An artificial intelligence-powered rap star named FN Meka just got signed to a major record label, proving there’s a formula to making music that sells.
According to Music Business Worldwide (MBW), the so-called “robot rapper” now has a contract with Capitol Records and boasts a following of 10 million followers and more than one billion views on his TikTok account. FN Meka does have a human voice, but the rest of the artist’s persona is computer generated.
“Technically speaking, FN Meka is voiced by a human,” creators Anthony Martini and Brandon Le told the publication. “But everything else about him — from his lyrics to the chords and tempo underpinning his music — is based on AI.”
FN Meka even has an image that’s similar to other contemporary artists. The official TikTok touts an extravagant lifestyle full of fancy private jets, luxury cars, and watches dripping in diamonds.
Here is what FN Meka’s music sounds like
The AI rapper has over 10 million followers on TikTokpic.twitter.com/kc7jad352v
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) August 21, 2022
The AI-generated artist just released his first single, “Florida Water,” featuring popular rapper Gunna and pro gaming streamer Clix, per MBW. The track was produced by Turbo and executive produced by DJ Holiday.
Capitol Music Group’s Executive Vice President of Experiential Marketing & Business Development told MBW that this new endeavor “meets at the intersection of music, technology and gaming culture” and “it’s just a preview of what’s to come.”
In an interview with MBW, Martini said last year that they created the artist and music implementing a formula using “proprietary AI technology that analyzes certain popular songs of a specified genre and generates recommendations for the various elements of song construction: lyrical content, chords, melody, tempo, sounds, etc. [They] then combine these elements to create the song.”
“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,’” the entrepreneur explained.
He also defended the new method of creating hit music. “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.”
With AI stars, industry pros get what they need when they need it, plus they control the rights to the music.