Viral Justin Bieber Song About Diddy's Party Revealed as AI-Generated Hoax

TikTok users circulate what appears to be a fake Justin Bieber song mentioning P. Diddy

Sean "Diddy" Combs and Justin Bieber at Vanquish Lounge in Atlanta on Feb. 5, 2014.Prince Williams / FilmMagic file Some fans of Justin Bieber are claiming the singer released a track referring to parties alleged to have been organized by Sean "Diddy" Combs after what appears to be a fake song resurfaced online last weekend. Combs, 54, was charged last week with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied the charges. In the days after he was sent to jail, many online circulated a months-old song that mentions "a Diddy party" sung by a voice that sounds like Bieber's. "Lost myself at a Diddy party / Didn't know that's how it goes / I was in it for a new Ferrari / But it cost me way more than my soul," the lyrics read. "Was it worth all the fortune and fame / All the girls never walking the same / Signed the papers so he never has to ever say sorry / Lost myself at a Diddy party." But there's no evidence the song is real. It's not released on any streaming services, nor has it been acknowledged on any of Bieber's official channels. It's also not listed in Bieber's official catalog. Some listeners speculated that the muffled vocals and lack of emotion suggest it could have been made with artificial intelligence. NBC News hasn't independently verified whether the audio was AI-generated. Representatives for Bieber didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The song, which has been used as the background sound in thousands of TikTok videos, first circulated in April amid a slew of sexual assault accusations that had begun amassing against Combs. Videos featuring the song have since gotten tens of millions of views. Bieber, 30, first met Combs as a teenager and developed a close friendship with him early in his career. The two collaborated on the 2023 song "Moments." Their relationship is now being scrutinized by fans of Bieber online, who have used the song to express concerns over their dynamic. Old clips of Combs spending time with a teenage Bieber have also resurfaced. Bieber hasn't publicly commented on the accusations against Combs, nor has he made any of his own allegations. In November, Combs' former girlfriend Cassie was the first to file a civil lawsuit accusing him of sexually and physically assaulting her during their relationship. Combs' lawyer initially denied the accusations, and the lawsuit was settled out of court. However, he issued a public apology this year after security video showing him beating Cassie in 2016 was released. Since then, multiple lawsuits have accused him of sexual harassment, sexual assault and sex trafficking. The latest was filed Tuesday by a woman who says he and his bodyguard "viciously" raped her in a New York City recording studio more than 20 years ago after Combs had drugged her.

Viral Justin Bieber song about "'Diddy' party" is likely AI-generated, researchers say

A song that sounds like it was released by Justin Bieber, with lyrics saying the singer "lost myself at a 'Diddy' party," has racked up millions of views across social platforms including TikTok, X and YouTube. Researchers tell CBS News the song was likely created using artificial intelligence. The song first surfaced across platforms in April, with one TikTok video amassing 7 million views. It recently went viral after Sean "Diddy" Combs was charged last week with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has denied the charges. Lyrics include, "Wasn't worth all the fortune and fame" and "I was in it for a new Ferrari, but it cost me way more than my soul." The song appears to reference allegations of sexual abuse and other misconduct at Combs' residences. There is no record of Bieber releasing the song and it does not appear in his catalog. Representatives for Bieber did not respond to CBS News' request for comment. Bieber was signed by Combs' protégé, Usher, in 2008. Many social media users pointed out the song seems to sound like it was created with AI; others appeared to believe the song was released by Bieber. The song has been used in more than 4,500 TikTok videos alone, CBS News found. Google Trends data shows searches for the words "Bieber" and "Diddy" together peaked from late March to early April, around the time the song began circulating on social media, and searches for the two artists peaked again when the song began recirculating in late September. CBS News ran the song through multiple AI audio detection tools; several results indicated the audio, or at least parts of it, were likely AI-generated. In addition, Stephen Stahl, co-founder of Ai-SPY, an AI audio detection tool, told CBS News he believes the song is possibly AI-generated. Stahl said someone likely wrote the lyrics and melody, then uploaded it to a website and used a clone of Justin Bieber's voice to create the song. "AI is [going to] be able to help anybody create a song easily, quicker, more efficiently," Stahl said. "The downside is that everybody will be able to create a song. So talent is no longer a prerequisite to construct a great song." Zohaib Ahmed, CEO and founder of Resemble AI, an AI detection company, told CBS News his company's tool found the song is likely AI-generated. Combs' music catalog saw a jump in streams following his indictment, with an average 18.3% increase the week of his arrest compared to the previous week, according to industry data and analytics company Luminate.

What People Are Getting Wrong This Week: Did Justin Bieber Sing About a Diddy Party?

Rumors have been kicking around on the internet for months that pop star Justin Bieber was working on a song about the infamous "freak off" parties held by arrested rapper/producer Sean "Diddy" Combs. This weekend, a track called "Lost Myself at a Diddy Party" appeared to have been leaked on TikTok. It features lyrics like, "Lost myself at a Diddy party, didn't know that's how it go, I was in it for a new Ferrari, but it cost me way more than my soul, wasn't worth all the fortune and fame," sung by someone who sounds a little like Justin Bieber. That was enough for the song to go viral and earn millions of views from scandal-happy people looking for insight into what, exactly, was going behind the scenes of the parties that played a part in the felony charges against Diddy. But the song is fake. At least, I'm 99.999% sure it's fake. I can't prove a negative, but there's no mention of the track on any of Bieber's official sites. There's no article on Billboard, Rolling Stone, or any other outlet that does a modicum of fact-checking. It's not on any streaming service -- it only appears on non-Bieber-related accounts TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. So everything surrounding the song screams "fake" about as loudly as it's possible to scream. And it sounds fake. While the AI-generated vocals have a hint of a Bieber-esque vibe, it's clearly not Justin Bieber singing. The lyrics have that hard-to-define AI-midness to them -- they're fine, but not interesting or surprising in any way. The instruments have the depth-free, muddy sound of AI-generated music. The vocal lack emotion. Overall, it's so thoroughly devoid of creativity, it could only have come from AI. I was curious about how much effort it takes to make a fake pop song, so I created my own track about Diddy's house parties. It took about 30 minutes to go from "I've never made a pop song with AI" to a finished recording of future chart-topping hit "Diddy Parties are Pretty Cool, Actually" by F. Amos Singer, feat. Rhymin' and Crimefunkel." Here's how you can do it like I did: While the AI-generated Bieber track is easy to spot as a fake from listening to it -- it has most of the hallmarks of AI music Lifehacker has warned about before -- AI technology grows more sophisticated every day. It won't be long before the "tells" of computer-generated music are much more difficult to spot. So that leaves more investigative avenues like the following: For a more in-depth discussion of how to spot AI-fakes, check out our Lifehacker's "Exposing AI" series.