The tale of FN Meka, music’s first signed augmented reality rapper, is a short though fascinating one. Its introduction raised concerns about augmented reality and the direction the music industry is headed in, 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 entrepreneur tells Complex that FN Meka’s “execution was correct.”

“We can’t front on that,” he adds, “because it got people imagining and rethinking. And then it led to a conversation. So I felt like it broke a barrier to let people know what’s coming.”

Aside from Timbaland’s decorated career in the music industry, the producer has been active in the metaverse from the beginning. In 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, Timb created Verzuz, a virtual artist battle in collaboration with fellow producer Swizz Beatz. Verzuz quickly became a favorite pastime for fans while on lockdown, with many of its shows attracting more than 1 billion viewers. As Verzuz continued to grow (it was acquired by TrillerNet in November 2021), Timbaland founded Beatclub, a beat-selling marketplace that allows fans to browse and buy shares of their favorite songs. In return, they receive dividends or royalties of the music or get the opportunity to purchase NFTs. Then in August 2021, he launched Ape-In Productions, a web3 record label, talent agency and entertainment company, in partnership with the Bored Ape Yacht Club.

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