Victoria Monét McCants (born May 1, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She became involved in performing arts at a young age, singing in the youth choir at her church, and performing in a city dance team. She soon took to writing and began working with producer

Rodney Jerkins Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), also known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won multiple Grammy Awards. Among hi ...

. Previously signed to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

, Monét released her debut EP ''Nightmares & Lullabies: Act 1'' in 2014 and her follow-up EP ''Nightmares & Lullabies: Act 2'' in 2015. Monét would follow this with the ''Life After Love, Pt. 1'' and ''Life After Love Pt. 2'' EPs in February and September 2018 respectively. Part one of her debut album, ''

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

'', was released on August 7, 2020. Monét has written songs for a number of artists including

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ...

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

Fifth Harmony Fifth Harmony, often shortened to 5H, was an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and previously Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group sig ...

, T.I.,

GOOD Music GOOD Music (also known simply as GOOD, stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label signed an exclusive long-term worldwide label agreement with t ...

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, '' Lupe Fiasco's ...

, Chrisette Michele, Coco Jones,

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to ''Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempor ...

, and

Dirty Money Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

. In 2019, Monét received two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nominations for

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

for her work on Grande's ''

Thank U, Next ''Thank U, Next'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Ariana Grande, released on February 8, 2019, by Republic Records. It was released six months after her fourth studio album '' Sweetener'' (2018), conceived in the midst of Grande ...

'' and

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

for " 7 Rings".

Early life

Monét was born in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and moved to

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

, as a child. Her mother is L'Tanya Chestang-Cubit (née Lovett) and her maternal grandmother was Cassaundria Lovett of Mobile, Alabama. She has a half-brother named Michael Cubit, Jr. 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. She attended Sheldon High School in Sacramento after pleading with her mother to change their address so that she could participate in Sheldon's performing arts program.

Career

2010–2015: Songwriting and ''Nightmares & Lullabies''

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. Meanwhile, she had been educating herself on the production world, learning about producers, and making music at a local recording studio. She learned about

(aka Darkchild) and decided to add him on Myspace. Shortly after that, he invited her to come to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and audition for a new girl group he was forming, Purple Reign. The group landed a record deal with

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

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. The first song she worked on was a track for Diddy Dirty Money's 2010 album, '' Last Train to Paris''. She continued to write song hooks 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.

CEO

Craig Kallman Craig Kallman is an American entrepreneur and former DJ. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records. His career in music began in the 1980s as a DJ in Manhattan. He is the founder of the independent label Big Beat, which was esta ...

heard one of her demos in a meeting and offered her a record deal later that day. Even though she was signed, Monét acknowledged that her songwriting "took off" before her music, while she was working on both. Her songwriting remained her main form of income during the beginning of her music career. On October 30, 2014, Monét released her debut EP ''Nightmares & Lullabies: Act 1'' and on June 17, 2015, she released her follow-up EP ''Nightmares & Lullabies – Act 2'' under Atlantic Records. Monét chose the name as it represented the sound of the EPs: a dark beat mixed with soft melodies.

2016–2018: ''Life After Love'' and touring

Following the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the Dallas Police shooting, Monét released "Better Days" with

on July 10, 2016. Monét joined girl group

on the North American leg of the

7/27 Tour The 7/27 Tour was the second major headlining concert tour by American girl group Fifth Harmony, in support of their second studio album ''7/27'' (2016). The tour began in Lima, Peru on June 22, 2016, and concluded in Singapore on April 8, 2017. ...

, which began on July 25, 2016, as an opening act along with pop singer

JoJo Jojo, JoJo or Jo Jo is a given name, surname, nickname or stage name used by several people and fictional characters, including: People with the given name, nickname or stage name Musicians *JoJo (singer) (born 1990), American R&B singer, songwri ...

. Grande joined Monét on one of the tour dates to perform "Better Days." On September 22, 2016, Grande announced on Twitter that Monét will serve as an opening act along with British girl group

Little Mix Little Mix are a British girl group, composed of group members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards. Jesy Nelson was originally part of the group before she left in 2020. After becoming the first group to win the British v ...

on the North American leg of the

Dangerous Woman Tour The Dangerous Woman Tour was the third concert tour and the second arena tour by American singer Ariana Grande in support of her third studio album, '' Dangerous Woman'' (2016). It traveled across North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and O ...

. Monét also supported Grande on the European leg of the tour alongside rapper Bia. In 2016, Monét released the promotional single "Do You Like It" which was followed by the single "Ready", which was released while on tour with

in April 2017. Both singles would later be included on ''Life 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 featuring previous tour-mate Bia, was released on July 19, 2018 alongside a music video. 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".

2019–present: ''Jaguar''

On April 1, 2019, Victoria Monét and Ariana Grande released the single "

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

" while Grande was on her Sweetener World Tour. The song debuted at No. 70 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 becoming Monét first entry on the chart as an artist; Monét also appeared at No. 16 on ''Billboard's'' Emerging Artists artist the same week. 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 as

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Appl ...

's Up Next artist in February 2020. On June 19, Monét released the single "

Experience Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...

" with Khalid and SG Lewis and announced her debut project, ''

''. In an interview with

, Monét disclosed that ''Jaguar'' will be released in three separate parts which will eventually come together to form her debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

. Part one of ''Jaguar'' was released on August 7. On October 4, Monét released the song "Politics" exclusively on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

, leaving a portion of the song fully instrumental, so listeners could add their own feature verse to the song. On October 8, Monét released a remix of the ''Jaguar'' track "Touch Me" featuring American singer-songwriter

Kehlani Kehlani Ashley Parrish (born April 24, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. Kehlani is originally from Oakland, California, and achieved initial fame as a member of the teen group Poplyfe in 2011. In 2014, Kehlani released the ...

. In December 2020, Monét released a holiday instrumental edition of ''Jaguar'' called ''A Jaguar Christmas: The Orchestral Arrangements''. On February 1, 2021 Monét released the single "F.U.C.K." along with a

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

-themed music video. She released another single "Coastin'" on August 5, 2021 and a music video was released starring Rickey Thompson. In June 2022, Monét performed "Coastin'" at the 22nd BET Awards pre-show and announced she was working on a follow-up project to her previous EP titled ''Jaguar II''.

Songwriting

Monét has a long history of writing songs for other artists. In 2010, she helped pen "I Hate That You Love Me" by Diddy Dirty Money and went on to co-write songs such as " Be Alright", " Let Me Love You", "

", and "Monopoly" (featuring Monét) by

; " Memories Back Then" by T.I., B.o.B and

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

; "Drunk Texting" by

; "Everlasting Love", "Them Girls Be Like", "Reflection", "We Know", and "No Way" by

; "You Wouldn't Understand" by

; "Sin City" by

; "Visual Love" by Chrisette Michele; "Live on Tonight" by T.I.; " Do It" by

Chloe x Halle Chloe x Halle are an R&B duo composed of sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey. At a young age, the sisters performed in minor acting roles before moving from Mableton, Georgia, to Los Angeles in 2012. The two began posting music covers to YouTube a ...

; "Rather Be" by

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

; as well as "

Ice Cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

" by

Blackpink Blackpink (, commonly stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album '' Square ...

and

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...

. For her work with Grande she was nominated for two awards at the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Al ...

for " 7 Rings" and

" for ''

.'' The following year she was nominated in the Best R&B Song category for co-writing

's single " Do It."

Personal life

Monét

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...

in 2018. In December 2020, she announced that she was pregnant with her first child. On February 21, 2021, Monét gave birth to a girl named Hazel Monét Gaines.

Discography

EPs

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Promotional singles

Guest appearances

Production and songwriting

Awards and nominations

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monet, Victoria 1989 births Living people 21st-century American women singers African-American women singer-songwriters American contemporary R&B singers American women hip hop musicians American hip hop singers American people of French descent American women pop singers American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Atlantic Records artists Bisexual musicians Bisexual women LGBT African Americans LGBT people from California LGBT people from Georgia (U.S. state) American LGBT singers Musicians from Sacramento, California Singer-songwriters from California 21st-century American singers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century African-American women singers 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)