Alex Da Kid co-created his new hit with IBM's Watson BEAT program (and five other people).
Accomplished songwriter-producer Alex da Kid lands his first charted Billboard song as an artist, thanks, in part, to the help of an inanimate collaborator.
Alex Da Kid's first single "Not Easy" debuts at No. 6 on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart (dated Nov. 12) with 18,000 first-week downloads sold in the week ending Oct. 27, according to Nielsen Music. It also launches at No. 12 on Hot Rock Songs (which blends sales, streaming and airplay data). The track features X Ambassadors, Elle King and Wiz Khalifa.
Notably, Alex Da Kid composed "Easy" in tandem with IBM's Watson BEAT (and five other people, including Khalifa), a cognitive technology that "understands music and lets artists change the sound of a song based on the mood they want to express," IBM notes in an ad, posted to YouTube Oct. 24, featuring the track's audio. "I'm a huge nerd. I love technology," Alex Da Kid told the syndicated Elvis Duran and the Morning Show the same day.