Joe Coscarelli: Last News

announced the “signing” of FN Meka – a virtual “robot rapper” launched by creative start-up Factory New – the Universal-owned label has shared a statement confirming it has “severed ties” with the project.Capitol Music Group announced their partnership with Factory New on August 12, with Ryan Ruden – the company’s executive vice president of experiential marketing and business development – saying the FN Meka project “meets at the intersection of music, technology and gaming culture” and “is just a preview of what’s to come”.The same day, Capitol released its first FN Meka single, ‘Florida Water’, which featured guest vocals from (real life) rapper Gunna and ancillary involvement from gaming streamer Clix. Though vocals credited to FN Meka were performed by a real human being (the identity of whom is currently unknown), the lyrics were reportedly generated by an AI-powered algorithm.Shortly after the song was released and the “signing” made public, Capitol faced backlash over its involvement with the project.

Drake and Kendrick Lamar have been in a legal battle over the song “Not Like Us,” which was Kendrick‘s diss track about Drake.

AI star FN Meka and in turn has accused Capitol Records of ghosting him after he was promised equity in the label.Kyle The Hooligan has posted notes and videos in which he claims that the Universal-owned label have left him “high and dry” and shared information that purports to prove that he is the formerly unknown voice behind the viral robot rapper.FN Meka, made in collaboration with Factory New, was dropped by Capitol less than a fortnight after launching after its critics highlighted the way the project trivialised elements of Black culture and used them for shock value. The label alluded to this in a formal apology shared online earlier this week by The New York Times’ Joe Coscarelli.Meka was marketed as the “world’s first” AI rapper to sign to a major label, with Ryan Ruden, Capitol Music Group’s executive vice president of experiential marketing and business development, saying that the project “meets at the intersection of music, technology and gaming culture” and “is just a preview of what’s to come”.Capitol released its first FN Meka single, ‘Florida Water’, on August 12, which featured guest vocals from real life rapper Gunna and ancillary involvement from gaming streamer Clix.But controversy followed when Meka, who’d garnered more than 10million TikTok followers, was seen to use the N word and appeared to make light of police brutality.