Capitol Records “Severs Ties” with AI Rapper FN Meka After N-Word Backlash [UPDATE]

Capitol Records has “severed ties” with AI robot rapper FN Meka, whose use of the N-word in previous songs resurfaced after his signing to the label. In a statement, the record company issued an apology to the Black community for not “asking enough questions about equity and the creative process behind it.”

“CMG has severed ties with the FN Meka project, effective immediately,” the statement reads. “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. 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’s recently released single “Florida Water” featuring Gunna has also been taken down and his Instagram has gone private.

In the past few days, FN Meka went viral for all the wrong reasons after entering the spotlight with “Florida Water.” His 2019 single “Moonwalkin,” which features the use of the N-word, resurfaced on Twitter, and in another new revelation to many people, it turns out no one on the team behind FN Meka is Black.

Based on previous deep-dive reporting by Genius in 2021, the creators of FN Meka are brothers Chris and Brandon Le, who teamed with music industry veteran Anthony Martini to launch the Tekashi 6ix9ine-mimicking “character” under their record label Factory New. With Martini’s guidance, FN Meka released the 2019 singles “Moonwalkin” and “Internet,” both of which feature the repeated use of the N-word.

According to Genius News’ Jacques Morel, those tracks were reportedly voiced by real-life rapper Kyle the Hooligan, but the artist did not go on record to confirm his contribution to the songs — both of which have been scrubbed from SoundCloud and YouTube. But clips remain on TikTok, as you can see below.

In a 2021 interview with Music Business Worldwide, Martini spoke about launching Factory New as a label consisting exclusively of virtual artists, saying, “The old model of finding talent is inefficient and unreliable. It requires spending time scouring the internet, traveling to shows, flying to meetings, expending resources all in search of the magic combination of qualities that just might translate into a superstar act.”

By using AI technology to analyze popular music and generate song elements like lyrics, chords, and melody, however, Factory New aimed to cut out those “inefficiencies.” The signing of FN Meka to a major label proves there is potential for the strategy based on a purely business standpoint, but the lack of understanding of hip-hop culture is where a big part of the backlash lies.

Apparently, there was no thought about the optics of a virtual rapper who uses lyrics generated by AI releasing a song with Gunna, who currently sits in jail for a RICO case in which prosecutors are using his lyrics against him.

Though AI software has been increasingly used to create songs of late, it has mostly been for concept projects. In 2020, the digital agency space150 created a deepfake version of Travis Scott named Travis Bott who released the food-obsessed track “Jack Park Canny Dope Man.” Meanwhile, the Lost Tapes of the 27 Club project used AI to create songs in the style of musicians like Nirvana, Amy Winehouse, and Jimi Hendrix last year.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated following the news that Capitol Records dropped FN Meka.

Have you lost your FN minds? @capitolrecords @capitolmusic pic.twitter.com/TxbqDhJmv0

— Industry Blackout #IndustryBlackout (@industryblkout) August 23, 2022

@fnmeka

Just copped an all Gucci Tesla Cybertruck. 🚘 Like it? #cybertruck #teslacar #futuristic #truckhorn

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♬ Moonwalkin FnMeka – FNMeka

@fnmeka

Do you believe in me? 🤖. I want to rule the 🌎 one day. #virtualinfluencer #tobilou #robot2

♬ FnMeka Internet – FNMeka

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