Victoria Monet isn’t new to creating songs that hypnotize and capture the heart of millions. After all, she boasts songwriting credits on hits like “thank, u next” and “7 rings” by Ariana Grande, “Work from Home” by Fifth Harmony, and the more recent “Do It” by Chloe x Halle. She has spent time behind the scenes helping others but the aptly titled Jaguar shows us that she is just as powerful in the shadows as she is in the spotlight.
Channeling the energy of the titled animal, the collection of 8 songs not only teaches us the joys of sensuality and hunger but a lesson in affirming your personal power and strength. Monet’s music has always been a celebration of tenderness and the feminine but for Jaguar, she wanted to discover more about herself. In an interview with The Cut in May, Monet told the magazine that with the extra time quarantine has given us, she has been asking herself questions like, “what am I afraid about myself?”
The album’s leading song opens us to the sultry empowering mood that Monet has so cleverly sculpted and mastered. “Life is but a dream that you manifested slowly/So f*** your fantasy, it’s your motherf****** moment”, she croons in “Moment” as she urges us to let our inhibitions go and believe in our ability to create the life we want. The production on the 70’s inspired Jaguar is sleek and more refined than her previous EPs but still holds a rawness due to its usage of live instrumentation. We see this in the song “Jaguar” where Monet is at her most sonically relaxed as she takes us on a journey of retro euphoria accompanied by the heartiness of trumpet horns. She makes a clear hail to the disco nostalgia that has been steadily returning to the pop industry with Experience. With Khalid’s help, she takes us back in time as “Redbone” by Childish Gambino and “Say So” by Doja Cat did. Not to be forgotten is the extremely sexy “Dive”, her ode to oral pleasure and the divine feminine. The song’s groaning and bed-squeaks don’t cringe but are amusing, and dare we say, enticing.
One cannot also deny the sheer importance this body of work holds for Black femmes. In a world activist Oluwatoyin Salau died at the hands of a Black man and a family that failed her, where rapper Megan Thee Stallion was the target of jokes after being shot twice and where we’re still advocating for the right for Black transwomen to live, an album like this is needed. When discussing Jaguar, Victoria Monet described it as “living in a funky ’70s world that’s very black, very sensual, and honest.” On “Big Boss”, she is not singing swoons to an object of affection but rather herself. It is a self-affirmation that as a Black woman, she is deserving of luxury and pleasure. On “Ass Like That”, she urges us to get in shape, something we’re all doing in quarantine anyway and takes full autonomy over her body. The last single on the album “Touch Me” might be a queer anthem as she nonchalantly sings to a girl and further affirms the sexual freeness that Black femmes deserve.
As a songwriter, all of Monet’s collaborations have an allure that seems to cover you. The decision to wield her magic into creating a cosmic, feel-good album that we all need right now might be her best yet.
