Two new artists have taken the music industry by storm, gathering millions of listeners within the span of months and sparking questions on whether the fact that they’re completely AI-generated poses an unfair advantage or not. These artists, specifically R&B singer Xania Monet, created by Telisha “Nikki” Jones, who gained popularity during mid-July of 2025, and country blues singer Breaking Rust, created by Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor, who gained significant attention in October of 2025, are certainly making an impact and possibly even starting a trend.
The song “Walk My Walk,” sung from the perspective of the country-born outlaw known as Breaking Rust, has been the topic of many discussions simply because it lacks any real human emotion since it is entirely AI-generated, as well as the fact that there’s no real human experience behind the lyrics.
Consequently, this takes away from the tradition of genuine storytelling that has been within music for decades, since the AI-generated lyrics are only mimicking human struggle without any real experience behind them. This normalizes music being produced with lyrics that have no truth behind them, and are simply for the aesthetic of the song.
Music teacher Jennifer Hartnett is open to the use of AI to make music. “There is so much unknown about the AI world. I think if AI is used with good intentions and without the desire to get ahead, then it’s a great tool. I think if it’s used to get ahead financially, socially, or any other reason is a poor use of the tool.” She also stated, “I think anyone who creates something is an artist. The medium in which they create doesn’t matter.”
Additionally, following the success of the song “How Was I Supposed to Know?” AI artist Xania Monet received a multi-million dollar deal with Hallwood Media, which is leading to rising concerns about the fact that the music industry is willing to invest in AI artists very quickly. On the other hand, most non-AI artists learn what works the most, learn from failure, and enhance their music, and still don’t receive a multi-million dollar deal.
Freshman student Shareen Ahmed listened to a portion of both songs.
“You can definitely tell they were AI-generated as well as the music videos,” Ahmed said.
AI is continuing to adapt and improve, and more industries are utilizing it. The controversy surrounding AI artists remains, and although it’s been demonstrated that AI artists can mimic human emotion, it continues to be a concern as to whether they will replace the non-AI artists who actually feel them or not.
