Gayle King recently sat down with Telisha “Nikki” Jones, the creative mind behind Xania Monet, an AI-generated artist shaking up the music world — and the Billboard charts.
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Monet made history after signing a multimillion-dollar deal with Hallwood Media, becoming what Billboard calls the first known AI artist to earn enough radio airplay to chart. Since debuting, Monet has appeared on five different Billboard charts, marking a major cultural turning point for digital artistry.
Her breakout single, “How Was I Supposed to Know,” rocketed to No. 1 on Spotify’s Daily South Africa chart and quickly spread worldwide, racking up millions of streams on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.
But not everyone’s applauding the rise of AI in music. Singer Kehlani voiced her disapproval on TikTok, saying, “Nobody will be able to justify AI to me… I don’t respect it.”
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Jones, however, responded with poise and perspective. “Technology’s evolving,” she told King.
“Everybody has different ways of putting in work to get to where they’re at. I still love Kehlani’s music — I listen to her every day.”
While Jones admits she can’t sing, she insists her lyrics — drawn from deeply personal poems — make Xania Monet a genuine artistic expression.
“The lyrics are 100% me. Xania is an extension of me, so I look at her as a real person.”
Jones went on to frame AI as a tool for collaboration, not competition: “We’re not replacing traditional artists; we’re expanding what’s possible. Technology doesn’t erase emotion — it amplifies it.”
During the interview, Jones demonstrated how she uses AI platforms like Suno to turn her poetry into songs, emphasizing that her mission is to redefine creativity in the digital era — not replace it.
With Xania Monet climbing charts and sparking debate, the conversation around what it means to be an “artist” may never be the same again.
