In the celebrity world, you haven’t made it until you have your first major controversy. Well, AI Rapper FN Meka has already reached that milestone, just days into the virtual musician’s official career.
AI Rapper FN Meka fired for racism
Just days after being signed to Capitol Records, FN Meka was let go by the music label. Despite being a major acquisition for the company, high backlash caused the computerised musician to be thrown out.
As soon as the signing was revealed, hip hop fans were upset at the use of AI musicians. However, that was not the reason the AI rapper was fired. Instead, it was pushed out due to rampant racism.
Via Uproxx, many were upset at the fact that FN Meka appeared to be nothing more than a caricature of black rappers. From its look to its lyrics to its social media presence, the artificial intelligence’s brand was meant to imitate as much as possible.
For example, racist lyrics including slurs often make their way into the rapper’s songs. Furthermore, its Instagram page features CG images of the character in various situations, including being the victim of police brutality.
“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,” Capitol said in a press release. “We thank those who have reached out to us with constructive feedback in the past few days — your input was invaluable as we came to the decision to end our association with the project.”
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The creators are silent
FN Meka’s overwhelming backlash has led to a dark period of its social media accounts. The AI’s Instagram page, which benefits from hundreds of thousands of following, is now private.
On the Instagram page, the description now reads: “Robot Rapper not accepted by this world.” This may be in response to the backlash against it.
Other than that, the creators of FN Meka have yet to speak out on the controversy. Blanket silence has been initiated until further notice. However, at the end of the day, Capitol Records did a good thing responding to the vitriol.