Victoria Monét's Grammy Vision: From Dream to Reality

Victoria Monét was born to a musical family. Music was always around her from an early age in her home in Sacramento, California.

Growing up as an only child, she became a “sponge” for the music being played by her extended family. Regardless, she got a taste of musicals like The Sound of Music and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang while her mother played modern sounds from musicians like Elvis Crespo and Buju Banton.

Her family's influence on the different genres of music piqued her interest in music. But, she never thought she could sing or dream of being nominated for the Grammy until later in her life.

Monét wasn’t confident about her passion for music and she mostly trained as a dancer while writing music in her spare time. Luckily, she used to post her music on My Space, and at some point, it caught the attention of the legendary producer Rodney Jerkins, who was creating a girl group (Purple Reign). Rodney signed Monét to Motown Records under Purple Reign, but she found herself in the cold after a short stay following a switchover of the label.

Being dropped out of the label left her so broke that, at some point, she had to sing in front of fast-food restaurants with her girl group to earn a living. This approach wasn’t making much financial sense, so she decided to move to songwriting to keep herself afloat.

“There were times I was singing in front of In-N-Out [Burger] with the girl group and a cup, getting people to put dollars in,” she told The Guardian. “I was still doing music for myself, but I couldn’t dedicate as much time. It was the way to make ends meet, I was just doing what I had to do.”

Her music-writing talent eventually caught the attention of leading artists, who began to seek her services.

With Monét’s success in songwriting, she found it difficult to break out of the “songwriter” tag and fully venture into the music industry. Her hesitation was that her vocals could end up being close to that of other artists she’s writing for, complicating things. Monét was also unsure whether people would differentiate her songs from those she wrote for other musicians. Thanks to her patience and tenacity, she overcame the skepticism and fully ventured into music.

Victoria Monét released four EPs between 2014 and 2018, which featured A-list artists like B.O.B and Ty Dolla $ign. She later released an EP titled “Jaguar” in 2020 that included singles like “Experience” and “Ass Like That.” However, her breakthrough came in 2023 with the release of her studio album” Jaguar II”. Monét was nominated for seven Grammy awards. Her daughter, Hazel is also among the nominees for the youngest artist with co-writing credit.

“Having a baby grew me up a lot,” she added. “I’m better than I was before her. I feel like I’m coming into my own as a human; I’m experiencing the best of life, and that will be reflected in my music.”

She credits her musical success to the support from her family members and close friends.

The journey to attaining a Grammy wasn’t smooth for Victoria Monét since she wasn’t bold enough to pursue a music career. So, she joined a dance group where she performed as a dancer but spared time to record music and post it on social media platforms.

Eventually, a leading producer noticed her talent and offered her a recording deal. The deal lasted a short time, and to continue making a living, she ventured into songwriting. As a songwriter, she met with top musicians in the game who advised her to pursue music full-time.

She heeded the advice, and it eventually made her a Grammy-nominated (soon to be Grammy-winning) artist.