Summer hit 'Shade' suspected of AI vocals, authors accused of bullying critics

The track 'Shade' has taken over social media and music platform charts since May, but raises questions about the use of neural networks in the industry. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

'Shade', authored by by Индия, Xcho and МОТ, was released in May 2026. The track soon began appearing in popular social media videos and topped the charts. For example, it currently holds the number one spot in Yandex Music's top 100.

However, while most listeners enjoyed another summer hit, music critics sounded the alarm. Social media saw accusations of AI use in the song. According to them, the female vocals in the chorus may have been generated by a neural network. The complaint is not so much about the use of AI itself, but about the authors' approach. In the opinion of music bloggers, this clearly illustrates the problem with artificial intelligence in the industry.

'The melody itself is catchy, no argument. But the fact that, with all their capabilities, top artists work on the principle of "good enough", leaving almost entirely AI production. This is no longer a symptom, but a deep disease,' laments musician Misha Rent.

Fans of the band Sade, to which the track alludes, also criticize the artists and listeners for 'parasitizing on legends' and overly vulgar lyrics.

However, the most attention was drawn to the altercation between singer and blogger Anna Eremeeva and the producer of one of the performers. First, the girl published a video with complaints against by Индия, Xcho and МОТ. According to her, such music lowers industry standards and complicates life for independent artists.

Under one of her videos, the musician entered into a polemic with producer Alibek Suleymanov. Then Eremeeva reported spam attacks, bullying, and demands to delete the critical videos.

Suleymanov told the Telegram channel BAZA that he has nothing to do with bot harassment and that the girl is simply trying to 'hype' by insulting artists. At the same time, he saw no problem in using a female AI voice in the chorus. According to the producer, the lyrics for 'Shade' were written by By Индия himself.

Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle wrote about why dancers refused to perform at a concert of popular Russian rapper and singer МОТ, which took place in Almaty on May 21.