Xania Monet has received a lot of attention in the past few months. The AI R&B artist has a multi-million dollar record deal with Hallwood Media. Her song “How Was I Supposed to Know?” debuted at No. 30 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart dated Nov. 1, 2025. This makes Xania the first known AI-generated artist to debut on a Billboard airplay chart.
While there are several AI artists that are ranking on Billboard’s charts, only Xania has managed to maintain some level of momentum. Why is that?
Hallwood Media’s Push Into Radio
A major part of Monet’s success comes down to what happened after she went viral on social media. Once her tracks started spreading online, Hallwood Media took a human approach to promoting their artist.
They pushed “How Was I Supposed to Know?” to adult R&B radio stations across the country. The move is usually reserved for big name artists or those who are popular with casual listeners.
In early tracking weeks, Monet’s songs only got two spins on radio, according to Luminate data. After a while, weekly plays climbed into the hundreds. By mid-October, her tracks had reached more than a million listeners on-air.
That steady rise in airplay helped level off a steep decline. When her streaming numbers dropped 24% the week after her peak, many expected Xania to fade into obscurity. Instead, the combination of radio promotion and buzz stabilized her reach. For an AI artist, that’s a first.
The Human Behind the AI
Behind Monet’s animated avatar is Mississippi-based poet and songwriter Telisha “Nikki” Jones. Jones writes the lyrics, then feeds it through AI music generator Suno to create Xania’s voice and the music.
What makes Monet stand out isn’t the technology; it’s Jones’s writing. For me, Xania’s songs remind me of 90s/2000s R&B. It has a nostalgic feel to it in the melodies and the production. Many listeners say Monet’s songs made them smile through hard times or brought back old memories. They’re responding to the human fingerprints behind the software. Monet may be an AI, but she conveys a sense of emotion in her own unique way.
Connection Over Novelty
For all the fascination with AI artists, Xania Monet’s rise shows that connection still drives success. Monet resonates because her songs feel familiar. They remind listeners of something real.
The fact that her songs have ranked on both Gospel and R&B charts shows how strong that connection is. “Let Go, Let God” climbed to No. 3 on Hot Gospel Songs. “How Was I Supposed to Know?” reached No. 20 on Hot R&B Songs and topped R&B Digital Song Sales. The data tells one story of success but the emotion behind it tells another.
Xania Monet’s success isn’t proof that AI is replacing artists. It does show that human creativity still plays an important role. Without Telisha Jones’s writing, or Hallwood Media’s promotion, Monet would have been written off as another AI experiment that everyone forgot about.
Instead, she’s charting because she feels authentic. That may be the most human success story AI has told yet.
