After three years of waiting, Victoria Monét McCants, known as Victoria Monét, released JAGUAR II.
On August 25, 2023, the 11-track LP was released on all music streaming platforms, with production from D’Mile, Yogi, Tim Suby, Dready, xSDTRK, KAYTRANADA, Deputy, Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman, and Victoria Monét herself, through Lovett Music, Inc., under exclusive license to RCA Records.
Born and raised in Sacramento, California, the singer, songwriter, and producer, released the prequel JAGUAR in 2020. Later in February of 2021, amidst a global pandemic, Monét gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
JAGUAR II examines the life that women go through, along with motherhood and the growth of an artist.
The album has three intro singles that were put out before the album’s official release: “Smoke” featuring Lucky Daye on March 24, 2023, “Party Girls” featuring Buju Banton on May 10, 2023, and “On My Mama”, with a sample from Chalie Boy’s 2009 “I Look Good”, on June 16, 2023, where she teased this song at her first ever headlining show, First Night in LA.
The album starts off with the first intro single “Smoke” featuring Lucky Daye; as both of their second singles with each other, their first being “Little More Time” from Lucky Daye’s 2020 Painted (Deluxe Edition) album. The upbeat, groovy, song has Monét and Daye flipping back and forth in verses throughout the song until they come together for the chorus. Daye sings, “That body, ah, you got that earth, wind, and fire,” as a foreshadowing moment of a song that is featured later on the album, “Hollywood” which features Earth, Wind, and Fire.
“On My Mama” (track 7) is a feel-good, body-positive track that expresses the confidence of one’s self and how they are very much self-aware that they look, and feel good. The very prominent trumpets in the background captivates the mixture of the sample that she uses, and her vibe of the JAGUAR era in its entirety. Victoria creates this song as a reminder that you can be confident and a lover at the same time, it’s just about balance.
“Smoke” then transitions to “Smoke (Reprise)”, which she teased at the end of the Music Video for “Smoke”.
“Smoke (Reprise)” is a soft, modern R&B song, that makes you want to chill and relax as her harmonies, and the very present bass in the beat, take over your ears. The song then transitions into the second intro single “Party Girls” featuring Buju Banton.
“Party Girls” is an upbeat, Jamaican-influenced track that was made to move your body and make you want to dance. It starts off with Buju Banton speaking in his Jamaican accent, which is followed by Victoria’s verse. After the chorus is projected, there is a transition into Banton’s verse, in which Victoria and Buju begin to feed off of each other at the end of his verse. The music video received a lot of attention from fans and viewers for the choreography made by Sean Bankhead, as he incorporates a lot of club and street-style dancing to get the audience to feel as if they are personally there. This song is about someone who wants to have a good time and live in the moment with a companion, instead of worrying about everything else at that exact moment.
In the fourth song of the album, “Alright”, KAYTRANADA produces a bass-induced, self-positive track. Victoria sings about a couple involved with each other, but one of them is there for a good time, not a long time. The two lose contact with each other and begin to enjoy themselves apart. At the end of this song, it has a jaguar roaring in the end, which leads up to the fifth song of the album.
“Hollywood” (track 10) is a song in which Victoria illustrates a child’s life, growing up in the entertainment industry, and how easily things “… get lost in all the glitter and the bling. And the machines.” This track features her 2-year-old daughter, Hazel Monét Gaines. Her laugh as a baby appears at the end of the song as a symbol of how precious youth is.
“Cadillac (A Pimp’s Anthem)” is a warm, slow, groovy song about women’s empowerment. She speaks about the importance, as well as, the impact that women have on the world. “We women been winning since from the beginning of your whole life” is a line that Victoria states as her flow in the song changes from a smooth, silky tone, to a direct and powerful way of speaking; or in this case, singing! This has most definitely been a fan favorite, more specifically, her female audience. This song, along with “ Stop (Askin’ Me 4****)”, are both songs that project an attitude of taking no nonsense from anyone who isn’t helping them grow. You can most definitely tell that she comes from a place of love, but she has “been bamboozled once before” (stated in Stop (Askin’ Me 4****)) and doesn’t want to take that risk again with someone who isn’t there for the right reasons.
Now it may seem as though Victoria is a very confident person and is someone who could care less about others, but nevertheless, she is indeed a lover girl at heart. “How Does It Make You Feel” (track 6) and “I’m The One” (track 8) are both tracks that showcase her longing to be loved and for that person to feel a mutual connection with her. She wants the other person to feel the same way and express their feelings to her in ways that she can understand. In the song “I’m The One”, Victoria taps back into sounds from previous songs like “Love U Better” and “Do You Like It”, both from her 2018 project, Life After Love, Pt.2.
As the LP comes to a close, “Good Bye” shares the emotions of never being in love before and wanting to bask in the feeling of it before having to say goodbye.
Its slow tempo and gravitational pull from the drums in the background make the audience want to feel as though they are in the song with her. She exposes how uncomfortable changes in relationships make her, and how she doesn’t think that she will ever be comfortable with them, but reiterates her deep love for the person, and wants to send them off with a “goodbye”. The 70’s inspired “ba da’s” at the end of the song, really ties the album together pretty nicely.
The Motown, 70’s, Disco vibe and influence that she has for this project, truly does project well in this LP and I think that she did a really excellent job getting her emotions across to the audience. I have personally listened to this album a number of times, and every time I hear it, something comes across to me differently each time. The wait was very well needed and I can’t wait to see what Victoria Monét gives fans in the future. Monét will begin her tour (The Jaguar Tour) with a start date of September 6, 2023, in Detroit, Michigan.