Author: Sian Cain
Publisher: The Guardian
Publication Year: 2022
Summary: In the following article, FN Meka highlights the importance of considering marginalized communities when making decisions involving data. FN Meka was immediately met with backlash by the Black community when it was signed to a major record deal, but there were several moments leading up to the record deal where there was an opportunity to prevent the backlash. For example, the owners of Factory Now could have prevented the algorithm controlling FN Meka from using the N-word. They also could have chosen not to depict FN Meka as a victim of police brutality in one of their videos. Both decisions, along with many others, made light of real experiences depicted by Black hip-hop artists in their music. Before a decision with data is made, we must consider all the people who those decisions affect.