Victoria Monét | |
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 Monét in 2023 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Victoria Monét McCants (1989-05-01)May 1, 1989 (age 36) |
| Origin | Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 2010–present |
| Labels | |
| Partner | John Gaines (2020–2023) |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | www |
Victoria Monét McCants (born May 1, 1989)[1] is an American singer-songwriter. First gaining recognition for her songwriting work, Monét pursued a recording career with the release of a series ofextended plays (EPs); her fifth,Jaguar (2020) was met with critical acclaim. Her debut studio album,Jaguar II (2023) became her commercial breakthrough and was supported by thehit single "On My Mama", which peaked within the top 40 of theBillboard Hot 100 and earned aGrammy Award nomination forRecord of the Year. The nomination was among seven she received at the66th Annual Grammy Awards, from which she wonBest New Artist,Best R&B Album andBest Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
She became involved in the performing arts at a young age, and embarked on a musical career in 2010. After performing as part of a short-lived girl group formed by record producerRodney Jerkins, she took to songwriting and began doing so in tandem with Jerkins and his associate,D'Mile.[2] Monét became a frequent collaborator of singerAriana Grande, having co-written songs for each of her studio albums from her debutYours Truly (2013) up to her sixth,Positions (2020). In 2019, Monét received three Grammy Award nominations (includingAlbum of the Year) for her work on Grande'sThank U, Next. That same year, Grande and Monét released the single "Monopoly", which became a top 40 hit on theUK Singles Chart.
Throughout her career, Monét has worked on songs and albums for other high-profile acts includingNas,Travis Scott,Blackpink,Fifth Harmony,T.I.,Lupe Fiasco,Chrisette Michele,Brandy,Coco Jones,Chloe x Halle andChris Brown. Her accolades include twoSoul Train Music Awards, three Grammy Awards, and theRising Star Award fromBillboard Women In Music.
Monét was born inAtlanta, Georgia, on May 1, 1989,[3] and moved toSacramento as a teen when her parents relocated for work.[4] In Catholic elementary school, she appeared on stage in holiday plays, and in church she sang in the youth choir. In junior high school, she formed her own dance group; this led to teaching at two dance studios.[5] She attendedSheldon High School in Sacramento after pleading with her mother to change their address so that she could participate in Sheldon's performing arts program.[6]
Outside of dance rehearsals, Monét began exchanging poetry with an older cousin and found a new passion. This soon translated into her writing her own music. A Sacramento-based producer who she had been working with educated her on the production world and learning about producers while making music at a local recording studio together. Through this experience she learned aboutRodney Jerkins and added him onMyspace.[7] Shortly afterwards, he invited her to come toLos Angeles and audition for a new girl group he was forming,Purple Reign.[8][9] The group landed a record deal withMotown a year later, but was dropped before releasing any music. After the group's disbandment, Monét turned to songwriting to earn money while she waited for her own music career to build up.[10] The first song she worked on was a track forDiddy Dirty Money's 2010 album,Last Train to Paris.[11] She continued to write songhooks and sang the demos herself before sending them out. Her hope was that the labels would like her version enough that they would keep her on the track as a feature.[7][12]
Atlantic Records CEOCraig Kallman heard one of her demos in a meeting and offered her a record deal later that day.[5][7] Even though she was signed, Monét acknowledged that her songwriting "took off" before her music, while she was working on both.[10] Her songwriting remained her main form of income during the beginning of her music career.[12]
On October 30, 2014, Monét released her debut EPNightmares & Lullabies: Act 1 and on June 17, 2015, she released her follow-up EPNightmares & Lullabies – Act 2 under Atlantic Records.[13][11] Monét chose the name as it represented the sound of the EPs: a dark beat mixed with soft melodies.[7]
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Following the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the Dallas Police shooting, Monét released "Better Days" withAriana Grande on July 10, 2016.[14] Monét joined girl groupFifth Harmony on the North American leg of the7/27 Tour, which began on July 25, 2016, as an opening act along with pop singerJoJo.[15] Grande joined Monét on one of the tour dates to perform "Better Days".[16] On September 22, 2016, Grande announced on Twitter that Monét will serve as an opening act along with British girl groupLittle Mix on the North American leg of theDangerous Woman Tour. Monét also supported Grande on the European leg of the tour alongside rapperBia.
In 2016, Monét released the promotional single "Do You Like It" which was followed by the single "Ready", which was released while on tour withAriana Grande in April 2017. Both singles would later be included onLife After Love Pt. 2. On February 23, 2018, Monét released the first half of her "Life After Love" series,Life After Love, Pt. 1. The project features the single "Freak", which was released on February 9 with the project's pre-order. A remix of the song[17] featuring previous tour-mate Bia, was released on July 19, 2018, alongside a music video.[18] The latter half of the "Life After Love" series,Life After Love, Pt. 2, was released on September 28, 2018, and was preceded by the single "New Love".[19]
On April 1, 2019, Victoria Monét and Ariana Grande released the single "Monopoly" while Grande was on herSweetener World Tour. The song debuted at No. 70 on theBillboard Hot 100 becoming Monét first entry on the chart as an artist; Monét also appeared at No. 16 onBillboard'sEmerging Artists artist the same week.[20]
In late 2019, Monét released the single "Ass Like That". The song served as the lead single to her upcoming debut project. In early 2020, Monét released the single "Moment" followed by the promotional single "Dive". Monét was announced asApple Music'sUp Next artist in February 2020.[21] On June 19, Monét released the single "Experience" withKhalid andSG Lewis and announced her debut project,Jaguar.[22] In an interview withApple Music, Monét disclosed thatJaguar will be released in three separate parts which will eventually come together to form her debutstudio album.[23] Part one ofJaguar was released on August 7.[24] On October 4, Monét released the song "Politics" exclusively onSoundCloud, leaving a portion of the song fully instrumental, so listeners could add their own feature verse to the song.[25] On October 8, Monét released a remix of theJaguar track "Touch Me" featuring American singer-songwriterKehlani.[26] In December 2020, Monét released a holiday instrumental edition ofJaguar calledA Jaguar Christmas: The Orchestral Arrangements.[27]
On February 1, 2021, Monét released the single "F.U.C.K." along with awestern-themed music video.[28] On August 5, 2021, she released another single "Coastin" and a music video was released starringRickey Thompson.[29][30] In June 2022, Monét performed "Coastin" at the22nd BET Awards pre-show and announced she was working on a follow-up project to her previous EP titledJaguar II.[31]
On March 24, 2023, Monét released the track "Smoke" featuringLucky Daye, as her first new single since 2021.[32] "Smoke" was followed by the singles "Party Girls" (featuringBuju Banton) and "On My Mama", released on May 10 and June 16, respectively. Adancehallremix of "Party Girls" (additionally featuringMichaël Brun) was released on May 26. In July 2023, Monét was featured on the cover of the 125th edition ofClash.[33]
Monét has a long history of writing songs for other artists. In 2010, she helped pen "I Hate That You Love Me" byDiddy Dirty Money[34] and went on to co-write songs such as "Be Alright", "Let Me Love You", "Thank U, Next", and "Monopoly" (featuring Monét) byAriana Grande; "Memories Back Then" byT.I.,B.o.B andKendrick Lamar; "Drunk Texting" byChris Brown; "Everlasting Love", "Them Girls Be Like", "Reflection", "We Know", and "No Way" byFifth Harmony;[35] "You Wouldn't Understand" byNas; "Sin City" byGOOD Music; "Visual Love" byChrisette Michele; "Live on Tonight" by T.I.; "Do It" byChloe x Halle; "Rather Be" byBrandy; as well as "Ice Cream" byBlackpink andSelena Gomez.[36]
For her work with Grande she was nominated for two awards at the62nd Annual Grammy Awards,Record of the Year for "7 Rings" andAlbum of the Year forThank U, Next[37]. The following year she was nominated in theBest R&B Song category for co-writingChloe x Halle's single "Do It".[38]
Monet has been described mainly as anR&B andsoul artist with pop influences.[3] She has also had numerous influences ofhip-hop in her music as well.[39] Monét has frequently cited R&B/pop female artists such asAaliyah,Janet Jackson,Destiny's Child,Beyoncé,Mariah Carey,Brandy, andAlicia Keys as major musical and vocal influences.[40][41][42] She also cited pop influence fromMichael Jackson andColdplay, while soul and jazz fromEarth, Wind & Fire andSade.[43][40][44] From her childhood she took influences fromreggae listening toBob Marley andBuju Banton.[45][40] Monét mentionedThe-Dream,Ne-Yo andSmokey Robinson as an inspiration for "having both a successful songwriting career and a successful artist career".[46] She referred toBeyoncé'sLemonade andKanye West'sMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy as inspirations for her works forvisual album.[47]
Monétcame out asbisexual in 2018.[48]
In December 2020, she announced that she and her boyfriend John Gaines were expecting their first child.[49] On February 21, 2021, Monét gave birth to a daughter.[50] At the age of three, the daughter becamethe youngest Grammy Awards nominee in history for her laughter on Monét’s song "Hollywood", nominated forBest Traditional R&B Performance at the66th Annual Grammy Awards.[51]
In September 2024, Monét announced on social media that she and Gaines had been broken up since 2023.[52]
Media related toVictoria Monét at Wikimedia Commons
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