How Was I Supposed to Know?
Xania Monet · Hallwood · R&B · 3:5020.8M plays · 3.7M on YouTube · 17.1M on Spotify
Release facts
The record
Image: scdn.co
Lyrics
Jones wrote the words herself, working from poems about her own life and family, and has said the lyrics are entirely hers.
Source: cbsnews.comGeneration
She loads a chosen poem into an AI music generator with style prompts such as slow-tempo R&B, soulful female vocals, light guitar and heavy drums, then generates the track.
Source: cbsnews.comInspiration
The song was inspired by the death of Jones's father when she was eight years old.
Source: cbsnews.comSummary
About this song
How Was I Supposed to Know? is an R&B ballad by the AI-generated singer Xania Monet, released on 8 August 2025 on her 24-track album Unfolded with a ℗ line reading Hallwood, under exclusive license from TMJInc. Stereogum reports that the persona was created by Mississippi songwriter Telisha "Nikki" Jones, who pastes her own poems into Suno and regenerates until she likes the result, and that this song went to number 1 on Billboard's R&B Digital Song Sales chart and then appeared on the Adult R&B Airplay chart, apparently making Xania Monet the first AI artist on any Billboard airplay chart, albeit one with few reporting stations. Jones discussed the process on CBS Mornings in November 2025, after Billboard reported that the chart run had prompted a bidding war and a multimillion-dollar deal with Hallwood Media, the company led by former Geffen president Neil Jacobson. An official music video with live-action footage was posted on the act's YouTube channel on 5 November 2025 and had 3.66 million views by 29 September 2026, when the Spotify track showed about 16.9 million plays.
Last Updated 16 October 2026
YouTube
How Was I Supposed to Know?
3.7M views · checked 2 Oct 2026
Image: ytimg.com
Image: ytimg.com
Image: ytimg.com
External Links · 4
Plays over time
How it has been played
Plays · all platforms
20.8M
▲ 189k (+0.9%) since 2 Oct 2026
Spotify 17.1M · YouTube 3.7M
Added up from 2 Oct 2026, once every platform had been read; tracked since 1 Oct 2026. Each platform is read about once a week.
