Sound clashes are a thrilling reggae tradition. Will AI ruin them?

Four days after the attempt on his life, the voice of Donald Trump booms from the speakers in Montego Bay, Jamaica: "If they needed an assassin, they should have sent for Bodyguard … about to commit a quadruple murder at Sumfest in Montego Bay." The audience are taken by surprise, having been primed for a reggae riddim to drop, and laugh. The Bodyguard crew have just taken to the stage at Sumfest Global Sound Clash, a musical gladiatorial contest where sound systems battle against one another with creative mixing, hyped-up MCs and exclusive – often incendiary – recordings featuring star guests and in-jokes. AI vocalists such as this fake Trump, however, are sending shockwaves through a decades-old musical tradition in which authenticity and originality are paramount, and sound systems pay premium rates to artists to get vocals for clashes. "AI is going to mash up the industry," says Fabian Anderson, a dub agent who liaises between artists and sound systems to secure those exclusive tracks.