I Called Soulja Boy’s New AI Voice Clone and Had a Weird Conversation

• Soulja Boy teamed up with Bland AI to create a voice call clone that talks to fans in real time
• AI version of rapper holds natural conversations blending nostalgia and cutting-edge technology
• The project highlights how quickly voice cloning is taking hold in mainstream entertainment.

As a rapper, Soulja Boy has often bragged about being the first to use an iPhone. Today, he revealed a phone number that connects callers to an AI-generated version of himself, built in partnership with Bland AI. The system greets callers with a near-perfect recreation of his voice and launches into conversation with the same upbeat confidence as his performances, boasting of being the first rapper to “automate his voice with AI.”

It’s a fitting gimmick for the artist who incorporated a real phone number into his song “Kiss Me Thru The Phone.”

Bland AI gives the stunt some real technical weight. The startup specializes in generating realistic conversational phone agents for businesses, and now Soulja Boy can be one of those voices that automate customer service and scheduling.

I called the number myself and heard the unmistakable cadence of Soulja Boy, full of energy and ready to talk about businesses using his voice. I was able to convince the AI ​​to also talk about his thoughts on the technology, which, unsurprisingly, were enthusiastic. He talked a little about innovation and creativity with AI, but kept coming back to business options. Still, the overall feeling was impressive.

AI celebrity endorsement

Musicians and actors are increasingly making AI versions of their voices available. Some work with companies like ElevenLabs, others, like Matthew McConaughey, try to progress by registering their own voices and slogans. Soulja Boy’s project invites direct interaction, but it’s basically the same idea.

For Bland AI, the experience is also a branding moment. The company markets its technology as a way to replace cumbersome call centers with seamless conversations via AI. By working with a celebrity rather than a corporate client, Bland AI highlights the gaming value of its toolset. Fans trying this number aren’t thinking about the automation of the business, but how surreal it is to chat with an AI rapper.

This change could change expectations for celebrity accessibility. Historically, interaction with fans has lived on social platforms where comments and replies blur parasocial boundaries. An AI hotline pushes this limit even further. It allows fans to hear a familiar voice, talk for as long as they want, and leave the conversation believing they’ve discovered a part of the artist they admire.

It’s hard to tell if Soulja Boy is just the first of many celebrity voices you hear when you call a business for customer service, but it certainly captures the moment. And Soulja Boy could make AI his next major collaborator, judging by a video of him freestyling with an AI voice.

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Eric Hal Schwartz is a freelance writer for TechRadar with over 15 years of experience covering the intersection of world and technology. For the past five years, he served as editor-in-chief for Voicebot.ai and was at the forefront of reporting on generative AI and large language models. Since then, he has become an expert in generative AI model products, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini, and all other synthetic media tools. His experience spans the gamut of media, including print, digital, broadcast and live events. Today, he continues to tell the stories people want and need to hear about the rapidly evolving AI space and its impact on their lives. Eric is based in New York.