Victoria Monét Shares How She Slid Into Buju Banton’s DMs To Get Collab

American singer Victoria Monét recently shared that she slid into Buju Banton’s DMs to request his vocals on her Dancehall-infused R&B track Party Girls, which was released last month.

Co-produced by Dernst ‘D’Mile’ Emile, the song entered the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart at No. 25. It was Monét’s second career entry on that chart and Buju’s first.

Speaking to Ebro Darden on Apple Music 1, Monét revealed how D’Mile’s instrumental, which has hints of Dave Kelly’s Showtime riddim (1997), set the ball rolling for the song.

“When D’Mile played the bassline is what started the song, and I just heard it differently than he heard it. He was thinking the musical ‘elevated soul’ cloth that we usually play with, but then when he played it, I was like, I just hear something else. And eventually, when the hook was done and it had verse melodies, I was like, I really would love if Buju was on this,” she told Ebro.

Monét, who is known for other tracks like On My Mama and Moments, said she was familiar with the Gargamel’s raspy, unique voice thanks to her mother, who was a fan. She envisioned that he would be a perfect match for the project and reached out on social media.

“I wrote it down in the tracklist, I just said, featuring Buju. And I finally dropped my balls and reached out to him via DM, because I usually would not do that at all. And I know him because my mom was listening to him around the house, and I always remembered his voice. And it was always on a good Sunday, when she’s cleaning the house, and it was really good vibes. So I really wanted that to be a part of this project, and he was down, and I was just blown away by that alone.”

It was an instant connection, according to Monét.

“So he sent me his verse and FaceTimed me… Well, he WhatsApp-ed me, because he is in the Caribbean. But WhatsApp-ed me and played me the verse, and I just lost my mind. So then we went back in the studio and changed the production to fit his vibe, and then it ended up having an outro part, that’s why the song is so long because we were like, we just want to stay in this vibe,” she explained.

The Dog Films-produced music video, which featured an appearance from Buju, has seen over 3.4 million YouTube views.

Party Girls is the second offering from Monét’s Jaguar II, her RCA debut due this summer. It is the second installment in a  Jaguar series she started in 2020.

There has been a Party Girls Challenge on social media which sees dancers recording their own unique videos vibing to it.

Meanwhile, Buju has been promoting his latest track Coconut Wata (Sip). 

The groovy track alludes to the Jamaican belief that coconut water has direct health benefits for the heart.

See the official visualizer below: