Grimes debuts AI girl group, NPC, with new single A Drug From God
“NPC will eventually be playable, customizable, and able to cater to each individual listener’s unique desires,” says a press release.
Image: Theo Wargo / Getty
Grimes has debuted her new AI girl group NPC in a single, A Drug From God, written alongside producer-DJ Chris Lake.
NPC is described as “a vehicle for experimentation in new technologies” that ranges from generative characters and music to alternative animation, AI-assisted art, and “spiritual technology” – according to a press release [via NME].
The idea is that the group will feature an endless stream of members who can be voted in or out. There will be core party members, such as “baby Warnymph”, the character which Grimes has featured in several NFTs in the past.
The press release continues to describe that NPC will “hone the concepts of Art Angels and Miss Anthropocene [Grimes’ fourth and fifth studio albums], finally manifesting the endless characters in Grimes’ head.
“NPC can do all the things humans cannot. NPC will eventually be playable, customizable, and able to cater to each individual listener’s unique desires. Decentralized Popstardom. Made, not Born.”
The project does offer an exciting glimpse into a future musical landscape where the lines between fiction and reality are blurred. Grimes isn’t the only artist looking to leverage digital personas and AI technology in music.
Last year, the K-pop group Aespa debuted with each of its real-life members having digital avatar counterparts. Meanwhile, the 11-piece girl group Eternity consists of entirely virtual members created with AI technology from start-up, Pulse9.
