Last week, a team of record-label executives took a Zoom meeting with a little-known R&B artist releasing music under the name Xania Monet, whose album has been climbing fast up the charts, drawing interest and potential bidders from around the music business.
But it quickly became clear that this was no ordinary rising star when she joined the call without video, explaining she wasn’t “camera ready” and declining to sing.
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That’s because the artist, a poet whose real name is Telisha Jones and who goes by Nikki, has used AI to craft her image and Suno to craft her music. Given her use of Suno, which was sued for copyright infringement by the major record companies last year, labels backed by the majors abstained from making offers, though one major label put a top offer on the table anyway. The bidding reached $3 million to sign her, sources say, and Hallwood Media, the entertainment company led by former Interscope executive Neil Jacobson, ultimately added her to its roster with a multimillion-dollar agreement.
Xania is the brainchild of 31-year-old Jones, who owns a design studio and lives in OIive Branch, Miss. She comes from humble beginnings, says her manager Romel Murphy, a veteran music marketing executive who has worked with gospel acts like Cheneta Jones and K. Michelle as well as Memphis newcomer IME Casino and considers Jones family.
“She’s been writing poetry for a long time,” Murphy tells Billboard, noting that 90% of her lyrics are her own true stories, and the other 10% are inspired by the stories of her friends and community. What’s making the songs catch is “not a hook and a bridge and a catchy chant — It’s just the lyrics, and they are pure.”
While Jones grew up singing herself in church, she’s not the “vocal beast” that Xania is, Murphy says. Jones used a combination of Suno’s platform and live elements to create her album, and claims full ownership of the songwriting and production credits, he says, but she plans to work with additional human producers on her upcoming project. Murphy says he’s now fielding publishing deal offers, and is in the midst of planning Xania’s first live performance.
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“This is real music — it’s real R&B,” says Murphy. “There’s an artist behind it.”
Notably, Monet appeared on the Billboard charts for this first time this week (dated Sept. 20, 2025), debuting at No. 25 on the Emerging Artists tally and at No. 21 on Hot Gospel Songs with “Let Go, Let God.” Additionally, her song “How Was I Supposed to Know” hit No. 1 on R&B Digital Song Sales, No. 3 on R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales and No. 22 on Digital Song Sales. Her catalog has earned 9.8 million on-demand official U.S. streams, 5.4 million of those in the most recent tracking week (Sept. 5-11), according to Luminate.
Jacobson is betting big on AI-powered music: In July, Hallwood announced a recording agreement with imoliver, the top-streaming “music designer” on Suno, marking the first signing of a Suno creator to a record label. “Stone,” the breakout single, racked up more than 3 million streams on the Suno platform before it was released on all streaming services on Aug. 8. It has now earned 4,000 on-demand official U.S. streams, according to Luminate.