A new project from the company behind K-pop superstars BTS and New Jeans uses AI technology to sing in six languages. MIDNATT, aka the alter ego of 39-year-old singer Lee Hyun, debuted the single “Masquerade” today, which was originally recorded in Korean and crafted in English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese audio using AI technology company Supertone.
“MIDNATT sang the track in all six languages,” a press release reads, “and native speaker pronunciation data was applied to the track to further refine the artist’s pronunciation and intonation.” Supertone was also used to create several artificial vocals in the song, including that of a woman, using Lee’s vocals. “Masquerade” was produced by DJ Hitchhiker, who made hits for artists under HYBE competitor SM Entertainment, including EXO and Red Velvet.
The experiment was called “Project L” internally and was mentioned by HYBE President Bang Si-Hyuk in an April interview with Billboard (HYBE acquired Supertone earlier this year). The press release notes that the MIDNATT project was “launched with the aim of providing music fans around the world with a musical experience that goes beyond the physical limits of K-pop.”
The music video for “Masquerade” can also be “seen” in six languages, but the video is exactly the same in all of them. Only its sound changes. For this reason, you won’t see MIDNATT’s lyrics in the video. We’ve embedded the video below so you can experience it for yourself. To change the language, click the settings button (white cog wheel) in the lower right corner of the video player and select “audio track” from the menu to choose a language.
