On June 5, 2025, well-known producer Timbaland made waves in the music industry by introducing Stage Zero, an AI-focused entertainment organisation, and TaTa, his first AI talent. He is a trailblazer in the emerging “A-POP” genre, which he defines as pop music produced by artificial intelligence. In the history of AI-generated music, this is a significant advancement.
Artists have been considering how artificial intelligence (AI) might alter the music industry’s processes in recent years, from creating music to disseminating it.
The Vision Behind TaTa and A-Pop
Timbaland’s attempt to introduce a new genre known as “A-pop” includes TaTa, according to Rocky Mudaliar, co-founder of Stage Zero and film producer, in a recent Rolling Stone piece. Timbaland claims that since he began utilising Suno, a generative AI music composition application created by a firm where he currently serves as creative director, last year. He has been leaning towards AI-generated music. He says he absolutely fell in love with the voice the program would create when Suno uploaded unfinished song demos to the platform. “It came to a point where I’m like, ‘Yo, this voice, it’s amazing.”
TaTa: The AI Star Designed from Scratch
Speaking on TaTa, he said, “I’m not just producing tracks anymore. I’m producing systems, stories, and stars from scratch. TaTa is not an avatar. She is not a character. TaTa is a living, learning, autonomous music artist built with AI. TaTa is the start of something bigger. She’s the first artist of a new generation. A-Pop is the next cultural evolution, and TaTa is its first icon.”
Timbaland declared in a statement that he’s “not just producing tracks anymore,” Rather, he is creating “systems, stories, and stars from scratch,” such as by utilising LLMs based on the music of other artists.
Promotion and Public Reveal
With the caption, “Thinking BIGGER but still inclusive,” Timbaland shared photos of Rolling Stone and Billboard headlines announcing his AI artist on Instagram.
Stage Zero aims to make TaTa as realistic as possible. The company has already published a photo of a young, pink-haired female artist to visually represent TaTa. TaTa will also have a social media presence to add in to the realism.
Mixed Reactions from Fans
However, this new venture by Timbaland hasn’t excited his fans. Almost every fan is against the idea of using AI to create music. A user said that Timbaland and his A-Pop is just ruining music much further while the other said that they were tired of robots. “Timbaland has joined the pantheon of goated legends that lost touch and apparently surrounded themselves with people that don’t know how to say ‘this ain’t it’”, said a X user.
Past AI Controversy: The Biggie Smalls Incident
Grammy award winner producer Timbaland had also unveiled a song, in May, that replicated the voice of late rapper Biggie Smalls, better known as the Notorious B.I.G., using artificial intelligence. Timbaland had already received backlash for it from fans as Biggie Smalls’ is considered one of the greatest rappers.
Industry Pushback and Legal Concerns
Not only fans, but artists within the industry are also against the idea of AI music as it takes away the creativity required to make actual good music. Due to copyright infringement concerns regarding their training data, major labels have sued AI music tools such as Suno and Udio. Concerns about AI’s threat to human creativity have been voiced in open letters signed by artists such as Stevie Wonder and Billie Eilish. Additionally, Suno has also been sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for allegedly illegally using millions of songs to train its AI models.
What’s Next for A-Pop?
The discussion about AI in music, its potential and its controversies has been getting more heated as the world waits for TaTa’s debut single. What Timbaland and his team have set out to do can either change the entire landscape of the music industry or would show us that human creativity is far superior to that of AI’s.
About Timbaland
Born as Timothy Zachery Mosley, Timbaland is an American rapper and music producer. He was born on the 10th of March, 1972. He was born and brought up in Norfolk, Virginia, and is currently 52 years old. His unique production work and “stuttering” rhythmic style have earned him widespread praise.
Timbaland’s first notable production credit was on R&B singer Ginuwine’s 1996 album, Ginuwine…the Bachelor. He became a sought-after producer for R&B and hip-hop artists after his subsequent productions, such as Aaliyah’s 1996 album One in a Million and Missy Elliott’s 1997 album Supa Dupa Fly, achieved further commercial success. In the process, he recorded his own music and released his first solo album, Tim’s Bio (1998), as well as three albums as a member of the Virginia-based hip-hop duo Timbaland & Magoo. Following his work on Justin Timberlake’s 2002 single “Cry Me a River,” he produced the majority of Timberlake’s subsequent albums, including FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006) and The 20/20 Experience (2013), along with the hit singles that accompanied them.
Over time, Timbaland’s production credits grew to include songs for a variety of artists, including Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne, Björk, Michael Jackson, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Madonna, Kanye West, and Rihanna.
FAQs
Ans. Timbaland is an American rapper and music producer
Ans. Timbaland’s real name is Timothy Zachery Mosley.
Ans. TaTa is an AI music artist that Timbada will work with.
Ans. A-pop is AI pop.
Ans. Timbaland was born on the 10th of March, 1972.
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