LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 09: Lil Eazy-E attends the Hip Hop 4 Peace Town Hall: Peace In The Streets at Catch One on March 09, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)
What if one of the most iconic voices in Hip-Hop could speak again, years after his passing? That’s the idea behind an ambitious project by Lil Eazy-E, the son of legendary rapper Eazy-E. With a little help from artificial intelligence, he’s working to bring his father’s voice—and legacy—back to life.
In an interview with TMZ, Lil Eazy-E shared that multiple projects are in the works using A.I. to recreate his father’s voice and image.
“I actually just got a sample of him talking to me,” he said. “It made my mind go another route with the possibilities we can do with AI. I look at it as doing something special movie wise. I look at it as doing something special audio wise.”
Sounds like this isn’t just a small idea—it’s personal.
“I have a project I’ve been dreaming about doing and it simultaneously tells you the story of his life and my life. AI would be the best way of doing that. I have a partner, Ace Industries, that helped me build it and he sent me a couple of samples and it was touching, he was actually talking to me.”
Lil Eazy-E even hinted at making a duet album with his A.I. dad. That’s right—father and son on the same track, even though one of them passed away in 1995.
He’s not the only one talking about A.I. Eazy-E, either. Another source added:
“Is there anymore music left from N.W.A? I don’t think so, because I had all the masters,” he said. “I was the last person with Eazy’s last album… All the stuff I had in my hand. I didn’t think nothing about it. We had a bunch of instrumentals, but nothing with tracks, with words.”
When asked about A.I. being used to recreate Eazy-E’s voice, he added: “I think somebody’s working on something like that with Eazy’s voice. I haven’t heard it yet, but they said it worked great. I’m like, ‘I gotta hear it to believe it.’”
He continued: “I don’t think you gonna recreate it, you just gonna duplicate. That’s all it is. You ain’t recreating the original. But it’s different, I guess it’s the new thing. You know, ‘technology.’ It would be different, keep that name going. Keep that Compton thing going. Yeah, it’s cool to me.”
It’s not just Eazy-E. A.I. is shaking up the whole Hip-Hop scene. In April 2024, VIBE did a deep dive into how the music world is feeling about artificial intelligence. Spoiler alert: opinions are very split.
With tools like voice A.I. and speech cloning becoming more popular, fans have heard fake tracks with artists like The Weeknd, Kanye West, Jay-Z—and even Drake. In fact, Drake used A.I. to copy the voices of 2Pac and Snoop Dogg in his diss track “Taylor Made” aimed at Kendrick Lamar. The internet had lots of feelings about it, especially because 2Pac is no longer alive, and Snoop very much still is.
While some thought it crossed a line, others compared it to Kendrick’s use of deepfake visuals in his video for “The Heart Part V.” In that one, Kendrick transformed into famous Black figures like Nipsey Hussle, Kobe Bryant, and Will Smith to deliver powerful messages. Fans saw it as respectful and artistic.
Still, the back-and-forth between Drake and Kendrick has only made the A.I. conversation louder. Is it creative? Is it disrespectful? Should artists use A.I. to bring back legends—or leave their legacy untouched?
One thing’s for sure: A.I. in Hip-Hop isn’t going anywhere.
