August 23, 2022
13:52
Artificial intelligence-powered rapper FN Meka has signed a contract with US record label Capitol Records, a first for a virtual being.
Active on TikTok with some 10.3 million subscribers and more than a billion views, FN Meka is a “virtual” rapper, or “rapper robot”, as it is often described in the specialized sphere. He has just achieved what can be called a feat, a first for artificial intelligenceby signing a contract with the publishing house Capitol Recordssubsidiaries of major Universal Music.
Capitol proclaims loud and clear that FN Meka is the number 1 “virtual being” on TikTok, as well as the world’s “first augmented reality artist” to sign with a major label. According to Ryan Ruden, executive vice president of marketing at Capitol, the project “is at theintersection of music, technology and gaming culture video” and “is just a preview of what is to come,” he told the specialized site Music Business Worldwide.
According to its creator Anthony Martini, FN Meka is voiced by a real singer, but all the rest of the songs are the work of artificial intelligence.
On the day the signing was announced, the “rapper robot” sorti son premier single, “Florida Water”, the result of a collaboration with rapper Gunna and Clix, professional player of the Fortnite online game. It was produced by Turbo and produced by DJ Holiday.
Gunna & FN Meka, Clix – Florida Water (Official Music Video)
Created from the best rap hits
FN Meka was born in 2019, programmed from an analysis of current rap hits by the Factory New label, a “virtual” record label. Behind, we find a certain Anthony Martini, who explains that it is a real singer, in the flesh, who doubles FN Meka. But everything else – from the lyrics to the beats and chords – is the work of artificial intelligence. And that is only for a first phase. Anthony Martini states that Factory New is currently working for a computer can invent and interpret his own words, and even collaborate with other computers as “co-authors” during featurings.
The character’s appearance was also created from “thousands of data points compiled from video games and social media,” Anthony Martini told Music Business Worldwide.
Height of the virtual, FN Meka makes a lot of people cringe on social networks, where many internet users are wondering if it is wise to sign artificial beings, instead of devoting this budget to the long list of “real” artists who are waiting to be spotted…
