Photo: Capitol Records
A.I. rapper FN Meka garnered plenty of attention for his slime green braids and massive following on social media. Yet, his offensive lyrics and stereotypical image was controversial enough for the computer-generated rapper's label to give him the boot.
According to a report the New York Times published on Tuesday, August 23, Capitol Records has shredded its contract with FN Meka effective immediately. In a statement provided to the outlet, Capitol issued an apology to the Black community for validating the project without looking deeper into the creative process behind it. The label also appreciated the "constructive feedback" they received since they announced the rapper's deal and dropped his debut single featuring Gunna earlier this month.
“We offer our deepest apologies to the Black community for our insensitivity in signing this project without asking enough questions about equity and the creative process behind it," Capitol Records said in a statement. "We thank those who have reached out to us with constructive feedback in the past couple of days — your input was invaluable as we came to the decision to end our association with the project.”
FN Meka is the product of company Factory New, which also has another virtual artist on its roster named Lil Bitcoin. The A.I. rapper is voiced by a human, but everything else about his “lyrical content, chords, melody, tempo, sounds” are mostly generated by artificial intelligence. The augmented-reality artist, who has garnered over 10 million followers on TikTok, was signed to Capitol Records on August 12, and released his debut "Florida Water" with Gunna and Fortnite gamer Clix on the same day.
Following the release of his new single, videos of Meka rapping the n-word and depicting stereotypical afflictions of the Black community, like police brutality for example, enraged rap fans and members of the music industry. A non-profit activist group, Industry Blackout, issued an open letter on social media that called for Meka's removal and a public apology from Capitol Records. They also asked for the proceeds from his music to be donated to charities and budgets for Black artists on their roster.
“We find fault in the lack of awareness in how offensive this caricature is,” Industry Blackout wrote in an open letter. “It is a direct insult to the Black community and our culture. An amalgamation of gross stereotypes, appropriative mannerisms that derive from Black artists, complete with slurs infused in lyrics.”
Meka's creators were apparently blindsided by the news that the label ended its contract with the A.I. rapper, but had some idea that he wouldn't last on the imprint. Factory New founder Anthony Martini told the NY Times that he was aware of the negative narrative surrounding the artist but defended the company's creation nonetheless. Martini said the project was “not this malicious plan of white executives. It’s literally no different from managing a human artist, except that it’s digital.” He also claimed the team who created Meka was “actually one of the most diverse teams you can get" and asserted he was the only white person involved.
“Some of the early content, now if you take it out of context, it obviously looks worse or different than it was intended," he said.
Since the announcement, "Florida Water" has been removed from streaming services and Meka's social channels are on private.