Brandon Le: Celebs Rumors

It only could have ended this way. On Tuesday, August 23, I began kicking around ideas for an op-ed on FN Meka, the virtual-reality rapper created by Factory Now who has drawn attention for the use of A.I. in creating its music.

The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”The news comes just hours after activist group Industry Blackout, which represents a unified body of Black industry members, called out Capitol Records on social media for partnering with the AI known as FN Meka, noting that the project “amalgamation of gross stereotypes [and] appropriative mannerisms that derive from Black artists, complete with slurs infused in lyrics.”Industry Blackout also described the partnership as a “direct insult to the Black community and our culture” that is “unacceptable” and “will not be tolerated.”Created by Anthony Martini and Brandon Le, FN Meka’s partnership with Capitol Records represented the studio’s first major deal with a virtual artist. FN Meka released the single “Florida Water,” which featured Gunna and gaming streamer Clix.The group demanded that the partnership be terminated, a public apology be issued and that FN Meka be removed from all platforms.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Not long after announcing that the label had signed a computer-generated rapper dubbed FN Meka, Capitol Music Group announced that it is severing ties with the project. The move Tuesday came after Capitol came under fire from activists pointing out that the music perpetuated Black tropes and included the repeated use of the N-word but was actually the work of a non-Black creative team. “CMG has severed ties with the FN Meka project, effective immediately,” the label group said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. “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.”