Capitol Records drops virtual rapper FN Meka following backlash and issues apology

24 August 2022, 10:25 | Written by Cerys Kenneally

(News)

The virtual rapper FN Meka, who was the world's "first AR artist" to sign with a major label, has been dropped by Capitol Records following recent backlash, and the label has issued an apology to the "Black community".

Earlier this month Capitol Records signed FN Meka, a digital rapper and TikTok star, which made him the world's "first AR artist" to sign to a major label.

The digital artist has come under fire in recent days after clips of FN Meka using the N-word in a song went viral. People also shared an image from FN Meka's Instagram account which saw him being beaten up by police, and now Capitol Records has cut ties with the digital artist, as well as issuing an apology.

"CMG has severed ties with the FN Meka project, effective immediately," Capitol Records wrote in a statement. "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."

Anthony Martini and Brandon Le of Factory New, a "first of its kind, next-generation music company, specialising in virtual beings" created FN Meka in 2019. FN Meka is voiced by a human, but the lyrics and music are created using AI.

Prior to Capitol Records' statement, the activist group Industry Blackout shared a statement calling FN Meka "offensive" and “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." The group added, "For your company to approve this shows a serious lack of diversity and resounding amount of tone deaf leadership, this is simply unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

breaking: Capitol Records “has severed ties” with the A.I. rapper FN Meka, “effective immediately,” following days of backlash over the caricature

the activist group @industryblkout called for a formal public apology about two hours ago pic.twitter.com/arkL2OkTjv pic.twitter.com/BjfjLDfpMO
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) August 23, 2022

Martini told The New York Times yesterday (23 August) that he was anticipating the virtual artist being dropped from the label, saying it's due to "blogs that have latched onto a clickbait headline and created this narrative."