Today - 10th March - emerging singer/songwriter Monét releases her new single ‘Just One Of Those Days’ taken from her forthcoming EP. Showcasing her poetic tendencies, ’Just One Of Those Days’ artfully slides between Neo-Soul, Spoken word, and Alt-R&B as her lyrics express feelings of love, life, and an overarching sense of summer days throughout.
Hailing from Peckham, South East London, Monét began to write poetry at the tender age of 8, when she was given her first taste of performing whilst showcasing her skills in primary school talent shows. Citing the likes of Lauren Hill, Ojerime, Solange, and Erykah Badu as inspiration, she also had influential figures much closer to home with her Auntie being part of the iconic R&B duo, Floetry. Growing up with synesthesia she uses her relationship with colour to her advantage allowing tones to produce feelings, as well as help direct her creative process in and out of the studio.
Over the past two years, the London native started to release her own music giving us her debut EP in 2019 entitled ‘Off The Record’ which received support from the likes of Reprezent, Rinse FM, Guap, Mixtape Madness to name a few. Over 2021 Monét will be releasing three projects starting with her first EP entitled ‘Profile 1’ coming very soon. For more information on Monét, please visit: Instagram
We had the opportunity to interview Monét upon the release of her new single "Just One of Those Days" to get a few words about the process of creating and the struggles that come with it and most importantly talk about the beautiful new release.
Verses + Thesis: How did “Just One Of Those Days” come about? Tell us the story behind it?
Monét: You know what I started writing this song around May, I think. And it was just starting to get warmer and it was just really really lovely and I just remember the day I started to write the song. The song is basically about meeting somebody new and just going with the flow. If it works out, it’s cool. If it doesn’t, it’s cool too and the chorus definitely reflects that. Kinda’ like I’ll just flip it your way if you’re not on it typa’ thing. I’ll just keep doing me. So essentially just exploring that conversation and that experience really.
Verses + Thesis: All your tracks are so soothing and reminds us of a warm summer’s day especially with “Just One Of Those Days”. What would you describe you style as?
Monét: It’s really funny you say this because I would describe my tracks as warm. It’s definitely just a warm sound. I guess my style is just a fusion of all the type of music I love, do you know what I mean. And that’s Soul, R&B, Alternative R&B, Jazz. I love how smooth those genres are and I try reflect that in my music.
Verses + Thesis: How’s the journey been like in the music industry for you so far especially being a young black woman?
Monét: Ermm, being in the music industry as a young black woman… I haven’t faced that many challenges but I can admit it is sometimes difficult to really differentiate between the people who actually want to work with you and the ones who actually just want to use you for their own benefit especially when it comes to things like studio times. So, I’m very cautious and careful of the people I work with and keep around me. You know, I’m trying to build a team around me with people I completely trust and that isn’t always easy. The industry can be very interesting at times especially with the way they treat black women but I'm glad I haven’t had to experience anything crazy and I hope it stays that way.
Verses + Thesis: We understand you’re still in university. How’s that impacted your music?
Monét: My Time! I’ve had to spread across my time to get my coursework done when I can be working on music but I have to say there is certain things I’m learning on my course that will be useful in my career so I guess it works hand in hand.
Verses + Thesis: As you know the panoramic really hit the music industry hard but we’ve seen so much beauty come out of it somehow with new emerging artist sharing more of their work and live shows etc. How has this affected you and your music?
Monét: Well to be honest, with my music, I need experience to write about the things I sing about and because of COVID, I haven’t been able to experience much so I’ve had to find different ways and sources for my inspiration. I’ve had to look in different places to find inspiration which has been a huge challenge but also a very interesting one. It’s allowed me to find inspiration in myself rather than having to rely on experiencing and finding it through people.
Verses + Thesis: Are there any musical inspirations for “Just One Of Those Days”? Or just in general?
Monét: You know what for that song specifically, I don’t think there was much inspiration but when I do listen to it, I do think of Sizzla “Just One Of Those Days” but that’s probably because of the title of the song. But in general, definitely Solange, Alexandra, Jeremih, Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu ofcourse.
Verses + Thesis: What’s next for Monét?
Monét: I do have an EP dropping really soon and trying to release a couple projects this year so be on a lookout for that and a couple visuals too.
Make sure to listen to "Just One Of Those Days" Here.