For a while now, researchers and scientists have warned of the coming singularity, when technology outgrows human intelligence and has a mind of its own. While there's little evidence this event is coming any time soon, robots taking humans' jobs has certainly proven to be real, and even artists are in danger.
Now, the rap world has officially been infiltrated by AI. An artificial intelligence-powered rapper named FN Meka just made headlines after signing to a major label. The virtual rapper inked a deal with Capitol Records, NME reports.
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Meka has also released its first single, called "Florida Water," which features the gaming streamer Clix and real-human-rapper Gunna (who is currently facing real-human RICO charges). The song is a fairly conventional trap track and it's doing big numbers on TikTok, having garnered over 190K likes at the time of writing.
The rapper is the creation of Brandon Le and Anthony Martini of Factory New, which is a virtual record label that was the first to sign the robot. Martini claims that the rapper's voice is that of a real human but "everything else about him—from his lyrics to the chords and tempo underpinning his music—is based on AI."
FN Meka's a big sign for Capitol Records, as the virtual being has over 10 million followers and a billion views on TikTok. Ryan Ruden of Capitol Records describes Meka as such: "[It] meets at the intersection of music, technology and gaming culture. It's just a preview of what’s to come." The Terminator never saw this coming.
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