At the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, R&B singer and songwriter Victoria Monet won Best New Artist for her album Jaguar II, but she is anything but new to the music industry.
This year, Monet’s tribute song to Southern hip-hop “On My Mama” was well received, landing her her first number-one billboard charting song. Its sample of Charlie Boy’s “I Look Good” combined with the captivating choreography, design and wardrobe of the accompanying music video made it go viral on social media, especially TikTok.
However, this is not many people’s first introduction to Victoria Monet’s talent. She has written many songs for some of the industry’s biggest stars, such as Chloe x Halle, Travis Scott and Chris Brown. Her most well-known and consistent collaborator is Ariana Grande, with whom she wrote notable hits “thank u, next”, “7 Rings”, and “34+35”.
Despite her strong ties to powerhouses in the music industry, Monet has been overlooked throughout her decade-long career. Before this year’s Grammy Awards, Monet had only been nominated for songs she wrote for other artists.
Monet also recently shared a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, expressing her struggle to get the opportunities she deserves.
https://x.com/VictoriaMonet/status/1701867958249701630?s=20
During her acceptance speech, Monet said that winning the award was a “15-year pursuit”, only emphasizing how long it took for her to receive recognition on Feb 13. Billboard announced Monet as the number one spot on the Emerging Artist Chart, just days after her Grammy win.
Victoria Monet was not the only artist finally getting an overdue win that night. Coco Jones, known and loved for her role as Roxie in the Disney movie Let It Shine, won Best R&B Performance for her hit single “ICU”.
Though the song was released in 2022, it spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. Jones was also nominated for Best New Artist.
These wins come amidst pressure and discontent from music fans about who The Recording Academy voted to win awards. Viewers often claim that the Grammy’s are rigged, making it extremely difficult for newer artists of color to win.
Rapper and producer Jay-Z, who won the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, touched on the discrepancy. In his speech, he criticized the Grammys for Beyonce’s never winning Album of The Year, even though she has a total of 32 Grammys–the most of any artist.
He urged them to “get it right”, subtly accusing the award show of robbing artists of accolades and putting artists in inaccurate categories.
In the face of longstanding challenges and systemic biases within the industry, Monet’s triumph serves as a testament to her talent and unwavering dedication to her craft but serves as a reminder that there’s more to be done.