Capitol Records has cut ties with their A.I. rapper project FN Meka, per the New York Times‘ Joe Coscarelli.
The record label had received significant backlash for signing the virtual rapper powered by artificial intelligence.
“CMG has severed ties with the FN Meka project, effective immediately,” Capitol Music Group relayed in a statement. “We offer our deepest condolences to the Black community for our insensitivity in signing this project without asking enough questions about the equity and the creative process behind it.
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“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.”
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/arkL2OkTjvpic.twitter.com/BjfjLDfpMO
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) August 23, 2022
Activist group Industry Blackout called for a public apology from Capitol Records just hours prior to the announcement ending its partnership with the project.
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“This digital effigy is a careless abomination and disrespectful to real people who face real consequences in real life,” the group wrote.
Have you lost your FN minds? @capitolrecords@capitolmusicpic.twitter.com/TxbqDhJmv0
— Industry Blackout #IndustryBlackout (@industryblkout) August 23, 2022
Reports surfaced earlier this week that Meka had signed to Capitol and was the first A.I. rapper to eclipse 10 million followers on TikTok. Many rappers voiced their frustrations with labels putting resources into this kind of project rather than behind human artists.
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“Like it ain’t a million real human artists out here who giving a deal to would change their families’ lives FOH,” The Game wrote in an Instagram comment.
— No Jumper (@nojumper) August 23, 2022
Krayzie Bone wished he thought of the idea first, but warned rappers they could be replaced by A.I. at some point in the future.
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Krayzie Bone Thinks Artificial Intelligence Will Take Real Rappers' Jobs
“First thing I said was damn, I wish I would’ve thought of this first,” he said. “I think it could be genius. I think they got something. I think they might be going somewhere with this. I will tell rappers one thing – you better watch out,” he said. “They’re trying to take your jobs.”
