Capitol Records has cut ties with A.I. rapper FN Meka after social media users called out the racist overtones implied by the caricature.
The virtual rapper, who has been depicted in scenes of police brutality and even uses the N-word in its raps, made headlines after becoming the first artificially designed rapper to sign a major record deal.
As the news went viral, critics quickly voiced their opinion online, calling the move offensive and an insult to the Black community– pointing out the racial stereotypes performed by the rapper whose lyrics were written by an artificial intelligence program but performed by a real human.
Tuesday, New York Times music reporter Joe Coscarelli shared that Capitol Music Group “has severed ties with the FN Meka project, effective immediately.”
The label also apologized after activist group Industry Black Out called for a formal public apology.
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
“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,” it reads. “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.”
FN Meka reportedly also suspended its Instagram page following the controversy. However, its creators Anthony Martini and Brandon Le of the label Factory New, have not spoken out.
Just last week, Meka dropped a song featuring real-life rapper Gunna.
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