Oakland singer slams AI artist’s $3M record deal: ‘I don’t respect it’

Kehlani is pushing back against the use of artificial intelligence in the arts, taking aim at a rising AI-generated musician that recently secured a $3 million record deal. 

“There is an AI R&B artist who just signed a multi-million dollar deal, and has a top five R&B album, and the person is doing none of the work,” the Oakland R&B singer said in a since-deleted TikTok video last week, according to Complex. “This is so beyond out of our control.” 

Mississippi writer Talisha Jones started feeding her lyrics into AI over the summer, generating Xania Monet’s public-facing appearance and music with the technology. Monet began rising to prominence earlier this month, landing among the top on the charts and achieving more than 674,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

On Sept. 16, Billboard reported that she had secured a multimillion dollar deal with Hallwood Media. 

Kehlani noted that while many may think AI is only used to cover songs, “AI can also make the entire ... song. It can sing the entire song. It can make the entire beat.”

She went on to declare that “Nothing and no one on Earth will ever be able to justify AI to me. Especially not AI in the creative arts.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t respect it,” the “Folded” singer concluded.  

She wasn’t the only musician to take issue with Monet’s newfound success. 

“Kill Bill” singer SZA shared a screenshot of the news to her Instagram story with the caption “... why devalue our music??? Something tells me they wouldn’t do this w another genre.” 

The Grammy winner also raised alarm about the general use of AI, urging her fans to consider the environmental impacts before using it.

“I hate AI,” SZA wrote. “Please don’t make any AI images of me or songs. Ppl and children are dying from the harm n pollution AI energy centers are creating.”

AI’s place in the music industry and the broader artistic scene has been a growing topic of conversation in recent years, as other AI acts such as the Velvet Sundown and FN Meka have made their way into the mainstream. 

Locally, Thee Stork Club banned the use of AI to create promotional artwork for gigs earlier this month. Owners are instead providing a list of a handful of Bay Area graphic artists that can help acts abide by the rules for discounted “homie prices.”