Victoria Monét’s Been A Star — Now She’s A Grammy Winner, Too

Whenever awards season rolls around, it’s easy to become disillusioned as we watch, year after year, as the voting bodies and powers that be recognize the work that they value while ignoring the art that really moved the needle. To many, last night’s Grammy Awards may have felt like the same old, same old: (mostly) beautiful gowns, another Taylor Swift win tinged with controversy (justice for Celine Dion!), Jay-Z drinking D'ussé out of a Grammy. But for all of our cynicism, we still can’t help but to feel proud (and hopeful) watching the wins rack up for this year’s Best New Artist, one Ms. Victoria “God Made The Color Brown Just For Me” Monét. Victoria Monét isn’t exactly new to the game, but after 15 years of hard work behind the scenes, she is true to it — and man, does she deserve every bit of this moment. 

In November, Monét earned a whopping seven nominations for her work on Jaguar II, her debut studio album. The R&B project, widely considered one of the best albums of 2023, showed off Monet’s prowess as an artist, songwriter, and true creative. From the intoxicating weed tribute “Smoke” (featuring fellow Grammy winner Lucky Daye) to the Kaytranada-produced underground party vibe of “Alright” to “On My Mama,” a viral R&B twist on the hood classic that it samples, Jaguar II proved that Monét is a master of her craft, and even the Recording Academy, well-known for its snubs, couldn’t deny her. Monét won three Grammys at the most anticipated event in music: Best R&B Album, Best Engineered Album (Non-classical), and Best New Artist.

“This award was a 15-year pursuit,” Monét said tearfully of her journey during her speech for Best New Artist, one of the most important categories of the night. “I like to liken myself to a plant who was planted. And you can look at the music industry as soil, and it can be looked at as dirty, or it can be looked at as a source of nutrients and water. My roots have been growing underneath ground unseen for so long. And I feel like today, I’m sprouting finally above ground.”

Monet’s Grammy wins were among the most celebrated in the building at Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena and online as millions tuned in for the most anticipated event in music, and it’s because everyone knows her story. Though she took home the award for Best New Artist, Jaguar II and the impressive press run it’s had over the past year are far from her first foray into music. The singer-songwriter began her professional pursuit of a music career in 2009, and her early days in the industry were as a member of the since-disbanded girl group Purple Reign, a brainchild of R&B superproducer Rodney Jerkins. When things didn’t pan out for the group, Monét began to work more behind the scenes as a songwriter, and the pivot was a very successful one; she’s written hits for mega stars like Brandy, Ariana Grande, BLACKPINK, and more. Some of the songs even earned her Grammy nominations (Grande’s “7 Rings” in 2020 and “Do It” by Chloe x Halle in 2021). 

While writing certified hits for other people, however, Monét never stopped working on her craft, quietly releasing her own songs in hopes that they would pick up steam and push her mainstream. Many of them made waves and formed a dedicated fanbase (The Tribe), but her 2021 EP Jaguar put her on many people’s radar. Its 2023 follow-up picked up where she left off, adding new fans to her base and attracting even more critical acclaim. “Victoria Monet is the one,” one UPROXX review succinctly declared (a play on Monét’s own self-possessed proclamation on Jaguar II).

Surprisingly, even as Jaguar II flooded airwaves and streaming platforms, and its singles climbed the charts (“On My Mama” shot to number on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart and broke Billboard’s Top 50), there were still those who doubted Monét’s starpower, most notably, the very confused folks behind last year’s MTV VMAs Awards. Considering the year she’d had with the new album — magazine covers! chart-topping singles! a global tour! — as well as her magnetic stage presence, Monét seemed like an obvious fit for a VMAs performance slot, but she revealed that the organizers for the show had actually turned down her request to take the main stage. Their reason? She was too green. 

“I see your advocation for me to have performed tonight and I’m so grateful to you!!” she wrote in a tweet on X (formerly Twitter) when fans expressed confusion about her being left off of the VMAs performers lineup. “My team was told it is ‘too early in my story’ for that opportunity so we will keep working!”

One thing about those tables, though? They always turn. And in Monét’s case, they turned fast. Just months later, The Recording Academy announced that she’d been nominated for seven different nominations, including Best New Artist. No one could deny the irony (or the shade) of her being unable to perform live at the VMAs only to become Grammy-nominated in multiple categories in a matter of weeks — and then go on to win three of those Grammys. 

“I just want to be visible to whoever’s next, to whoever’s doubting themselves in that room that they feel they don’t belong in,” Monét said in a post-win interview backstage at the Grammys. “I just want to be an example to show that it’s possible. Just keep digging. The gold is on the way…for myself, [the Best New Artist win] is such a nice bow and a ribbon on the end of this chapter. 

Monét’s artistic journey is a bittersweet case study in what it means to be an artist. For someone who’s flown under the radar for far too long — and as a Black woman in an industry that seems determined to downplay our contributions — these huge wins feel like a co-sign from the universe, and a timely reminder that good art will always get its due. Those of us who’ve been hip to the force that is Victoria Monét wish it didn’t take so long for her to be seen and recognized, but you know what they say: better late than never.