Jaguar II (album)
Jaguar II is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Victoria Monét, released on August 25, 2023 via Lovett Music and RCA Records. The second and final installment of Monét's Jaguar series, the album was supported by three singles; "Smoke" with Lucky Daye, "Party Girls" with Buju Banton, and "On My Mama".

Around the release of the first Jaguar installment, Monét originally intended the Jaguar series to be a trilogy of EPs, which would have eventually came 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 the album, Monét will embark on The Jaguar Tour.

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 instalment 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 singles "Party Girls" (featuring Buju Banton) and "On My Mama", released on May 10 and June 16, respectively. In addition, a dancehall remix of "Party Girls", remixed by Michaël Brun was released on May 26.

Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| MC = 86/100
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = 
| rev2 = Clash
| rev2score = 8/10<ref name="Clash">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/victoria-monet-jaguar-ii/|title=Victoria Monét – Jaguar II|magazine=Clash|last=Hussain|first=Shahzaib|date=August 25, 2023|access-date=August 27, 2023}}</ref>
| rev3 = Financial Times| rev3score = 
| rev4 = Pitchfork| rev4score = 8.0/10
| rev5 = Rolling Stone| rev5score = 
}}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 86, based on 7 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".

Tour

Background
On July 6, 2023, the singer teased an upcoming tour on her social media accounts. On July 10, 2023, she announced dates for her first headlining tour named The Jaguar Tour with dates across North America and two dates in London. Tour tickets went on sale July 14, 2023, along with three added dates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Minutes after tickets went on sale, the entire tour had been completely sold out. 

The tour was scheduled to commence on September 6, 2023, in Detroit, but due to venue changes, will commence on September 15 at Washington, D.C. and end on November 15, 2023, in London.

Tour dates

Track listing

Personnel
Musicians
 Victoria Monét – vocals (all tracks)
 Lucky Daye - vocals (1)
 Buju Banton - vocals (3)
 Arnetta Johnson – trumpet (tracks 1, 11)
 Elena Pinderhuges – 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 (5, 6, 8–11)

Charts

References

2023 debut albums
RCA Records albums
Victoria Monét albums
Sequel albums