Victoria Monét - JAGUAR [Music Review]
Victoria Monét’s glittering debut project ‘JAGUAR’ is a wonder to behold: A generous compilation of sexy, 70’s inspired jams that show the songwriter turned soloist is on the path to being a pop-icon in her own right.
The glimmering, nostalgic sounds of 70’s/80’s disco, funk, soul and glistening trill’s of 90’s R&B have made a huge comeback of late. This (pardon, but) absolute shit-show of a year paired with the promise of a desperately uncertain future has us looking back, waaay back, in search of good vibes and a sense of familiarity. Back to rave-culture, and back again to effervescent Hi-NRG and then aaaall the way back to sequin-embellished flares and nights at Studio 54. Remember when we could boogie, get crazy and be reckless? Me neither – Now is not the time for unmitigated pleasure and glamour, but luckily artists like Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga and Jessie Ware are plugging the gap by pumping out a whole host of lavish sugar-coated dance floor bangers, giving us a delicious taste of the glossy good times that we so sorely miss.
Victoria Monét’s ‘JAGUAR’ is another glorious retro-tinged offering that unapologetically champions the pursuit of pleasure. However, far from jumping on the disco-ball bandwagon, Monét has created something that represents her own journey too – an expression of her shift from being the behind-the-scenes songwriter, to becoming the dazzling headline act. ‘JAGUAR’ is a celebration of freedom, love and lust in the form of groovy, funk-filled R&B and sparkling disco-pop, filled with body-shaking bangers, such as Monét’s futuristic, fabulous collaboration with SG Lewis and Khalid, ‘Experience’, and sex-positive slow jams.
If you think you’re not familiar with the 27-year-old singer-songwriter, you might just be mistaken, as she’s behind some of the biggest hits of recent times. Her slick song-writing has featured on a fair few of her best pal Ariana Grande’s tracks, including ‘Thank U, next’, ‘Monopoly’ and ‘7 rings’. She’s also written songs for hip hop / R&B and pop mainstays like Nas, Chloe x Halle, T.I, Chris Brown and Fifth Harmony.
After years of operating in the background, the arrival of her debut album demonstrates that Monét is now here to claim her well-deserved moment in the spotlight. An apt summary of the artist’s newfound place in music can be found in her dreamy sex-jam, ‘Moment’ where she sings, “F*** the fantasy, it’s your mother-f***ing moment”. ‘JAGUAR’ is full of such assertions of empowerment, and self-care too. ‘Ass Like That’ is a cheeky (lol) funk-feel ode to building an incredible butt in the name of feeling good and looking great. The video for the song is also fabulous, peach-tinted and peach centric, showing Monét’s self-aware sense of humour and her appreciation for the 70’s aesthetic found in many of ‘JAGUAR’s tracks. Then there’s luscious harmony-filled intermission track ‘Big Boss (Interlude)’ where she confidently asks, “What it be like dealing with a queen?”
Even when she doesn’t directly allude to her feelings of empowerment and freedom, the sex-positive sentiments that dominate the project mean that her huge appreciation for autonomy is always implied. She expresses her horniness with a commendable amount of creativity, employing a fantastic array of metaphors that both get her point across and make her songs all the more enjoyable. The album’s title track for example - a juicy, sparkling celebration of sexual excitement -sees Monét joyfully croon, “Let’s get wild!” and “supersonic pussycat / just like a jaguar, silky black / so let me climb your wood like that[...],” over bright, funk-inflected instrumentals. There’s also ‘Dive’, a sonically serene, lyrically slightly obscene, aquatic themed tribute to female pleasure and ‘Go There With You’, a request to switch heated arguments for heated sex which notably employs the phrase “We picking fights like it’s Fortnite,” showing Monét’s skill at making lyrics stick. ‘Touch Me’, a plush R&B track shows that Monét is proud of her sexual freedom in more ways than one. In 2018, she came out as bisexual on Twitter, and ‘Touch Me’ makes a passionate reference to an encounter with a woman. This, more than anything, shows that this truly is Monét’s moment to champion her identity and as a result, champion the identities of marginalised others. Her fearlessness and honesty mean that what could have simply been an accessible dance infused, R&B album is also an unapologetic celebration of black female bisexuality, something which is rarely represented in music and culture, even today.
‘JAGUAR’ is a project for the Summer we never had - A soundtrack to all the parties that never happened and all the lust-filled nights that we could have chased after if we weren’t all trapped in our houses yelling at the TV. Monét has already established herself as a hit-writing machine for others, but with ‘JAGUAR’ she has paved the way to be a star all for herself.