An AI-powered robot rap star just got canceled days after being signed by a major record label.
FN Meka boasts millions of followers on TikTok, but now the faux rap artist has been abruptly dropped following backlash against his lyrics and overall persona. The record label also issued an apology to any people they may have offended by signing the futuristic performer.
“CMG has severed ties with the FN Meka project, effective immediately,” a Capitol Music Group spokesperson said in a statement, per Yahoo.
“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.”
The apology comes in response to an open letter created by the activist group Industry Blackout, the publication noted. Its criticism called FN Meka a “direct insult to the Black community and our culture” by being an “amalgamation of gross stereotypes [and] appropriative mannerisms that derive from Black artists, complete with slurs infused in lyrics.”
Meka’s single “Florida Water,” which was released on the Capitol Records label, was also removed from all streaming platforms.
The Daily Wire originally reported that the AI rap star was created using technology that analyzed the most popular elements of rap songs to create hits. Creators Anthony Martini and Brandon Le said everything except for Meka’s voice was computer generated.
“As of now, a human voice performs the vocals, but we are working towards the ability to have a computer come up with and perform its own words — and even collaborate with other computers as ‘co-writers,’” Martini said during an interview last year.
The entrepreneur explained how he believed AI-generated music is the way of the future. “The old model of finding talent is inefficient and unreliable,” Martini said. “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.”
FN Meka portrayed a stereotypical rap star, complete with designer clothing and expensive jewelry. However, critics saw the mimicry of rap culture as a mockery, and ultimately CMG walked back its desire to start a new kind of rap trend.