Boy George Reclaims 'Karma Chameleon' With AI-Assisted Re-Recording, Launching Artist-First Startup

Boy George has celebrated his 65th birthday by releasing a new version of Culture Club's 1983 global smash "Karma Chameleon." But unlike standard remasters, this rendition utilizes artificial intelligence to bridge a four-decade gap. The release serves as the inaugural project for Artist Included, a newly launched Los Angeles-based music technology startup aiming to help legacy musicians reclaim ownership of their catalogs through ethical, artist-approved AI.[1][2][4]

The catalyst for the venture was a lucrative commercial sync license. When Richard Branson's Virgin Voyages licensed the original "Karma Chameleon" for an advertising campaign, the deal was reportedly worth an estimated $4 million. However, because Boy George does not own the master rights to his early Virgin Records catalog, approximately half of that sum went to the master rights holders. The singer walked away with only an appearance fee.[1][3]

"Karma's a bitch," Boy George remarked regarding the licensing disparity. The experience pushed the artist and his manager, Paul "PK" Kemsley, to seek a solution. Alongside entertainment attorney Jeremy Rosen, Kemsley co-founded Artist Included to create a new model for heritage acts. The goal is to allow artists from the 1960s through the 2000s to re-record their classic hits, generating brand-new, artist-owned master recordings that can compete for modern commercial opportunities.[2][3][5]

The technological hurdle for many older artists attempting to re-record their early work—a strategy famously popularized by Taylor Swift—is the natural aging of the human voice. To solve this, Artist Included partnered with Syntiant, an AI technology firm. The process for the new "Karma Chameleon" did not involve generating a synthetic voice from scratch; instead, Boy George performed a brand-new vocal take in the studio.[2][5][6]

Syntiant's machine learning models were trained on archival studio demos provided by the song's original producer, Steve Levine. The AI was then applied to Boy George's modern vocal performance, adjusting the timbre and tonal qualities to closely match the sound of his 22-year-old self. The technology preserved the phrasing, emotion, and creative intent of the new performance while restoring the recognizable sonic signature of the 1983 hit.[3][6]

"You listen to where you put the voice: in your nose or your throat or chest," Boy George explained, noting the difficulty of instinctively replicating the physical vocal techniques of his youth. "What you do instinctively as a 22-year-old, you don't do as a 40-year-old or a 65-year-old." He described the process of revisiting the track as both emotional and creatively inspiring, emphasizing that the goal was to celebrate the original, not erase it.[3][4]

The instrumental backing for the new track was also entirely re-recorded. Culture Club guitarist Roy Hay and bassist Mikey Craig returned to the studio to lay down fresh instrumentation, ensuring the new master was a genuine, modern performance from the ground up. The resulting track is described as slightly warmer and lower in the mix, functioning as a faithful recreation that feels like a carefully handled remaster.[3]

For Artist Included, the "Karma Chameleon" release is a proof of concept for a broader business model. By owning these new masters, artists can directly license their music for film, television, video games, and advertising, bypassing the traditional rights holders who control their original recordings. The startup also plans to leverage these new masters for Dolby Atmos mixes, foreign-language adaptations, and exclusive vinyl releases.[2][5]

"For decades, artists created the soundtrack to our lives while much of the long-term value moved away from the original creators," said Kemsley, who serves as the startup's CEO. He argued that when used responsibly and ethically, artificial intelligence can become one of the most powerful creative tools the music industry has ever seen, shifting the narrative from piracy and unauthorized deepfakes to genuine partnership.[1][2]

The launch arrives at a pivotal moment for the music industry, which has been grappling with the unauthorized use of AI to clone artist voices. Unlike the viral, unsanctioned AI tracks that have prompted lawsuits from major record labels, Artist Included operates strictly on a consent-based model. The company emphasizes transparency, rights clearance, and direct creator participation, ensuring that the artists themselves are the primary financial beneficiaries.[2][5]

With backing from seed investors including Structure Capital's Mike Walsh and Red Light Management, Artist Included is already planning its next slate of releases. As the technology proves its viability, the music industry may see a wave of legacy acts utilizing AI not as a threat to their livelihoods, but as a digital fountain of youth that restores both their classic sound and their financial autonomy.[2]