‘I’m a Black woman’: Creator behind viral AI singer Xania Monet defends herself from critics

The AI secured a $3M record deal after its single “How Was I Supposed To Know?” landed on several Billboard airplay charts.

The woman behind AI R&B singer Xania Monet wants you to know there is some heart to the creation.

Telisha “Nikki” Jones, a 31-year-old native of Mississippi, isn’t a singer, but her poems are the basis behind Monet, who, with the song “How Was I Supposed To Know?” became the first AI artist to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and other charts. 

Although Jones recognizes Monet is merely an avatar, she told Gayle King in an interview for “CBS This Morning” that the AI is “an extension” of her.

“I look at her like a real person,” Jones told the veteran interviewer, who couldn’t believe how quickly Jones took to Suno, an AI-generated music app championed by the likes of Timbaland, and in four months, took Xania from being the avatar she used to help learn AI, into a chart-topping artist.

Although the vocals are computer-generated, the lyrics are “100%” Jones’ work, dating back to poems she had been writing since she was 24. “Whether it was stuff I went through, a close family member, or a close friend, I wrote about it.”

According to Jones, her smash hit “How Was I Supposed To Know?” was inspired by her father, who died when she was eight years old. In her eyes, AI isn’t a crutch or even a shortcut she used to become famous, but as a companion. It may not evoke the same emotion as a live guitar string or even a live vocalist, but it can bring her words to life in a greater way.

“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,” she said.

In terms of her songwriting process, Jones explained how she would pull up one of her poems she wants to make a song about and comb through Suno’s various presets, such as slow-tempo R&B, female vocals, and heavy drums, and the app would generate her song. 

Although Jones’ success as Xania Monet has been lauded by fans who’ve rewarded her with millions of listens, artists such as Kehlani blasted Monet’s $3M record deal with Hallwood Media, saying she didn’t “respect it.”

“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,” the “Folded” singer told fans in a since-deleted TikTok video. “AI can also make the entire f—g song. It can sing the entire song. It can make the entire beat…This is so beyond out of our control. Nothing and no one on Earth will ever be able to justify AI to me.”

SZA, who continues to make Billboard history with her “SOS” album, echoed Kehlani’s sentiments.

“Ion fw this either why devalue our music ??? Something tells me they wouldn’t do this w another genre,” she wrote in her Instagram Stories, further explaining why she didn’t appreciate AI, or the fact that Jones secured a $3M recording contract. 

Still, Jones isn’t deterred by critics about her art and is reiterating that at the soul of the AI isn’t someone from outside the culture, but a Black woman.

“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,” she said.

She added, “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.”

Watch Jones’ interview on “CBS This Morning” below.