Gayle King didn’t hold back during a sit-down with the creator of the first AI singer signed to a record label, Xania Monet, about the creator not being a vocalist.
As Blavity reported, the AI-generated music artist made history when she signed a multimillion-dollar record deal with Hallwood Media in September. The news received mixed reactions, and artists like SZA and Kehlani weren’t fans of the signing and what that could mean for the music industry’s future. Telisha “Nikki” Jones, the woman behind Xania Monet, spoke publicly for the first time about the musician she brought to life in AI in an exclusive interview with King on CBS Mornings.
Jones said there is a ‘real person’ behind Xania Monet who writes real ‘lyrics’
The non-human figure’s music has received great reception from music fans, and the song “How Was I Supposed to Know?” landed on Billboard’s R&B Digital Song Sales chart, according to Forbes. Other songs like “I Asked for So Little,” “This Aint No Tryout” and “Let Go, Let God” from the EP Unfolded, along with the single “The Strong Don’t Get a Break,” have seen great success. When King asked Jones why she wanted to come forward and speak out, she shared that she wanted people to know that a human being backs the AI avatar.
“I wanted to reveal myself because I wanted people to know there was a real person behind Xania,” she told King during the interview. “That there’s real emotion and soul put into those lyrics.”
Jones claimed that she is writing all the lyrics for Xania Monet. She noted that the lyrics come from poems she has written.
“Lyrics are 100% me,” she said when asked if she uses AI to help her write songs.
King pointed out that people thought Xania Monet was initially a real person. “Xania is an extension of me, so I look at her as a real person,” Jones said.
This prompted the journalist to clap back quickly, saying, “But you can’t sing!” to which Jones had no response, just grinned.
This exchange between the two became the standout moment of the interview, and social media found King’s comment hilarious.
“BUT YOU CAN’T SING!” Gayle…chiiiilll TT!!😂😂😂,” one Instagram user commented under gossip blog The Shade Room’s post about the interview.
“Gayle wasn’t playing with her 😂,” another person wrote.
“‘But you can’t sing’ got me crying 🤣🤣,” someone else said.
Xania Monet is getting pushback from music industry pros
Music executive and producer Jermaine Dupri recently added to the conversation about AI artists by highlighting the hypocrisy of the reaction when it was discovered that the R&B duo Milli Vanilli didn’t sing their music.
“So let me get this right, year ago the industry found out that Milli Vanilli weren’t really the voices on their Grammy winning record and they were stripped of their Grammy, but now we’re getting ready to accept people who can’t even sing, creating songs for a fake person?” he asked in a tweet on X. “How is this any different than Milli Vanilli?”
During the conversation, King brought up Kehlani’s sentiments about Xania Monet and Jones. In response to the criticism, the songwriter shared that she isn’t offended and still supports the Grammy-nominated songstress.
“Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,” Jones said. “Technology is evolving. Everybody has different ways of putting in work to get to where they’re at. I don’t feel a way about it. I still love Kehlani’s music. I still listen to her every day.”
To those who feel the Mississippi native has taken an easy route to the industry, she said people are always “uncomfortable” when innovative things are born.
“I wouldn’t call it a shortcut because I still put in the work,” Jones said. “And any time something new comes about and it challenges the norm and challenges what we’re used to, you’re going to get strong reactions behind it. And I just feel like AI is the new era that we’re in, and I look at it as a tool, as an instrument … utilize it.”