Victoria Monét
Victoria Monét McCants is an American singer and songwriter. 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. Previously signed to Atlantic Records, Monét released her debut EP Nightmares & Lullabies: Act 1 in 2014 and her follow-up EP Nightmares & Lullabies: Act 2 in 2015. Her debut album, Jaguar, will be released on August 7, 2020.
Monét has written songs for a number of artists including Nas, Ariana Grande, Fifth Harmony, T.I., GOOD Music, Lupe Fiasco, Chrisette Michele, Coco Jones, Chris Brown, and Diddy Dirty Money. In 2019, Monét received two Grammy Award nominations for Album of the Year for her work on Grande's Thank U, Next and Record of the Year for "7 Rings".
Early life
Monét was born in Georgia to an African American mother and French father, and moved to Sacramento, California, as a child. She was fascinated with performing arts, taking an interest in singing and dancing. Her first onstage experience came when she sang in her Catholic school holiday plays. She also sang in the youth choir at her local church but it was dance that initially gave her a sense of herself as a performer. By the time she became a student at the local performing arts high school, Monét had developed a grueling rehearsal schedule. She taught at two different dance studios and rehearsed with a local dance group, Boogie Monstarz, at Step One Dance Studios in Sacramento, while working at a local bank.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 local recording studio. She learned about Rodney Jerkins and decided to add him on Myspace. Shortly after that, he invited her to come to Los Angeles and audition for a new girl group he was forming, Purple Reign. The group landed a record deal with Motown a year later, but was dropped before releasing any music. After the group's disbandment, Monet 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.Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman heard one of her demos in a meeting and offered her a record deal later that day. Even though she was signed, Monet 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, Monet 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. Monet 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 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, the death of Christina Grimmie, the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the Dallas Police shooting, Monét released "Better Days" with Ariana Grande on July 10, 2016. Monét joined girl group Fifth Harmony on the North American leg of the 7/27 Tour, which began on July 25, 2016, as an opening act along with pop singer JoJo. Grande joined Monet 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 on the North American leg of the Dangerous Woman Tour. Monét also supported Grande on the European leg of the tour alongside rapper Bia.In 2016, Monét released the single "Do You Like It" which was followed by "Ready", which was released while on tour with Ariana Grande 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.
2019–present: ''Jaguar''
On April 1, 2019, Victoria Monét and Ariana Grande released the single "Monopoly" while Ariana Grande was on her Sweetener World Tour.In late 2019, Monét released "Ass Like That". The song served as the lead single to her upcoming debut studio album. In early 2020, Monét released the single "Moment" followed by the promotional single "Dive". Monét was announced as Apple Music's Up Next artist in February 2020. On June 19, 2020, Monét released the single "Experience" with Khalid and SG Lewis alongside the pre-order of her debut album, Jaguar, which will be released on August 7, 2020 via Tribe Records and Platoon. The album will include all four previously released singles. On June 26, 2020, Monét officially announced the project on her social media simultaneously unveiling the cover art. On July 28, 2020, a short film was premiered, anticipating the album.
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 "Thank U, Next" by Ariana Grande; "Memories Back Then" by T.I., B.o.B and Kendrick Lamar; "Drunk Texting" by Chris Brown; "Everlasting Love", "Them Girls Be Like", "Reflection", "We Know", and "No Way" by Fifth Harmony; "You Wouldn't Understand" by Nas; "Sin City" by GOOD Music; "Visual Love" by Chrisette Michele; "Live on Tonight" by T.I.; and "Monopoly" by Ariana Grande.For her work with Grande she was nominated for two awards at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, Record of the Year for "7 Rings" and Album of the Year" for Thank U, Next.
Personal life
Monét came out as bisexual in November 2018 through Twitter, referencing the song "Chanel" by Frank Ocean which is about Ocean's own sexuality.Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Promotional singles
Guest appearances
Production and songwriting
Awards and nominations
| Year | Organization | Award | Work | Result | Ref. |
| 2020 | Grammy Awards | Album of the Year | Thank U, Next | ||
| 2020 | Grammy Awards | Record of the Year | "7 Rings" |