text: Famed record label Capitol Records, which signed AI-generated, virtual rapper artist FN Meka earlier this month, has walked away from the contract citing unintended and overlooked racial overtones and the AI character’s “gross stereotypes” of the Black community. (THE HILL)
  Nonprofit organization Industry Blackout called the AI rapper a “direct insult to the Black community and our culture.”
  In a statement, it said: “While we applaud innovation in tech that connects listeners to music and enhances the experience, we find fault in the lack of awareness in how offensive this caricature is … an amalgamation of gross stereotypes, appropriative mannerisms that derive from Black artists, complete with slurs infused in lyrics.”
  Meka’s first single “Florida Water,” a collaboration with Atlanta-based rapper Gunna and Fortnite player Clix, released on Aug. 12.
  Created by Factory New in 2019, the virtual rapper boasts of over 10 million followers on TikTok.
  “CMG has severed ties with the FN Meka project, effective immediately,” the Capitol Music Group said in a statement on Tuesday. “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.”
  Related Story: Virtual, AI-Powered Rapper Signs Record Deal With Capitol Records
  Image Credit: Instagram / KN MEKA
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