Tyler, the Creator‘s dancefloor-oriented left-turn “Don’t Tap The Glass” might be the top-selling album in the country, but the hook that the internet is humming in the days since its release is nowhere to be found in its 28-minute runtime.
A comically simple, AI-generated song snippet of big room EDM has stolen the thunder of the rapper and producer’s ninth studio album. Uploaded in the days before Tyler, the Creator’s release, “Don’t Tap The Glass! (Music Video)” purported to be a leak from the then-upcoming album. The video is less a breach in security than a modern rickroll, a bit of trolling for megafans who were as impatient as they were extremely online.
The bit of machine learning-assisted, Chainsmokers-style fluff lays a processed voice repeating the phrase “Don’t tap the glass” over some cookie-cutter swelling synths and a festival-ready drop. It spread quickly on TikTok and X, where users uploaded the audio over videos of people dancing, playing along with the idea that this was new music from Tyler, the Creator.
One particularly popular TikTok puts the audio on top of scenes from Tyler, the Creator’s actual music video “Don’t Play With Me.”
@itribi DON’T TAP THE GLASS (feat. Alan Walker & Marshmello) #tylerthecreator #GOLFleFLEUR #GOLF ♬ original sound – zak
The audio comes from YouTuber Klodjan, who makes a bit of a habit out of this style of internet prank. A scroll through his profile finds similarly faked audio from Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Cardi B. (Sample lyrics from his recent faux Sabrina Carpenter single: “Manchild, You are a manchild, You act like a child, Oh, Manchild!”) None have hit with audiences on anywhere near the level of “Glass,” which has proven to be an unshakeable earworm.
“That fake AI don’t tap the glass leak has been stuck in my head for days,” one X user wrote.
Another called it the strongest “song of the summer contender we’ve had this year.”
Crowning a barely there, computer-generated song the soundtrack of the season isn’t as far-fetched as it might seem. While it’s unlikely that Klodjan will be up for a statuette, the powers that be have mellowed to the idea of AI-generated music being worthy of praise. The Grammys have allowed music with AI-generated elements to contend for years, and an AI-assisted record from The Beatles won “Best Rock Performance” earlier this year.
