Man claiming to voice FN Meka, controversial AI rapper dropped by Capitol Records, says label “used me… then ghosted me”

An Atlanta rapper has alleged that he is the voice behind AI star FN Meka and in turn has accused Capitol Records of ghosting him after being promised equity in the label.

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Kyle the Hooligan has posted notes and videos in which he claims the Universal-owned label has left him “high and dry” and shared information that is meant to prove that he is behind the viral Robot rapper. A previously unknown voice.

FN Meka, created in collaboration with Factory New, was pulled down by Capital less than a fortnight after its launch, when its critics highlighted that the project despised elements of black culture and gave them shock value. used for. The label indicated this in a formal apology shared online earlier this week. new York Times‘ Joe Coscarelli.

Meka was marketed as the “world’s first” AI rapper to be signed to a major label, with Ryan Ruden, executive vice president of experiential marketing and business development for Capital Music Group, stating that the project was “musical, Culture meets at the intersection of technology and gaming” and “is just a preview of what’s to come”.

Capitol released their first FN mecha single, ‘Florida Water’, on August 12, featuring guest vocals from real-life rapper Gunna and instrumental participation from gaming streamer Clix.

But controversy erupted when Micah, who has gained over 10 million TikTok followers, was seen using the N word and highlighting police brutality. As one of their creators, E. Town Concrete singer Anthony Martini explained to Music Business Worldwide, for Micah “the lyrical content, melody, melody, tempo, sounds, etc.” were all determined by artificial intelligence, but were voiced by a human.

Now, Kyle the Hooligan has broken his silence to claim that Capitol “used my resemblance to my voice and culture to get 10 million TikTok followers and a huge record deal from what I made to haunt me… “

“They came to me with this AI shit and it was like I wanted to be the voice of it, and I thought it was going to take some collaboration,” Kyle wrote in the caption for a video.

In the clip he alleges: “They promised me equity in the company, percentages, all this stuff, so I’m thinking, ‘Okay, it’s going to be some collab, something different for me, so I’m going to do my best. I can do music and do some AI stuff with this FN Mecha character.”

“So everything is going well,” he continued. “Next thing I know, n**** just haunt me. Use my voice, use my voice, use the culture and that’s literally left me high and dry. I get nothing, and They get record deals, all that stuff. I didn’t attend any of the meetings or have any of that, which is messy. So, I’m glad they got the ass canceled because it’s karma for them. God doesn’t play with me. I’m going to tell you that right now.”

In a second clip, Kyle claimed that ‘Moonwalkin’, a song by FN Mecca, belonged to him. “Just to prove it was my music and I moonwalking and the internet,” he wrote in a caption.

NME Capitol Records has been contacted for comment.

Meanwhile, as noted by journalist Coscarelli in his new York Times Factory New founder (and E.Town Concrete singer) Martini, reports on Capital leaving the FN Meka project predicted that would happen.

Martini blamed the impending cancellation on “a clickbait headline lying on the blog and making up this narrative”, alluding to the notion that Micah as a character appears to be primarily based on artificial intelligence (a narrative that has been described as a “narrative”). Factory New championed itself last year).

The founder told Coscarelli that the project was “not the malicious scheme of white executives”, and that the FN Mecha character was primarily the work of an anonymous human rapper – whom Martini described only as “a black man”. – With the role of Factory New “literally no different than managing a human cast, except it’s digital”.

Martini also claimed that the expanded team behind FN Mecca is “really one of the most diverse teams you can get”, with Martini himself “the only white man involved”.

Additionally, he claimed that Capital had not made any financial commitments for the project, and had not made an advance payment to Factory New to finalize the deal. new York Times Reportedly confirmed this with the label.

in a statement via anytime After ending the project, Capitol Records wrote: “We offer our deepest apologies for our insensitivity in signing this project without asking enough questions about equity and the creative process behind it.”