After a previous version of the Viral EDM track with AI-assisted vocals resembling U.K. singer Jorja Smith became embroiled in industry controversy, a new version with vocals from TikTok singer Kaitlin Aragon is now climbing the Canadian charts.
After a major industry controversy and conversations surrounding AI deepfaking, the pair’s viral track “I Run,” featuring singer Kaitlin Aragon, has hit the Canadian Hot 100. It debuted last week at No. 59 and climbed to No. 45 on the chart dated Dec. 13 — but it has been quite the journey.
Two months ago, “I Run,” the EDM track from HAVEN., comprised of London-born producers Harrison Walker and Jacob Donaghue, became a viral hit on TikTok, amassing over 110 million plays — but it had yet to be officially released.
advertisement
Through the fanfare, it caught the attention of major and independent labels, along with U.K. R&B singer Jorja Smith. To many, the uncredited female vocalist on hypnotic “I Run” sounded eerily similar to Smith — which kicked off the song’s controversy. In a now-deleted TikTok video, she acknowledged the track, asking in the caption: “who actually is this?” Then, HAVEN. added #jorjasmith to a now-removed social post promoting the song. “It was more so just embracing that it does sound like her,” a spokesperson for HAVEN. noted. “It became an organic trend.”
As Billboard reported, multiple A&Rs at major and independent music companies wanted to sign the track and the artist before “I Run” came out, but the duo locked in a deal with independent label Broke Records in late October, and the song was subsequently put out.
As it continued to build momentum, the track was removed from streaming services. The Orchard — which distributes Smith’s FAMM label — issued various takedown notices for “I Run” upon its official release, alleging varying issues with the song, including that it “misrepresents” another artist and constitutes copyright infringement.
Due to the dispute, the song was withheld from the Billboard charts at the time after one week on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, with Billboard reserving the right to withhold or remove titles from appearing on the charts that are known to be involved in active legal disputes related to copyright infringement that may extend to its deletion on digital service providers.
advertisement
While some claim the original version uses an unauthorized AI deepfake of Smith’s voice, the duo told Billboard that they wrote and produced the song in ProTools, and Walker used his own voice to record the vocals. He admits that he then ran it through layers of AI-assisted processing using the AI music tool Suno and filtered it to turn it into the female-sounding voice heard in the track — with no reference to Smith. It's worth noting that Suno has been sued by multiple music companies, including all three major labels, claiming that the model was trained on copyrighted music — which could include Jorja Smith.
While the disputes are ongoing, HAVEN. since released a re-recording of the song in November, featuring singer Kaitlin Aragon, who was discovered by the duo’s team after posting a TikTok cover of “I Run.”
This is the version currently charting on the Canadian Hot 100. “I Run” has yet to make an appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, but it is currently charting at No. 2 in its second week on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for the chart dated Dec. 13. This version with Aragon is considered a new and separate chart entry from the original version that charted for one week in November.
“It’s been such an honor to see the love and support for ‘I Run’ these past few weeks,” HAVEN. said in a statement to Billboard back in November.
advertisement
“What started as something fun and experimental between two producers and music-lovers ended up taking the internet by storm. I’m aware that AI has become part of that storm. It shouldn’t be any secret that I used AI-assisted vocal processing to transform solely my voice for ‘I Run.’ As a songwriter and producer I enjoy using new tools, techniques and staying on the cutting edge of what’s happening. To set the record straight, the artists behind HAVEN. are real and human, and all we want to do is make great music for other humans.”
Recently, many Canadian artists have been critical of AI use in music. Indie rock singer Mac DeMarco shared that "the most important part of art is the human element" in the midst of releasing his stripped-back album Guitar this past summer. In July, Winnipeg-based singer Leith Ross responded to a series of AI songs that were uploaded to their profile, saying: “f–k AI and AI music.” At the top of the year, Nova Scotia artist Ian James debunked an AI-generated album that was added to his Spotify profile.
In 2024, bigger industry conversations started to take place about musicians' compositions being used — with or without their consent — to train AI tools that some worry could aim to replace them. Artists including Billie Eilish, Metro Boomin and The Arkells signed a letter urging AI developers to "cease the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists."
