The Standard

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A System that Replicates Voices in Any Language is Being Touted as Hip-hop's Next Big Thing

by Jeremy Gerard, 07.17.06

A system that replicates voices in any language is being touted as hip-hop's next big thing, writes Jeremy Gerard

Coming soon to a cell phone or iPod near you: hip-hop stars such as Mary J Blige and TI rapping in flawless German, French, Japanese and Spanish.

A proprietary new speech-conversion system can produce their voices in any language spoken in the lucrative global markets where their music - as well as the clothing, ringtones and other lifestyle extensions of their brands - is sold.

The system, called Voxonic, can replicate a specific voice in any desired language. It's already used in limited applications, including film dubbing and corporate communications.

But a chance encounter in April between the white, middle-aged software executive who developed Voxonic and a black hip-hop entrepreneur has prompted them to shift their focus to the more glittery - and, they are gambling, far more profitable - world of spoken- word music.

Harrell recently became partners with Fred Deutsch, the founder of Voxonic, which is the name of both the system and the company that has been developing it since 1998.

"We think we're on the edge of something big," Harrell said last month in New York. "The amount of revenue this can generate is unbelievable."