IAMDDB Seeks Advice After Israel Steals Her Image & Denies It

IAMDDB said she was seeking advice to protect her image after an AI rap video shared by Israel’s official social accounts featured a woman who resembled her. She denied having any part in the clip or its message.

In a statement posted October 20, the Manchester-raised rapper and singer also said her past performance in Israel should not be taken as support for the government’s actions.

The dispute began with a video posted last week, not a new song or performance by IAMDDB. Titled “Jews from Judea (We DID),” it showed an AI-made performer rapping in front of a crowd. Its lyrics defended Jewish historical ties to the region in response to claims of colonialism.

The caption answered “GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM!” with “We did.” Israel’s accounts later removed the clip, but no reason for that decision has been established.

New York-based activist Rafael Shimunov drew attention to a photo of IAMDDB that he said explained the resemblance. Photographer Jackson Bowley took the image for a Crack magazine profile published January 8, 2018, more than eight years before the video appeared.

The likeness claim wasn’t based on the woman’s face alone. Mixmag’s side-by-side comparison showed IAMDDB with braids, a black cropped top and branded trousers. The AI performer appeared in a similar outfit, down to altered versions of the logos. BALR. and Calvin Klein became “RALA.” and “Calvin Kale.”

Shimunov alleged that the photo had been fed into an AI system. The comparison did not establish that, and the video’s creator denied that he had set out to copy IAMDDB.

International Business Times reported that director Eyal Ben Moshe, known as Eyal Be, said he had not known who she was. He also said he could not identify which photographs the AI system might have drawn on.

IAMDDB first challenged the post on October 16, asking why her identity had been used for something she had not agreed to.

Her fuller response addressed her own earlier Israel show. She said former management arranged it when she was a young artist eager to travel, before she understood the situation as she does now. She said she would have made a different choice.

She voiced support for Palestinian people and opposed the killing and suffering of civilians. She also rejected the use of AI to make artists appear involved in messages they had never agreed to share.

“I am taking advice and exploring the appropriate steps to protect my image, my work and my rights,” she said.