*Gayle King sat down with Telisha Nikki Jones, the Mississippi poet and designer who developed the controversial AI-driven R&B singer Xania Monet.
As reported by Billboard, Jones writes all of Monet’s lyrics and uses the platform Suno to turn them into completed songs, while Xania’s appearance and presence are entirely generated through artificial intelligence. Jones recently signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Hallwood Media, founded by former Interscope executive Neil Jacobson. The agreement marks a notable step forward in the industry’s experimentation with AI, even as some major labels reportedly passed on the project because of legal uncertainties.
These concerns stem from current U.S. Copyright Office guidance, which allows copyright protection only when AI is used as an assistive tool rather than the primary source of creative expression. If a machine determines a work’s expressive elements, the material is considered uncopyrightable. Such rulings can jeopardize songs by making them vulnerable to unauthorized distribution and muddled royalty claims. Jones maintains that her involvement should qualify the music for protection, emphasizing her authorship and significant role in shaping the compositions.
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The rise of Xania Monet has sparked backlash, including criticism from artists who question the legitimacy of AI-generated performers. Complex highlighted Kehlani’s reaction on TikTok, where the singer 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.” Kehlani added, “AI can also make the entire f*cking 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.”
Xania Monet is the first AI artist to debut on a Billboard radio chart with the single “How Was I Supposed to Know.” As SandraRose.com reports, Xania’s voice has drawn comparisons to Beyoncé and Melanie Fiona. Jones explained to King that she wanted people to understand “there was a real person behind Xania. That there’s real emotion and soul put into those lyrics.”
Jones said she created Xania as an avatar while teaching herself AI just three months earlier. “The lyrics are 100 percent me,” she said. “Xania is an extension of me, so I look at her as a real person.”
King challenged that view by noting, “But you can’t sing, so in that sense she’s not a real person.” She then pressed Jones on criticisms that her process bypasses the difficult path traditional artists must take, telling her, “You seem to have circumvented, taken a shortcut through all of that.”
Jones has argued that her AI-assisted work should qualify for copyright protection because she wrote the lyrics and contributed significant human input to the music’s creation.
Watch her interview with Gayle King below. Check out Xania Monet’s music via Instagram.
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