fear that a lot of people have of AI and, to me, that’s just disingenuous,” Townsend said. “There has to be a human lead in all of this and, thank the Lord, it’s a Christian human lead in gospel music, and that should be celebrated more than just talking about AI and its autonomy.”
Although Townsend said people have the right to not like music, he wants people to realize the good he said can come from it.
“This could be a huge movement for artists in Mississippi, especially in the underserved community who might not have access to these big bands and quality studios,” Townsend said. “But they can open an app like Suno and put their porch, their lyrics, become their own producer or conductor and release something incredible that the world might love.”
Townsend said he creates music when he is inspired and wants to bring people from pain to the promise God has for them.
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