Christian hip-hop artist Derek Minor responds after Forrest Frank, Colton Dixon, and others criticize AI soul singer Solomon Ray topping the charts

Christian hip-hop artist Derek Minor has weighed in on the mounting criticism against AI soul singer Solomon Ray.

Days after Forrest Frank voiced his concerns about the escalation of AI within the Christian music industry, Derek Minor took to Instagram to chime in. The conversations come amid Solomon Ray, an AI persona, dominating the iTunes Christian music charts in recent weeks.

"Here's the problem with that perspective. There [are] a lot of Christian songs that people love today that had people that weren't Christians write the songs, that helped with the songs or that weren't Christians that played guitar on the songs or bass or drums," Minor, whose legal name is Derek Laurence Johnson Jr., insisted. "What if the person that's using the AI is a Christian, they just love God and they use the tools to their advantage?"

Solomon Ray is a persona crafted by a Mississippi-based artist named Christopher Jermaine Townsend, who also goes by the stage name Topher.

The concerns against AI persona Solomon Ray explored:

In his video, Minor explained that Christians could rely on AI to write and perform their songs because

"maybe they're not a talented artist, maybe they're not a talented writer, but they have taste, and they wanted to worship." In his caption, he added, "the Ai conversation is complicated, but it's not 'spiritually complicated.' It's the same as it's always been. Judge the artist by their fruit. The [Bible] says that gifts and callings come without repentance. There's people with terrible character that have made big Christian songs that people are moved by because God can use who or what [He] wants to get [His] point across. Even AI."

In a video posted on Wednesday, Forrest Frank reacted to Solomon Ray's Faithful Soul dominating the charts as the top Christian album.

“The No. 1 album right now for Christian music on iTunes and the No. 2 top singles over Elevation, Brandon Lake, whoever is AI." He continued, “I hate to even bring attention to this, but I want to just let you guys know this is out there, and I think it’s important that we just pause a little bit and kind of ask the questions of like, ‘is it something that we want?’ At a minimum, AI does not have the Holy Spirit inside of it, so I think that's really weird to be opening up your spirit to something that has no spirit," Frank said. “I personally will not be listening to this,” he added. “I already don’t listen to secular music, and I’m sure not going to be listening to AI Christian music.”

In his caption, Frank wrote:

"I love progress & tools, but this one just doesn't sit right!" On-screen text in the video shows Frank saying, “It could just disappear,” referring to AI.

Colton Dixon, a fellow Gospel artist and American Idol participant, left a comment under the video expressing his concerns with the use of AI. He noted that it could "shorten" a lengthy process, though it could also be used as a "crutch" by artists who don't rely on the Holy Spirit for "inspiration and direction."

Solomon Ray's Instagram page identifies him explicitly as an “AI voice." A recent post addressing the escalating criticism reads:

“Solomon Ray is no longer ‘the AI experiment.’ He is now the biggest new voice in gospel music — period. The future arrived faster than anyone expected. And his name is Solomon Ray. (All in under 21 days.)”

As for Christopher Jermaine Townsend, he made headlines last year when he sued the U.S. government for trying to ban TikTok.

Trending

Stay tuned to SoapCentral for more.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback