Before the discussion about the future of music and AI between YouTube /Google music chief Lyor Cohen and rapper-singer Jidenna had even begun, striking images filled the screen.

It was the official music video for the Wu-Tang Clan’s latest single, “Mandingo,” every photorealistic frame of which was made with Google AI video generator Veo 2.

“When I saw that, I almost fell out of my chair,” Cohen said at the event Monday night. “I would challenge anybody to say, ‘That’s not art.’ I think it’s absolutely artistic, and it’s incredibly well done. And they’re not alone.”

Jidenna spent the next half-hour detailing his evolution from musical artist to AI-savvy multi-hyphenate, pausing at the beginning to greet Busta Rhymes, Chuck D and Wyclef. The hip-hop legends were among the crowd of

See Full Page