There are several debates going on in Hip Hop at the moment, and Artificial Intelligence rappers have been a hot topic. It was recently announced that the viral AI rapper FN Meka signed a deal with Capitol Records, but just as quickly as those celebrations began did the contract end. FN Meka amassed 10 million followers and even went viral on TikTok, but after inking the record deal, the backlash was unending. Capitol was accused of using a computer-generated rapper to appropriate Black culture and Meka was alleged to have mocked police brutality as complaints about the rapper being created by non-Black people began to circulate.
The controversy caused Capitol to return with a statement where they apologized and announced that they decided to sever ties with the AI rapper.
Following the controversy, Kyle The Hooligan, the real person allegedly behind the voice of FN Meka, surfaced to explain his side of the story.
“They came to me with this A.I. sh*t and was like would I want to be the voice of it and I thought it was going to be some collaboration,” he said. According to Kyle, he was offered “equity in the company, percentages, all this stuff,” and he was excited about the possibilities.
“Next thing I know, n*ggas just ghosted me. Use my voice, use my sound, use the culture, and literally just left me high and dry,” he added. “I ain’t get a dime off of nothing, and they got record deals, all this stuff. I wasn’t involved in no meetings or none of that, which is f*cked up. So, I’m glad they ass got canceled, ‘cause that’s karma for they ass, ‘cause God don’t play with me. I’m gonna tell you that right now.”
Additionally, it was reported that the creators of FN Meka defended themselves during a DM conversation where they allegedly blamed “racist reporters,” people chasing “clout,” and “false narratives” for the controversy.
Check it all out below.