Telisha “Nikki” Jones, the woman who created the chart-topping AI-generated R&B singer Xania Monet, is speaking out about Monet’s success and all of the controversy that’s come with it.
Chart-Topping AI R&B Artist Xania Monet ‘Signs’ Multi-Million-Dollar Record Deal
We’ve previously written about Jones as she signed a multi-million-dollar record deal for her AI-generated artist. At the time, Billboard spoke with the Mississippi woman powering the artificial intelligent artist. Jones said she writes her own lyrics but uses the AI platform Suno to turn her lyrics into music with a face.
Monet has been climbing the charts with millions of streams. Her success resulted in Jones signing a hefty record deal. Reportedly, Jones signed a $3 million agreement with ex-Interscope Records executive Neil Jacobson and his indie label Hallwood Media. The move marked the latest advance of AI into daily American life.
Furthermore, Billboard reported that the U.S. Copyright Office issued a major report earlier this year. On January 29, the office claimed that using AI as an “assistive tool” for human expression would be fair game. However, it noted that copyrights would not be granted where “expressive elements are determined by a machine.” Additionally, the report said that protections would be decided on a “case-by-case” basis.
Kehlani And SZA Slam AI In Creative Arts While Reacting To Reports Of AI R&B Artist Xania Monet ‘Signing’ Multi-Million-Dollar Record Deal
Reacting to the news of Xania Monet signing a multi-million-dollar record deal was 5x Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Kehlani and SZA.
While taking to social media, Kehlani, an R&B and Soul singer, songwriter, and dancer criticized the use of AI in the music industry. She called out the discrediting of successful and highly talented singers, songwriters and producers. In an initial video on TikTok, she said:
“There is an AI R&B artist who just signed a multi-million-dollar deal, and has a Top 5 R&B album, and the person is doing none of the work. I think you guys think that AI can just be the cover for something. Which some people can use, they can make an AI cover.
AI can also make the entire f**king song. It can sing the entire song. It can make the entire beat. You can have a song that’s one type of song and say, ‘AI, make this into a Country song,’ and it will literally rewrite and re-sing, in a Country voice, and redo the entire thing. And they don’t have to credit anyone.
This is so beyond out of our control. Nothing and no one on Earth will ever be able to justify AI to me. Especially not f**king AI in the creative arts, in which people have worked hard for, trained for, slept on the floor for, f**king got injuries for, worked their entire lives for. I’m sorry, I don’t respect it. F****ck.”
She later took to her Instagram Story addressing questions and criticism, stating:
“1. I’m genuinely sad for people who are trying to come up and their space is being taken up by a computer program.
2. People saying, ‘Damn I don’t care she’s so relatable,’ IT, not she, is taking all of the data it’s collected on us and what we want, and is tailoring to us. even down to the voice.
3. People saying, ‘Well the creator is a poet who can’t sing but wanted to make her ideas come to life,’ maybe she should write a poetry book. I love to support a good poet. I cannot paint. So, I’m not going to create Al paintings and sell them, taking up space from up and coming painters. This is the antithesis of art. Just because you can don’t mean you should. Art is not a money grab. Music means something significant to culture, to humanity, to people. Me, personally, I’m going to value it that way for the rest of my life.”
Furthermore, SZA later took to her own Instagram Story commenting on Xania Monet’s multi-million-dollar record deal. She said, “Ion [I don’t] fw [f**k with] this either. Why devalue our music??? Something tells me they wouldn’t do this w [with] another genre.”
In another, more lengthy, post, SZA begged fans to stop creating fake AI photos of her posing with them. She also warned the public not to use her voice for AI-generated music. She wrote:
“Hey, I hate AI. If you f**k w me PLEASE don’t make any AI images of me or songs. Ppl [People] and children are dying from the harm n [and] pollution AI energy centers are creating. A stupid photo is not worth polluting and harming under served communities. Thank you.
P.S. PLEASE KNOW EVERY TIME U [YOU] USE OR PROMPT AI SOMEONE IN a forgotten community IS SUFFERING ❤️ Eventually the effects will reach everyone. By then, it’ll be too late. Bless.”
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Woman Behind Chart-Topping AI-Generated R&B Singer Xania Monet Speaks On Success And Controversy
In a new interview with Gayle King for CBS Mornings, Telisha “Nikki” Jones, the 31-year-old female creator behind the AI-generated star, Xania Monet, is coming from behind the scenes, revealing more of herself, and talking her AI artist’s success, and all the controversy attached to it.
According to Billboard, Monet is the “first known AI artist to earn enough radio airplay to debut on a Billboard radio chart.” Monet has appeared on at least five charts since her debut. But with all the success, is just as much criticism. To the critics, Jones, who created Monet just four months ago, insisted, “Xania is an extension of me, so I look at her as a real person.”
As she told Billboard, Jones stated that although she herself cannot song, Monet’s “lyrics are 100% me.” She said they come from poems she wrote based on her real life experiences. She said, “Whether it was stuff I went through, a close family member, or a close friend, I wrote about it.” Jones explained that Monet’s chart-topping song, “How Was I Supposed To Know?,” is about her (Jones) losing her dad at just 8 years old.
Jones continued to share, “I’m just taking what I love doing and mixing it with tech.” She added that she doesn’t necessarily consider using AI as a shortcut to industry success. However, she did acknowledge that what she’s doing does “challenge the norm” and often results with criticism. She explained, “I just feel like AI … it’s the new era that we’re in. And I look at it as a tool, as an instrument, and utilize it.”
Woman Behind Chart-Topping AI-Generated R&B Singer Xania Monet Slams Controversy
Continuing to address past criticism received from artists like Kehlani and SZA, Jones said she won’t let them keep her from making art how she sees fit. She said:
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Technology’s evolving. Everybody has different ways of putting in work to get to where they’re at. I don’t feel that way about it. I still love Kehlani’s music. I still listen to her every day.”
While addressing concerns about AI allowing people to make music from other racial or cultural backgrounds, Jones said, “That’s what I’m here to let them know, I’m Telisha. I’m a part of your culture; I’m a Black woman; I’m a creator; I’m an entrepreneur; I created Xania.”
Outlining her creative song making process, Jones said she scrolls through a list of poems she wrote to find inspiration for a song for Monet. She then puts her lyrics into an AI music-generator app and adds various prompts. These include slow tempo R&B, female soulful vocals, light guitar, heavy drums, etc. She then clicks create and boom.
RELATED: JoJo Says She’s Not Completely Against AI Music: ‘Might As Well Embrace It!’
Hallwood Media Defends Its AI-Generated Artist Xania Monet And Her Creator Talisha “Nikki” Jones
Elsewhere, Danny Jacobson, the head of A&R at Hallwood Media, also defended the Xania Monet and her creator Talisha “Nikki” Jones. Jacobson said Monet Monet represents a new age of music, explaining:
“What Nikki has done with Xania Monet really represents the future of music. It shows that taste and instinct have always mattered more than technical dexterity, and we’re now seeing that play out in real time. AI is breaking down barriers around age, image, and access, giving creators who might not have had a traditional path into the industry the chance to bring their stories and ideas to life while connecting directly with listeners. That kind of innovation is exactly what drives us at Hallwood.”
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