Victoria Monét
Biography
Victoria Monét McCants (born May 1, 1993) 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, In 2014, Monét released her debut EP Nightmares & Lullabies: Act 1 and the following year released her follow-up EP Nightmares & Lullabies: Act 2. She has also written songs for artists such as Ariana Grande, Fifth Harmony, Nas, T.I., GOOD Music, Lupe Fiasco, Chrisette Michele, Coco Jones, Chris Brown, Diddy Dirty Money, Janelle Monáe, and Jasmine V.
Early life
Monét was born in Georgia to an African American mother and 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
2012–2015: 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 (aka Darkchild) 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. The group was eventually dropped from the label. Soon her hooks and songs were sold to Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Ariana Grande, Nas, T.I., B.o.B, Chrisette Michele, Mario and Diddy Dirty Money, and others. Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman then offered her a record deal. 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.
2016–present: Life After Love and support touring
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. Monét released her single "Do You Like It" on July 26, 2016.
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 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.
Monét released "Ready" while on tour with Ariana Grande in April 2017. On February 23, 2018, Monét released her third EP "Life After Love, Pt. 1" featuring her single "Freak", which was released on February 9 along with the pre-order of her album. On April 1, 2019, Victoria Monét and Ariana Grande released "Monopoly" while Ariana Grande was on her Sweetener World Tour.
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; and "Live on Tonight" by T.I.
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.