By Stantin Siebritz
2025 will go down as the year artificial intelligence stopped playing backup and strutted straight into the spotlight. In November, “Walk My Walk” by virtual act Breaking Rust—an AI-generated country persona—claimed the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart.
That’s right: the first AI project to top a U.S. Billboard chart just happened.
Cue the split-screen reactions. Purists are clutching their guitars, crying “robot invasion,” while optimists are humming along to a new kind of instrument. But for business? This isn’t the end of music—it’s the opening riff of a much bigger creator economy. Low-cost AI tools now let a teenager in Katutura or Kibera drop a track that sounds like it was mixed in an LA studio—without ever booking studio time.
Think back to your own teenage dreams. Maybe you wanted to be an MC but your timing was tragic and your stage presence worse. Today, models can help you write hooks, fix pitch, even storyboard a music video. You still bring the taste, the story, the lived experience of the Land of the Brave—AI just handles the parts your talent didn’t cover.
Of course, with great playlists comes great responsibility. If a song is AI-generated, that disclosure should be as clear as a food ingredients list. Listeners—and human artists who spent decades training their ears, fingers, and lungs—deserve that distinction. “Written and produced with AI” should become a standard tag, not a dirty secret.
So, in a nod to this Billboard moment—and to a wild AI year—here’s my own experiment: an AI-generated track where the lyrics, beat, and music video were all co-created through careful prompting, correction, and human oversight.
Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCUf2CwxkZk
About the Video: Namibia Meets Next-Generation AI
The music video for “It is What It Is” uses next-generation AI film tools – Sora2, Google Whisk, Veo3.1, and advanced animation systems – to deliver a dynamic, story-driven visual experience. It is designed to celebrate Namibia’s 2025 energy, community spirit, and cultural identity, blending Amapiano and Kwaito influences with the resilience and humour of the Namibian people and their legendary “it is what it is” attitude.
The production features Namibian landscapes and narrative scenes following PastorRhymes and friends, interwoven with rooftop party energy, township hustle, 1982 VW Caddy nostalgia, sunset backdrops, neon-lit nights, and joyful dancing. High-quality animated characters and environments create a “feel-good” reimagining inspired by real Namibian culture. Every frame is intentional, expressive, and crafted to match the spirit of the song.
Call it a teaser for 2026: the year we stop arguing about humans versus machines and start getting serious about humans with machines.
* Stantin Siebritz is Managing Director of New Creation Solutions, and a Namibian Artificial Intelligence Specialist
