Celebrity News

Victoria Monét On Being ‘Underrepresented’ As ‘A Black, Bisexual Woman In The Music Industry’

Victoria Monét has worked behind the scenes as a songwriter penning hits for Ariana Grande, Chloe x Halle, Brandy, and more, and now it's time for her to stand in the spotlight. The "Coastin'" singer has dropped multiple projects over the last few years to showcase her vocal talent and so far she has been receiving praise for her sultry and jazzy sound. Her most recent project, the 2020 EP Jaguar stayed in the mode of jazz while also infusing sounds that are reminiscent of the '70s.

It seems like Victoria has found her lane, but she is just breaking ground.

As a child, the 28-year-old always wanted to be a "triple threat" and she opened up to Allure about her journey. "I don't know where I got that phrase from," Victoria said about wanting to be a triple threat. "But I wanted to be a singer, actress, and a dancer."

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She studied dance and, like many wannabe artists in the mid to late 2000s, had a MySpace page. In 2008, she auditioned for producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins after she caught his attention online and she moved to Los Angeles shortly after to join a girl group.

From there, she started networking, which snowballed into her writing for other artists. As a successful songwriter, Victoria began finding her groove as a solo artist and gained rave reviews for Jaguar.

This EP in particular ties into the type of music that many of her musical influences such as Earth, Wind, and Fire made in the '70s, an era that the Sacramento-born singer identifies with in more ways than one.

"Knowing that disco is a music style that was by marginalized people and kind of an underground thing, I feel like as a Black, bisexual woman in the music industry, [we're] underrepresented," she stated.

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"Instead of trying to fit in, [I'm] kind of going the other way."

Now, this "triple threat" is a new mother to a 9-month-old beautiful baby girl named Hazel Monét Gaines.

While she hasn't shared much information about her daughter outside of the adorable photos on social media, it seems that she is making the most of motherhood while also being a working mom.

After dropping the music video for her song "Coastin,'" the singer posted an adorable photo of her daughter on the set of the video. She captioned the photo, "Come and coast with me my babe 🚙@thebabymonet."

Featured image by Jim Spellman/WireImage via Getty Images