In the span of a couple days, major label Capitol Records signed a rapper with over 10 million TikTok followers, then quickly “severed ties” with him after criticism spread across the internet like wildfire. The wrinkle? He’s not even real.
First, the origin story: According to Music Business Worldwide, the controversial FN Meka was the project of a company called Factory New, which creates virtual artists to turn into social-media personalities. (FN was presumably named after the company.) Co-founder Anthony Martini told MBW in 2021 that the avatar was “created using thousands of data points compiled from video games and social media.” Though Meka is voiced by a real person, the songs, instrumentals, and lyrics were all created through a “proprietary AI technology” that sourced from existing popular music.
“Most hits are written by teams of people who get paid to make music that will ‘sell,’” Martini told MBW. “We think machines can eventually run this process more efficiently than humans. How many fans ever actually meet the stars they idolize anyway?”
The CG Meka looks like he was created for a PlayStation game about a 2017-era SoundCloud rapper, with dyed green hair, face tattoos, and tryhard streetwear outfits. His handful of tracks fit that image: “Moonwalkin’,” a tired shout-rap track from 2019 full of repeated racial slurs prompted jokes online about how it sounded like a 6ix9ine leftover. The droning “Florida Water” was largely a showcase for Gunna, with Meka contributing a short, exhausting verse in which he croons about a Tesla Cybertruck.
The character’s discography was scant, and most of Meka’s following seems to have been built on TikTok and Instagram. His bio reads “Robot rapper not accepted by this world,” and his videos, many of which eclipsed a million views, featured the avatar flashing futuristic, yet poorly rendered luxury items like a gaming chair-slash-toilet, a motorcycle with robot arms, and a Lamborghini laptop. Part of FN Meka’s mission was to hawk NFTs, because of course. (It’s worth noting that Factory New also has another subtext-shattering virtual artist simply named Lil Bitcoin, per the Times.) One of Meka’s most egregious posts from 2019 depicted him being assaulted by a white cop in prison, an apparent attempt to capitalize on the pervasive issue of police brutality just for social-media clout.
Even by contemporary standards, Meka’s rise and fall (if you could even call it that) happened with dizzying speed. Per Music Business Worldwide, Meka’s signing was announced on August 12. Ryan Ruden, Capitol’sExecutive Vice President of Experiential Marketing & Business Development, expressed excitement about the project’s ability to unite the worlds of “music, technology, and gaming culture,” and said Meka was “just a preview of what’s to come.”
Backlash started about 10 days later, and by August 23, Capitol released a statement to Rolling Stone in which they announced he was no longer signed, apologized, and acknowledged the widespread backlash against Meka for the character’s reliance on harmful racial stereotypes. (Among those who criticized the FN Meka project was legendary Public Enemy rapper Chuck D.)
“CMG has severed ties with the FN Meka project, effective immediately. 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 statement read. “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.”
In an interview with the Times, Martini called the criticism of Meka “clickbait” and sought to undermine accusations of racism by pointing out that the person who voices him is Black. “I’m the only white person involved,” he said of the group behind Meka, proclaiming it “actually one of the most diverse teams you can get.” During that same interview, Martini said that Capitol had not paid an advance to Meka’s team, so no money is owed back to the label.
These CGI characters are only becoming more common as major entertainment companies push into the Metaverse and seek to stand out in the crowded social media sphere. Lil Miquela is still perhaps the most famous example, a virtual influencer who recently earned a major brand deal with Pacsun.
And if you thought this was going to be the merciful end of the FN Meka saga, you’re sadly mistaken. He has already released “F*ck The Media,” a diss aimed at his short-lived label home and various detractors.