Capitol Records Cut Ties With A.I. Rapper FN Meka Following Racism Accusations
"We offer our deepest apologies to the Black community for our insensitivity in signing this project"
An A.I. rapper who was recently given a record deal with US label Capitol Records has been swiftly dropped by the company, following criticism that the content and appearance of the robot rapper served as an offensive caricature of African American artists.
The project named FN Meka drew widespread outrage after users discovered that one of the A.I. rapper’s songs used a racial slur, despite none of the A.I.’s creators being of African American heritage — leading Capitol Records quickly cut ties with the project.
“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.” a spokesperson for Capitol Records said.
In a signing announcement last week, Capitol Records announced that the A.I. powered robot rapper FN Meka was the “first AR artist” to sign to a major record label, with the company also calling it the “number one virtual being” after gaining a billion views across its TikTok channel.
Created by Anthony Martini and Brandon Le, co-founders of the virtual music label Factory New, the pair say A.I. technology “writes” FN Meka’s lyrics and music, with the rapper’s voice being provided by a real human being.
However, FN Meka’s music and social media content has come under fire for using racial expletives while making light of police brutality, despite neither of FN Meka’s creators being African American.
An AI rapper that says the n-word fabricating police brutality… literally every single thing about this is so off-key pic.twitter.com/9bC7odudlZ
— mitch (@limitedmitch) August 23, 2022
Before Capitol’s announcement, American activist group Industry Blackout released a statement condemning the signing, labelling the project an “amalgamation of gross stereotypes, appropriative mannerisms that derive from Black artists, complete with slurs infused in lyrics”.
“This digital effigy is a careless abomination and disrespectful to real people who face real consequences in real life,” a spokesperson from Industry Blackout said.
“For example, Gunna, a Black artist who is featured on a song with FN Meka, is currently incarcerated for rapping the same type of lyrics this robot mimics. The difference is, your artificial rapper will not be subject to federal charges for such. ”
Users are pointing out that this whole controversy is essentially one big case study for why diverse voices within the entertainment sector are sorely needed.
Do you know how many ppl had to agree before signing FN MEKA? A lot. They all thought it was a great idea. They all saw dollar signs & felt innovative without any regard to the culture they’re actively exploiting daily. Capitol Records is under Universal Music Group btw. Shame!
— Tori Nicks 2.0 ? (@MajestyRia) August 23, 2022