Portugal Colonial - Victoria Monet wins Grammy for Best New Artist

Monet entered the night with seven nominations including one for the prestigious Record of the Year award, after her debut studio album "Jaguar II" sparked a commercial breakthrough following years in the industry.

Her Best New Artist prize brings her total win count on the night to three. The others were best R&B album and best engineered album, non-classical.

"Thank you to the champagne servers of tonight. That's my first thank you," Monet told the audience.

"Thank you to the Recording Academy voting members. This is because of you guys. You guys pressed that button, you were in your emails. Thank you so much. Thank you to my mom -- a single mom raising this really bad girl. Thank you so much."

Born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Sacramento, California, Monet showed promise in the arts from a young age, not least as a poet and lyricist.

A frequent collaborator of Ariana Grande, Monet had many songwriting credits on Grande's studio albums, including the Grammy-nominated "Thank U, Next" and "7 Rings."

In 2021, she was also nominated in the Best R&B Song category for co-writing "Do It" by sister duo Chloe X Halle.

She cites artists including Janet Jackson, Destiny's Child, Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys as influences, as well as Sade, Michael Jackson and Earth, Wind & Fire.

Her daughter Hazel, who was born in 2021, became the youngest Grammy nominee in history for her contribution to "Hollywood," which was nominated this year for best traditional R&B performance.

M.A.Vaz--PC