FN Meka
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About
FN Meka is an AI SoundCloud rapper and TikTok character who has gained a large following on both Instagram and TikTok. In December 2019, FN Meka went viral on TikTok for showing off his animated all Gucci Cybertruck. He continued to gain fame in subsequent years, releasing a song with Gunna and sigining with record Capitol Records, only to be dropped soon after receiving backlash for blackfishing.
Origin
On October 4th, 2019, FN Meka released his first track on SoundCloud titled "Internet" which has gained over 150,000 plays in three months. The track has since been deleted, but can be accessed via a YouTube reupload (shown below).
Spread
On October 20th, 2019, FN Meka uploaded his first TikTok[1] video which gained over 89,000 likes in three months (shown below, left). On October 25th, FN Meka uploaded a TikTok video featuring his rap "Internet" and received over 145,600 likes in three months.
On November 20th, FN Meka uploaded his second track to SoundCloud titled "Moonwalkin" which received over 82,700 plays in a month. The track has since been deleted by the official FN Meka account, but can be accessed via reupload on YouTube[2] (seen below).
On December 4th, FN Meka uploaded a TikTok[3] featuring an animated Gucci Cybertruck which gained over 8 million views and 800,0000 likes in over two years (shown below, left). On January 5th, FN Meka uploaded a dance video video with Charlie D'Amelio and gained over 165,000 likes in five days (shown below, right).
As of August 2022, FN Meka has over 224,000 followers on Instagram[4] and over 10 million followers on TikTok.[5]
Capitol Records Deal And Subsequent Backlash
On August 14, 2022, major record label Capitol Records signed FN Meka, calling him “the world’s first A.R. artist to sign with a major label."[6] The virtual singer then released a track called "Florida Water," featuring Gunna and Clix. The track has since been removed from streaming services.
Following this news, internet users began to debate the ethics of a company creating a rapper that caricatures various black stereotypes, says the n-word in his songs and even had a photo of him being brutalized by police on his official Instagram (now deleted) (seen below).
On August 23rd, 2022, the activist group Industry Blackout released a statement on Twitter[7] calling for the label to cut ties with FN Meka, calling him a "direct insult to the Black community and our culture" and well as "an amalgamation of gross stereotypes, appropriative mannerisms that derive from Black artists, complete with slurs infused in lyrics." They also pointed to the hypocrisy of featuring a manufactured "Black" rapper on the same track as Gunna, who is currently facing legal charges that leverage his music against him.
Soon after, Capitol Records announced that they are "severing ties" with the AI rapper, and apologizing for their "insensitivity in signing onto this project."[8]
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
fn.1 Instagram – FNMeka
[2] YouTube – Moonwalking
[6] Pitchfork – Capitol Records “Severs Ties” With AI Rapper FN Meka, Issues Apology After Facing Criticism for “Gross Stereotypes”
[7] Twitter – Industry Blackout
[8] New York Times – Capitol Drops ‘Virtual Rapper’ FN Meka After Backlash Over Stereotypes
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