If you’re following the right people on Twitter, every so often you’ll scroll through your feed and see someone talking about how Victoria Monét is terribly overlooked. That the singer-songwriter, who has written for artists from Ariana Grande to Diddy, is being slept on. That her 2020 EP Jaguar, a brilliant collection of fun and sexy bangers, is not getting enough love. I’ve seen the tweets time and again, often nodding or instinctively hitting “like” in agreement. Victoria Monét has seen them too.
“I do see, which I really enjoy and appreciate, people trying to promote me on their own and spread the word, because a lot of people seem very frustrated that I’m not as big as they feel that I should be,” she says, laughing over the phone. “So I’m like, well, thank you. I appreciate the people who are visionaries for me and they see beyond where I am, which is amazing. And they do their due diligence in trying to, like, market [me].”
Grateful for the outpouring of love, she does kind of agree with the sentiment: “I think I’d rather be underrated than overrated, so I’m still thankful.”
Monét’s fans are onto something, though. They know she’s been hustling in the wings of the music industry for over a decade. In her early days, she wrote for Diddy and Nas; her more recent collaborators include Fifth Harmony, Blackpink, Selena Gomez, and Brandy. She’d go on to earn three Grammy nominations for her writing efforts with Grande (“7 Rings” and “thank u, next”) and Chloe x Halle (“Do It”). And although she started releasing music under her own name in the mid-2010s, her solo career really took off in 2019 when she released the singles “Monopoly” with Grande and her own “Ass Like That.” The following year came Jaguar, a celebration of women’s power, sexuality, bodies, and desires wrapped in a fusion of pop, R&B, and even disco and funk influences. The project showed off Monét’s elite songwriting abilities in the best way— seductive melodies, rich arrangements, all while packaged in digestible (and repeat-to-no-end-able) hits. But it was short—only nine songs long—which left listeners wanting more. In August, Monét followed-up with the retro-inspired single “Coastin,’” but she promises Jaguar part two is coming this year.
While establishing her name and working to re-introduce herself to a new audience, Monét underwent some big life changes, too. In February 2021, she welcomed daughter Hazel with her boyfriend John Gaines. Months later, she returned to the stage for her first performances as a mother, including her first-ever festival set, at Day N Vegas in November. All this while adapting to life in COVID. So, Monét has had to do some juggling: adjusting to new life as a mother in the midst of a global pandemic; writing new music while grappling with mommy guilt; getting accustomed to her changing body while rehearsing 12-hour days. “I really felt like my heart was in two places,” she says.
With a new year already begun, Monét is planning to release more music to reflect where she is now in her life—a parent and a more mature artist—while continuing to expand her audience. “I always look at music myself as a form of escapism. When anything’s going on, I can listen and it eases anxieties. It erases some other thoughts that I may have. Or it also helps me express things that I didn’t know how to say, but I feel. So I hope that my music does that for other people in their life. And just more growth, you know, just slowly kind of introducing the music to more people.”
Here, she chats with ELLE.com about making music and returning to the stage as a mother, and what to expect from her new material.
Your Day N Vegas performance looked amazing. How did it feel to put that show together?
It was definitely challenging, and I went through all of these emotions. One, just feeling very vulnerable because after having a baby, my body has changed so much. My voice has changed. Everything is just new, different, so navigating the process as the new version of myself was very difficult mentally. I found myself in rehearsals probably overthinking a lot of things—you know, a little bit of anxiety, really wanting things to be great. I know that the thought process is really coming from a good place. Like, I care so much about what I do and entertaining and putting on an amazing show, and people are coming out, spending money and effort and all of that to be there. I just want to give them the best of me.
So going into rehearsals, I had that pressure, but then also simultaneously really wanted to be a mom. I was putting in eight- to 12-hour rehearsal days just because I had a 30-minute show performing songs that I have never performed. I just put out a project during a pandemic, so I never got to get the live show ready. So, a new arrangement to the music, new choreography, new stamina, endurance, all of those things, but then simultaneously really wanting to still canoodle my baby and feeling a bit of mommy guilt to be gone for so long. I really felt like my heart was in two places. I went in for a month of rehearsals before the show just to make sure everything was the best that I could be, musically and with the visuals and everything.
Was this your first live performance after becoming a mom?
Well, it would have been the second. I had a show the week before, it was like a private Facebook show, which was the perfect storm because it allowed me to perform and see a bit of a reaction, but it was a drive-in show. I could hear people honking in cars, and there were a few tables in the front rows. It felt like a great transition and took some of the pressure off—I could watch myself perform and take notes on that performance ahead of Day N Vegas. So it would technically be the second time, but my first festival show ever.
Wow, congrats.
Thank you. That was another thing: I’ve always dreamed of doing festivals and I just did my first one when part of me feels like I’m not the best version of me that I’ve ever been, as far as just being body conscious and all of these things that we as women would think of ourselves. Especially postpartum. It was really a mental process. And I look up to Beyoncé. I always kept thinking about her after having twins and then spending six months to get ready for Coachella. I relate to her more than ever just knowing what she went through with her body and then still trying to be the best of the best at performing like that. [She] is really inspiring. And so I wanted to take a lot of time to get the show right. I just wanted to show that moms can, though it may not be easy, do both and have a whole career and be amazing mothers. Just proving that there’s [no] limit.
I like that you mentioned Beyoncé, because Jaguar, in a way, did remind me of her self-titled album, in that it’s a celebration of sexuality after being pregnant and having your first baby. Did that stick out to you?
Actually, when I was creating Jaguar part one, I was not pregnant. So everything kind of comes around full circle: I projected that and then I gave that to the world and to fans, wanting them to feel self-love. And then now it’s almost like a gift back to me because now that I’ve gone through the pregnancy journey and all of the changes of motherhood, those are things that I need to hear as well. So it ended up being full circle. And so in Jaguar part two, I may have something that reflects more of where I am now.
There’s still music on part two that I made before pregnancy…but I’m integrating more things that I feel reflect where I am currently as well.
What can we expect next from you? When you had created Jaguar originally, did you know it was going to be two parts ,or was it that after you had completed it, you realized you had more of the story to tell?
I always wanted it to be three parts, and I think that was more so because of the fact that I’m considering myself a new artist to a lot of people. So I just kind of wanted to microdose people into my music versus giving them a whole platter of food before we are introduced. I feel like it helps to just separate things a bit. People can digest things and live with things and let it grow organically, and then add to that pot. But the parts are not necessarily different storylines. The through line will still be similar to Jaguar part one, where it’s more about self-love and I’ll get a bit more vulnerable about things like how, even when you’re confident, things still don’t always turn out amazing and one-hundred percent, but we heal and we grow from these things too.
You’ve already worked with so many people. Is there anyone new or exciting that you hope to collaborate or write for?
I’ve always wanted to collaborate in some way with Sade, even if it’s just sitting in a studio observing. I just want to get closer to her process. She’s just someone who I feel is very timeless and poised and seasoned as a performer, but is also still out of the limelight and living her life. It doesn’t seem like anything is for numbers or clout, it’s none of that. It’s just about the music she made and now she’s living [it] up; she’s probably gardening somewhere. But I aspire to have that type of full-circle moment, where you put something amazing into the world and then you still can sustain a whole other life without an ego being fed, for every year, releases...all of the hoopla that the industry can bring on. She seems like she’s absent of that. I would love to absorb some of that essence.
And how are you navigating that industry craziness as a mom? How do you stay grounded and find yourself peace and quiet and family time?
It really comes down to time management for me. I think my daughter has taught me a lot of that. Before, when I would go to the studio, I’d be like there ’til 2 and 3 a.m., just kind of like, “whenever the idea hits me, I’ll record.” That was my home. And now I have a whole other home. So when I go to the studio now, I’m like, “Let’s do it; let’s get this done.” I’m quicker with ideas. ’'m more efficient. ‘Cause I feel like I want to be in both places. Sometimes I’ll just bring her to the studio as well. So that definitely helps me to put my heart together, so they don’t have to split it up.
I was going to ask if you ever played your music for her to see how she responds.
Yeah. I feel like she knows. I mean, I don’t know if she knows it’s me. I’m pretty sure she does know it’s me—she’s only 10 months—but I feel like she knows the songs that she’s heard a lot. And I know that she knows music because there’s also a song that I play to put her to sleep, it’s “My Girl” by The Temptations. I was playing it for her in my belly. Now when I play it for her, she’s relaxed and it’s almost like her white noise.
Have you ever thought of passing down your music to her in any special way?
Both sides of her family—my family, me, and her dad, and his family—they’re all into music, so she’s getting exposed left and right. Coming to my rehearsals and sessions, she’s heard drummers, playing in the studio, guitar, singing. She’s heard string players, just so much diverse music. She hears me do my vocal warmups, so sometimes she’ll copy things. She’ll like [trills lips]. So I know she’s slowly taking it in. And she seems to have rhythm as well. She just started standing [and] holding onto things, and she’s bouncing—she’ll bounce on beat. So I’m pretty sure I have a little music baby, whether she knows it or not.
The next thing you know, she’s going to have a writing credit on your album.
I will not be surprised. She’s probably going to be like, “Mom, do that note again. It was flat.” [Laughs]
I love the ’60s retro vibe in “Coastin.’” Where does your love for that decade come from?
I think it comes from my grandma. Growing up, she was the one who introduced me to Motown and some of the musicals and the movies we’d watch, like the Temptations movie, just certain things that I would remember and reminisce [about]. But when my grandma passed away the year I moved to L.A., I just feel like it’s my way of keeping her close and recognizing her influence on me. And one of the reasons why I really loved that era and the way the music sounds is because it’s attached to the feelings I had when I was listening with her and family. And speaking of family, you know, my family’s in the video—my grandpa and my mom are in the “Coastin’” music videos as well.
What’s your outlook going into 2022?
I think my goal is always happiness. So just doing what makes me happy to the fullest, whether that be one laugh with my daughter, we’re gonna laugh as hard as we can laugh. If rehearsals are happening, we’re just gonna be as focused as we can be and do the best work. And I really want 2022 to be a spiritual journey as well. I feel like, in a lot of ways, the spirit has been broken. Just over the year, seeing so many sad things on the internet and absorbing a lot of that as an empath and creative. I just want 2022 to feel like light—light and happiness and good vibes.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
