Victoria Monét is having her moment.
Hot on the heels of picking up multiple Grammys, the songstress hit yet another solo career milestone by shutting down the Coachella stage. Her Weekend 1 performance delighted her hardcore fans and won the hearts of many more in the crowd and across the livestream as she performed her hits.
ESSENCE caught up with Monét as she prepared to hit the iconic Heineken House and take the Mojave stage by storm once again for the festival’s second weekend to chat through jitters, tweaks, and remaining present in this magical moment.
Congratulations on your first Coachella performance, first and foremost! What was it like for you to hit the Coachella stage for the first time last weekend? You’re a veteran performer, of course, but were there any jitters hitting a stage of this size?
I was definitely pretty nervous. I know how big Coachella is, and you actually find out about being a part of the lineup during the summer, so I’ve been anticipating the performance for quite some time.
So there’s a lot of emotional buildup and it was very exciting to do, even just knowing who’s done it before. Being in the audience from previous Coachellas and how I felt watching other people, I just wanted to make sure that I delivered that same feeling. So overall the feelings were excited and nervous, but it was really fun.
It’s like the festival of all festivals. So it was definitely a dream come true.
Now, are you a “Coachella mom?” We’ve seen over the years it’s become more standard for people to bring their small kids along. Did you bring Baby Hazel along so she could see the performance, or did she stay home for this one?
She was in a lot of the rehearsals, but for this Coachella weekend, I just thought it would be better for her to stay home because it was like a three-hour drive, and then I wouldn’t bring her to the festival so she would basically go to Palm Springs to be in the house. My mom came down to watch her, so she had some grandma time, but she did watch the show, apparently, and was locked in all for 45 minutes of my set on the live stream. So she was still a part of it. She was also in the show because we used her vocals as a countdown, and then there’s a visualizer of her on the screen too. So it was like she was there.
Which was too cute, by the way! What song were you most excited to perform last weekend and what did you get the best crowd reaction from? What was the most fun and what are you looking forward to performing this weekend?
I think the dance breaks are always really fun because I bring in other people’s music and just kind of vibe with the crowd and have fun and dance really quick. But I definitely enjoy performing “On My Mama,” just because I think it’s the song that people are most familiar with and I can see their faces light up. They’re doing the choreography in the crowd and it’s just a good time. And I’m really excited to do the show all over again. The 45 minutes kind of flies by, so I’m going to try to remain present within this set as well.
So going into your second weekend, do you feel like some of the pressure’s off, or do you think it’s going to be a different feeling hitting the stage this time doing it again? What’s the feeling of gearing up to retread the steps of this performance?
The feeling really is…I have notes. I have things I want to fix. There were a lot of little things, and I think it’s normal for a festival performance just because it’s not your environment and there are lots of changeovers and performers in one space. So I have some things that I want to fix, and then I have more rehearsals just to fine-tune certain things and troubleshoot things from set design mishaps and wardrobe things that we can tweak. Just fine-tuning the set, so I’m hoping that this weekend is even better than last. The pressure is really just to come back and do better than the first weekend.
Now, you’ll be stopping by the iconic Heineken House on the festival grounds this year. Who are you looking forward to seeing perform?
I really wish I was seeing BIA! I love BIA. I love Channel Trés, and I love Lupe [Fiasco] also, but during Lupe’s performance, I’ll be on the Mojave stage. So I’m excited for Friday to be introduced to performers that I haven’t seen yet, so it’s going to be a treat. I get to just observe and be a part of the exciting environment and see other performers do their thing, which sounds really, really fun.
Coachella is following a long line of successes for you in just the first quarter of the year. You’ve been working hard toward solo superstardom for years, and it all seems to be finally happening, and in quick succession. What does it feel like to have so much coming to fruition at once, and what do you have coming next?
It definitely feels like a big whirlwind of great things happening. And so my main focus is really just to try and stay present. Because there’s so many things to celebrate, but also so many things to do and work on. So it’s kind of this balance of realizing that I’ve gotten to where I want to be, but also knowing that there’s more that I want to do and just kind of having that duality and making sure that I’m grateful always, but also hungry still, and working towards more things.