New Yorkers might not know Xavier “X” Jernigan walking by him on the street in Brooklyn — but they might do a double take if they heard him speak.
That’s because the 47-year-old is the deep voice and energetic personality behind Spotify’s AI DJ — a feature rolled out to the streamer’s 239 million premium subscribers, where every user becomes a radio audience of one.
Jernigan, who goes by X, encounters many other beautiful and colorful characters living in the concrete jungle. But his encyclopedic knowledge of music and distinctly charismatic and cool energy have all helped the beloved host — who has everything from hip-hop to orchestral in his personal playlists, he said — on his way to becoming become one of the most famous voices in the music industry.
“I’m your friend who’s a little cuter than you, but not too cool to hang out with. Listeners feel a human connection with me,” X told The Post.
AI X’s warm and welcoming alter ego seems almost excited to curate and guide perfect strangers through the soundtrack of their day. But AI DJ isn’t just X’s personal suggestion — although he did go viral on TikTok earlier this summer by recommending songs to strangers after listening to their headphones for three seconds.
The tool analyzes individual listening habits to queue up old favourites, songs you have on repeat and new recommendations, while also providing cultural commentary and explanations of why the song was chosen for you.
“Let’s start with some songs that make you want to party,” the AI DJ enthused during a recent test session. “These are the songs that match your vibe.”
And curating an atmosphere is exactly what X likes to do.
“This is the power of music. This is the power of culture. It makes you feel something,” he added. “When you put all of that together, you just add something to it instead of getting a static playlist.”
Spotify feeds its AI model with recordings of X chatting about today’s top hits and upcoming artists to train the technology to replicate his speech patterns — ending up with a synthetic “X” that will be able to speak to individual users, giving each listener a fully personalized listening experience.
Spotify AI DJ was released in the US and Canada early last year, with the aim of providing listeners with an endless stream of songs, fun facts and random chats based on their listening history and recommendations from hundreds of music experts .
“You get the pieces of radio that you relate to: the voice you trust, a person you trust, a personality you trust, serving the music, giving you that context, giving you that narrative,” said he.
And while the idea may be brand new, and it may take some users a while to get into the groove, X thinks we’re in it for the long haul.
“I don’t see us going back,” X said of the advanced technology.
Not anytime soon, anyway — Spotify recently announced the launch of “Livi,” a second AI DJ that will serve its vast Spanish-speaking subscriber base. The voice is based on that of one of the service’s music editors, Olivia “Livi” Quiroz Roa.
“DJ is a personalized AI guide that knows you and your music taste so well that it can choose what to play for you,” Spotify said in a statement. “This feature … will deliver a curated music lineup alongside commentary about songs and artists we think you’ll love in stunningly realistic voice.”
And since X was already a hit with audiences tuning in to Spotify’s premier morning show, The Get Up, he became the man for the job.
“I was already being called the voice of Spotify from within. Let’s make it official,” said X, who has worked for the company for eight years.
“I like to connect with people. I love getting the buzz of the crowd. I like to curate a whole atmosphere,” he told The Post. “Being able to introduce music to the world – that’s something I connected with. That’s why I said “yes” right away.
While AI’s DJ is informed by X’s upbeat and cool attitude and his extensive knowledge of music and culture – some of which was gleaned pre-Spotify during his time working on major label records, including Def Jam Records and Republic Records – the program is bigger. than him.
“We have a whole team of the world’s biggest music and culture experts who are boots on the ground and we bring all that experience and knowledge to bring it to life,” X explained.
He meets with a team of writers, music experts and data curators every week to ensure the AI model stays up to date on relevant trends and feedback.
Of course, emergency meetings are held when necessary, said X – news of Kendrick Lamar vs. For example, the Drake diss song rip-off couldn’t wait.
“This is something you need to know about in real time,” he said. “Those songs were coming out really fast from both sides. Even my friends were texting me, like “Well, which song won?” So we knew we had to put it into the experience.”
His friends also help him in the recording studio. After a few tablets and a steaming mug of tea, X enters the booth every week and pretends to chat with a friend while recording new lines of narration that the AI DJ can use and build on.
“I’m not broadcasting to millions of people. I’m talking to a person,” X said.
“It’s humbling because it means people like me. They rock with me. They like my voice. They like my personality.”
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Image Source : nypost.com