In mid-August, Capitol Records signed FN Meka, a racially ambiguous virtual rapper who pairs terrible music with a litany of digital advertisements. It was reportedly the first major record label to make a deal of this kind, but over the past 48 hours, concerns over Meka’s posting history — namely the use of racial slurs and insensitivity towards issues like police brutality — have led to an internet-wide dunking, culminating in Capital Records severing ties with the project.
As reported by Music Business Worldwide, Meka was “created using thousands of data points compiled from video games and social media,” and has amassed an enormous following. At the time of this writing, the non-tangible artist boasts just over 10 million followers as well as “over a billion views” on TikTok, making him the largest virtual being on the platform. Meka’s only song on streaming platforms at the moment, “Florida Water,” contains a feature from Gunna and has been played over a million times.
