IRunThis is a weekly interview series that highlights Black women and femmes who do dope shit in entertainment and culture while creating visibility, access and empowerment for those who look like them. Read my Teyonah Paris interview here .
Victoria Mont arrives for our interview amid whats likely her busiest project rollout to date. Her team buzzes around to primp and prime the songstress by fixing the slightest stray hair or crooked collar. We joke about her not wearing her signature chocolatey brown and instead opting for a trendy denim two-piece. She notes that shes feeling more vibrant in this chapter and wants her wardrobe to reflect it. At last, Mont is releasing a debut album after nearly a decade in the music industry.
The R&B singer has a gentle, steady glow and subtle glimmer about her. She knows how to flip the switch effortlessly between when its time to put in work and show the hell out like fireworks on the Fourth of July whenever she hits the stage. This moment in Monts career is a testament to how much of a virtue patience is. And thats on her mama.
If you feel like youve never heard of Mont, you probably have heard her work. Shes written for Ariana Grande, Nas, T.I., Lupe Fiasco, Fifth Harmony and more. She even sang on Grandes Monopoly and wrote and recorded an original song for Insecure. However, her 2020 EP Jaguar grew her fanbase and put her on a new level as a singer-songwriter. Now, with nearly 7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, shes gearing up to release Jaguar II on Friday and headline her first tour which is completely sold out two weeks later.
There were a lot of times that I wished for moments like this, the 34-year-old said, dubbing this her light era. Ive just seen so much darkness and been alone in a lot of the process and doing my work and my due diligence in the dark, like rehearsals and investments and the business parts. So I feel like the curtains are opening. Its showtime; the lights are on.
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Jaguar II puts listeners in a time capsule to tour the sounds of different eras but roots a lot of her sound in the 1960s and 1970s (apparent on the triumphantly groovy horns blaring on her hit single Smoke). She added that theres some futurism on the album, too.
I like that it kind of covers a lot of bases, but you can still kind of uncover that the root of it all comes from earlier music in the 60s and 70s, she said of the sound on her upcoming album. Even though you may hear the early 2000s influencing On My Mama, you can still connect back to the 70s because of the horn lines, and it feels like when Earth, Wind and Fire would use their horns. So Im excited to take people on that journey from top to bottom, just whatever they want to relate it to whatever area you could probably find just multiple, you know, timeframes to relate it to.
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