What does it take to rack up five million YouTube views in ten months? In this case: a rapper who doesn’t exist, a political party paying thousands for AI-generated videos, and algorithms remarkably good at turning anger into attention.

This week, Sean is joined by Effie Webb of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Harriet Williamson of Novara Media, who have spent months investigating Danny Bones.

So, who is Danny Bones? An AI-generated British rapper created by the Node Project, whose songs and videos mix nationalism, immigration politics and visions of a broken Britain. He’s amassed millions of views and streams and "performed" at a Tommy Robinson rally. This manufactured persona has begun bleeding into real-world politics.

In part one, Effie and Harriet explain how they uncovered the Node Project’s links to far-right party Advance UK, and ultimately discovered the real people behind it: a music producer and a video producer working in the arts. We discuss what far right actually means, why those described that way reject the term, and Harriet’s theory that the Danny Bones aesthetic looks like somebody watched This Is England, thought it looked cool and missed everything else about it.

We also get into Danny Bones’ extraordinary algorithmic growth, whether reporting on him risks boosting his platform, the economics of streams versus political commissions, and what happens when an entirely fictional "artist" starts intervening in real elections. 

The Drowned in Sound podcast is presented in partnership with Qobuz, the pioneering high-quality music streaming and download platform for music enthusiasts and audiophiles.
Each week we curate playlists on Qobuz, featuring our favourite records, artists, and the themes we explore on the show.

Visit drownedinsound.org/playlists to discover new music in rich Hi-Res lossless quality and start your 30-day free trial of Qobuz.

This week's playlist is songs that give you a bit of pride in where you are from. Amongst the picks, Harriet chose 'White Man in Hammersmith Palais' by The Clash and Effie chose 'LDN' by Lily Allen, two London songs, one of them about race and punk and reggae and the other about what the city actually looks like underneath, which is a fairly pointed answer to a record trading on national pride.
What would you add? You can email us on podcasts@drownedinsound.org


Referenced In This Episode:

The first investigation, the AI rapper funded by a far-right party, by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism:
Meet the AI rapper funded by a far-right party

And Novara Media's version of the same story:
Meet the AI Rapper Working for the Far-Right

How the project turned the coverage into membership tiers and a crypto wallet within days:
The hate economy in action: how an AI rapper tried to cash in on our coverage

Effie's day at Tommy Robinson's rally, QR codes, crypto and an AI rapper:
A day at Tommy Robinson's rally: QR codes, crypto and an AI rapper

The story that named the two men behind it:
Revealed: the music producer and animator behind far-right AI rapper Danny Bones

And at Novara Media:
Revealed: The Chart-Topping Music Producer and Animator Behind a Far-Right AI Rapper

The Daily Mail's collaboration with the Bureau, which is where the platform responses live:
Read the archived article

Ben Habib winding up Advance UK to clear the way for Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain:
Ben Habib winds up Advance UK to clear the way for Restore Britain

The Gorton and Denton by-election result in full:
UK Parliament election results

 

Effie Webb, Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Effie Webb’s profile

Harriet Williamson, Novara Media
Novara Media

Recorded at The Shure Experience Centre, London.

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Produced by Georgia Mooney.