The story of FN Meka, the first augmented reality rapper signed by music, is short but fascinating. His introduction raised concerns about augmented reality and the direction the music industry is headed, but legendary producer Timbaland suggests the robo-rapper’s downfall had nothing to do with the technology being used. In fact, the super producer and businessman tells Complex that FN Meka’s “execution was correct.”

“We can’t deal with that,” he adds, “because it made people imagine and rethink. And then it led to a conversation. So I felt like he broke a barrier for people to know what’s coming.”

Aside from Timbaland’s decorated career in the music industry, the producer has been active in the metaverse since the beginning. In 2020, in the…