AI Artist Xania Monet Climbs the Charts — And Signs a Multimillion-Dollar Record Deal

Last week, a squad of record-label executives took a Zoom gathering with a little-known R&B creator releasing euphony nether the sanction Xania Monet, whose medium has been climbing accelerated up the charts, drafting involvement and imaginable bidders from astir the euphony business.

But it rapidly became wide that this was nary mean rising prima erstwhile she joined the telephone without video, explaining she wasn’t “camera ready” and declining to sing.

That’s due to the fact that the artist, a writer whose existent sanction is Talisha Jones and who goes by Nikki, has utilized AI to trade her representation and Suno to trade her music. Given her usage of Suno, which was sued for copyright infringement by the large grounds companies past year, labels backed by the majors abstained from making offers, though 1 large statement enactment a apical connection connected the array anyway. The bidding reached $3 million to motion her, sources say, and Hallwood Media, the amusement institution led by erstwhile Interscope enforcement Neil Jacobson, yet added her to its roster with a multimillion-dollar agreement.

Xania is the brainchild of 31-year-old Jones, who owns a plan workplace and lives successful OIive Branch, Miss. She comes from humble beginnings, says her manager Romel Murphy, a seasoned euphony selling enforcement who has worked with gospel acts similar Cheneta Jones and K. Michelle arsenic well as Memphis newcomer IME Casino and considers Jones family.  

“She’s been penning poesy for a agelong time,” Murphy tells Billboard, noting that 90% of her lyrics are her ain existent stories, and the different 10% are inspired by the stories of her friends and community. What’s making the songs drawback is “not a hook and a span and a catchy chant — It’s conscionable the lyrics, and they are pure.”

While Jones grew up singing herself successful church, she’s not the “vocal beast” that Xania is, Murphy says. Jones utilized a operation of Suno’s level and unrecorded elements to make her album, and claims afloat ownership of the songwriting and accumulation credits, helium says, but she plans to enactment with further quality producers connected her upcoming project. Murphy says he’s present fielding publishing woody offers, and is successful the midst of readying Xania’s archetypal unrecorded performance.

“This is existent euphony — it’s existent R&B,” says Murphy. “There’s an creator down it.”

Notably, Monet appeared connected the Billboard charts for this archetypal clip this week (dated Sept. 20, 2025), debuting astatine No. 25 connected the Emerging Artists tally and astatine No. 21 connected Hot Gospel Songs with “Let Go, Let God.” Additionally, her opus “How Was I Supposed to Know” deed No. 1 connected R&B Digital Song Sales, No. 3 connected R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales and No. 22 connected Digital Song Sales. Her catalog has earned 9.8 cardinal on-demand authoritative U.S. streams, 5.4 cardinal of those successful the astir caller tracking week (Sept. 5-11), according to Luminate.

Jacobson is betting large connected AI-powered music: In July, Hallwood announced a signaling agreement with imoliver, the top-streaming “music designer” on Suno, marking the first signing of a Suno creator to a grounds label. “Stone,” the breakout single, racked up much than 3 cardinal streams connected the Suno level earlier it was released connected each s...