Across TikTok, Taylor Swift fans were in disbelief as they listened to the shocking lyrics of a leaked new song—until they discovered that the song was AI-generated, and a part of a viral TikTok prank.
In the past year, AI has become a controversial cultural phenomenon, especially when it comes to music copyright law. Countless artists have recently seen their voices become the center of AI-generated fake songs. This phenomenon has reinvigorated the decades-long debate around copyright law.
In January, Swift was notably the subject of a much more sinister side of AI. Explicit AI-generated images of the musician generated 22 million views on Twitter before the social media site cracked down.
More recently, however, a much lighter side of AI has once again put Swift back in the spotlight. A new TikTok trend features a digital impersonation of Swift reciting unexpected lyrics about Travis Kelce, whom the singer is in a relationship with.
In the trend, users tell their loved ones that a new Taylor Swift song just leaked. As the song plays, listeners react in utter confusion as they listen to what they believed was Taylor Swift’s voice professing her feelings for Kelce with not-so-subtle, and quite shady, lyrics. One video, published last week, has amassed 15.6 million views.
The lyrics in the viral portion of the song are as follows: “So happy that my Travy made it to the big game. One step closer to Kelce being my last name. But if you feel like you ain’t worthy, you can call me Mrs. Taylor Purdy. I’m not flying from Japan to be seen with the man who loses so dirty.”
@maddbrown #taylorswift #torturedpoetsdepartment ♬ The Ring – JOKES ON WOKES
These lyrics reference the recent 58th Super Bowl in Las Vegas, where Swift flew directly from an Eras Tour performance in Japan to support Kelce, who was playing with the Kansas City Chiefs. The lyrical reference to “Mrs. Taylor Purdy” was a cheeky nod at Brock Purdy. Purdy is a star player of the San Francisco 49ers, who lost against the Chiefs in the landmark game.
Published before the Super Bowl, the viral sound has begun trending this past week.
Today, the song is no longer available on TikTok, due to copyright restrictions. This means that the thousands of videos using the viral sound have become void of any music.
@ericgoldie His confusion just kept growing. #taylorswift #swiftie #traviskelce #theerastour #erastour #carpoolkaraoke #thetorturedpoetsdepartment #husbands #couplescomedy ♬ The Ring – JOKES ON WOKES
While Swift’s team has not responded to our request for comment, and it is unclear if her team had anything to do with the song’s removal from TikTok, the removal of this sound from TikTok follows recent notable action taken by her team.
In February, Swift’s team threatened legal action against a college student for tracking her private jet usage. The student is known for compiling publicly available data to track celebrities’ private jets, including Swift. This controversial move stirred debate about the lines between transparency among public figures and their privacy and safety.
Listen to the AI song, “The Ring,” below: