Capitol Music Group severs ties with FN Meka, a virtual “robot rapper” powered partly by AI with 10M+ TikTok followers, after backlash over racial stereotypes
robot Will Gendron / Input : Phew, Capitol Records has already been bullied out of deal with ‘AI rapper’ Tweets: Jonathan W. Gray / @elmcitytree : So let's talk about digital blackface. There was a lot of backlash against this virtual rapper that led to this result. https://www.nytimes.com/... Otto Von Biz Markie / @passionweiss : This farce represents the logical endpoint of algorithm/stream culture. An “artist” only capable of synthesizing past sounds, a cynical derivative. The perfect inverse of an original capable of surprise & innovation. The enemy of risk averse execs afraid to bet on the unknown. https://twitter.com/... @heranmamo : Anthony Martini, a Factory New founder that was backing FN Meka, tells @nytimes that the AI rapper is “primarily an anonymous human rapper — 'he's a Black guy' — and ‘not this malicious plan of white executives.’” https://twitter.com/... Nate Alyn / @natealyn : This has to be the fastest signed and dropped artist in history https://twitter.com/... J Herskowitz / @jherskowitz : “Though voiced by a human, FN Meka and his music — “lyrical content, chords, melody, tempo, sounds” — was derived in part from artificial intelligence”... https://www.nytimes.com/... @alliancejamaica : Does it get anymore 2022 than this ? https://twitter.com/... Chuck D / @mrchuckd : So where do I begin ? Now who is the asshole(s) for this idea in the first place? Splash their names please https://www.nytimes.com/... See also Mediagazer