Jaguar II (album)

Jaguar II is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Victoria Monét. It was released on August 25, 2023, through Lovett Music and RCA Records. The album was supported by four singles: "Smoke" with Lucky Daye, "Party Girls" with Buju Banton, "On My Mama", and "Alright".

The second and final installment of Monét's Jaguar series, she originally intended the Jaguar series to be a trilogy of EPs around the release of the first Jaguar installment. They would have eventually come together to form her debut studio album. However, due to Jaguar II being delayed further than expected, the series was eventually reduced to only two projects. In support of both Jaguar and Jaguar II, Monét embarked on The Jaguar Tour.

At the 66th Grammy Awards, the album won Best R&B Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

Background
In February 2021, after the release of the Jaguar EP, Monét released the single "F.U.C.K", along with a western-themed music video. Around the same time, she would also give birth to her daughter Hazel Monét Gaines. Later that year, the single "Coastin'" was released, along with an accompanying music video featuring Rickey Thompson. In June 2022, Monét performed "Coastin" at the 22nd BET Awards pre-show and announced she was working on the second installment to her planned Jaguar trilogy, titled Jaguar II.

Singles
On March 24, 2023, Monét released the album's lead single "Smoke" (featuring Lucky Daye), which was also her first new single since 2021.

This was then followed by the album's second single "Party Girls" (featuring Buju Banton) May 10, In addition, a dancehall remix of "Party Girls", remixed by Michaël Brun was released on May 26.

Following the second single, the album's third single "On My Mama" was released on June 16, 2023. The single's music video was released August 15, 2023.

The singer released "Alright" as the album's fourth single on June 14, 2024, almost a year after the release of "On My Mama". Its music video was released on June 11, 2024.

Critical reception
Jaguar II received critical acclaim from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, a website that aggregates reviews of music albums, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 87, based on 8 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

AllMusic's Andy Kellman wrote that it "nudges contemporary R&B forward as it mixes inspirations spanning continents and generations" and "Monét always comes across as an everywoman at heart, no matter how fantastical or personal she gets, followed closely by her ability to sound authoritative without increasing the volume or toughness of her dulcet voice". Shahzaib Hussain of Clash felt that Jaguar II "preserves an almost anti-algorithmic approach in sound; it draws on musical touchstones but is a poetically a modern enterprise", also calling it "a compressed listen with only 11 tracks but still packs in dimensionality and texture". Pitchfork's Anna Gaca found that its "plush R&B and live-band arrangements strike a tone that's classic, sexy, and understated", describing it as "the rare species of pop-soul that evokes a real sense of spiritual uplift". In a rave review, HotNewHipHop’s Demi Phillips referred to the album as “a testament to the singer affirming her musical self-discovery,” also labeling it “a glittery R&B delicacy that awakens every human sense.”

Personnel
Musicians
 * Victoria Monét – vocals (all tracks)
 * Lucky Daye - vocals (1)
 * Buju Banton - vocals (3)
 * Arnetta Johnson – trumpet (tracks 1, 11)
 * Elena Pinderhughes – flute (5, 6)
 * Kyla Moscovich – horns (5, 7), background vocals (10), trumpet (11)
 * Marcus Reddick – bass (6)
 * Carlin White – drums (6)
 * Peter Lee Johnson – strings (6, 7, 10, 11)
 * Verdine White – bass (10)
 * Tommy Parker – background vocals (11)
 * Chris Payton – guitar (11)

Technical
 * Colin Leonard – mastering
 * John Kercy – mixing (1–3, 6, 8–11), engineering (3)
 * Neal H Pogue – mixing (4, 5)
 * Patrizio "Teezio" Pigliapoco – mixing (7)
 * Todd Robinson – engineering (5–11)
 * Kyle Mann – engineering (1-3, 5,6, 8–11)