While I’m working, I frequently listen to music videos on YouTube. Depending on my mood, I appreciate almost every genre, but I assiduously avoid music created by AI. That’s because I’m a classically trained musician. It seems like cheating when so many people work so hard to become proficient. Yes, I occasionally use AI art in my videos, but because I have zero talent in that area, it doesn’t bother me. (And when you accuse me of “AI slop,” I laugh it off.) When it really matters, as when I’m illustrating my books, I hire a human artist.

Normally my feed is a bizarre mix of blues, rock, and classical. Recently, however, they snuck an AI video in there. I was about to click away when I noticed all the positive comments. “I know this is AI, but it’s AWESOME.” So I watched.

The video, titled “Nasty Girl,” features an attractive young woman in a provocative outfit–short shorts, tied-up top, sunglasses, and cowboy hat–singing and playing guitar with a cowboy band backing her up. It starts out slow and quiet. A few bars in, she puts up her hand and tells the drummer to give her a NASTY beat. (Sounds cringe, but it grows on you.) Then they rock out in a hard-core country blues. The lyrics are cliché: “smoke in the air, beer on the floor,” but her voice is deep and sultry. Mesmerizing. She ends with a triumphant chord and a defiant pose.

I found myself thinking, “Damn, this is NOT bad.” How long has it been since we had a popular song with such an infectious beat? That rocked out that way? With an unabashedly sexy blonde at the mike? So I listened again, and watched more carefully. The video was surprisingly well done, with only a few AI glitches. Some of the lyrics are gibberish. Sometimes she opens her mouth when she’s not singing. Sometimes the tats on her arms disappear for a moment. As for the soundtrack, “Nasty Girl” is certainly not the best song I’ve ever heard, but it beats the hell out of most of the bland garbage that’s on the radio these days. Is this what we’ve come to? That what passes for pop music can be bested by a fake?

There are a bunch of these videos on this channel (r0og) and all are rather similar, though this one’s by far the best. The guy’s tagline is “Created with AI – because making impossible ideas come to life is half the fun.” It’s good work for AI, but what’s impossible about a music video? There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of talented young singers out there. There must be at least one with the voice and the attitude to front a band like this. Possibly she already is, but the music industry, such as it is, will pass her by.

Ironically, NG is based on a real singer, as one of the commenters on the Nasty Girl video informs us. Her name is Gin Wigmore, she’s from New Zealand, and her first hit, “Oh My,” was Number Four on that country’s charts in 2009. Considering the close resemblance–the hair, the face and even the sleeve tats on her arms–I’m surprised this guy hasn’t heard from her lawyer.

I watched a couple of Wigmore’s videos and, except for her looks, she’s not at all like NG. Her voice, her style, and her outfits are quite different. She’s what I’d call a “quirky pop diva.” Her early songs remind me of Meghan Trainor (“All About That Bass”) or Elle King (“Exes and Ohs.”) It’s fun, catchy, and ultimately forgettable. After taking time off to be a mom (good for her!) she’s living in the USA and touring again. Her latest release, “Rodeo,” has a nice Nineties feel to it. I like it, but it’s not country blues, and it’s certainly not Nasty Girl.

Will AI fakes like NG replace the flesh-and-blood musicians they’re based on? Or will life imitate art and spawn a revival of neglected genres like country blues? Let’s hope it’s the latter.

Nasty Girl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ4v72Ymz8Q

Gin Wigmore, “Oh My”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luhnj7ZPWL4