Hazel Monét Gaines is so much more than Victoria Monét‘s daughter (though that’s a win in and of itself). The 2-year-old is also the youngest Grammy nominee in history, thanks to her feature on Mama Monét’s R&B track “Hollywood.” Ahead of the Grammy Awards on Feb. 4, here are six things you need to know about the toddler-turned-history-making Grammy nominee.
She's a Pisces.
People reported that Monét announced she was expecting a little one with her longtime boyfriend, John Gaines, in December 2020.
She gushed in a since-deleted Instagram post, “two hearts beat inside of me now… That’s more love. Two brains and two souls… that’s so much power. Really been feelin like the ultra super Victoria cause my body is doing such miraculous work. This is absolutely the best thing that has ever happened to me and I can’t wait to meet my tiny soul mate earth side!!!”
Hazel was born on Feb. 21, 2021, making her a Pisces. Monét shared the news in an Instagram post of her holding her daughter’s little feet, per People.
“Hazel Monét Gaines 🤎 2/21/21,” she captioned a since-deleted picture of her newborn. “Mommy and Daddy love you so much!!! ✨🧸Welcome to the world 🧸✨.”
Monét experienced postpartum depression after she was born.
Like many women (22% of new Black moms, to be exact), Monét experienced postpartum depression after giving birth to Hazel.
“I went through a phase, to be honest, where I was going through postpartum depression,” she shared with Pop Sugar in August. “It’s really a lonely place that’s not talked about too much. People mention it when you get pregnant but you may be as little as depressed afterward, and to the depth and how you pull yourself out of it, there’s no blueprint to that.”
She expounded on living with postpartum depression to Self in an interview published a few weeks later, explaining that she put a lot of pressure on herself to lose the baby weight quickly.
“I was very hard on myself, and just judging so much and worrying about what I used to look like and what I used to have,” she told the outlet. “It’s just all living in the past, which is the setup [for feeling like a failure].” She added, “[But] you have to think forward. It’s been a battle to be okay with whatever size I am at the time.”
Monét told Pop Sugar that a “great community of other moms” helped her get through it.
She helped inspire 'Jaguar II.'
Monét’s debut album, Jaguar II, has earned seven Grammy nominations. According to Pop Sugar, her little one was a source of inspiration behind the album’s musicality and lyricism.
“Having a baby around that views everything as brand new can really re-inspire you and make you appreciate certain things that you may have taken for granted, like rainfall, or a little butterfly, or any of the things that we see so much that we forget how beautiful they are,” the “On My Mama” singer told the outlet.
In an interview published in July, Monét told People she watched Hazel fall in love with music while she brought the album to life, which helped the singer experience her music from a fresh perspective.
“I see her learning rhythm, trying to catch different cadences and what she’s attracted to in songs,” she said. “I just really get re-inspired by that innocence and that curiosity about music.”
She's "stubborn."
At 2 years old, Hazel is already a powerful woman. Monét playfully described her toddler as “stubborn” as she entered a “no” phase.
“Right now, her favorite word is no,” Monét told People in December. “She stands on what she wants. So, I think she’s going to be a great businesswoman. She’s going to be a really amazing artist. She’s going to have her own vision, definitely very creative, and she’s got a voice on her for sure.”
Monét told the outlet her toddler knows and loves her song “Smoke” a little too well.
“When I took her to this restaurant, we had gotten out of the car and she was in her stroller and she was trying to tell me, ‘I want to go back in the car and listen to Smoke.’ But she was saying, ‘Mommy, let’s go smoke. Go smoke.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my God, this sounds terrible to everyone right now,'” Monét recounted. “I just had to give everyone a disclaimer like, ‘We do not smoke together. I have a song called “Smoke” that she has heard.'”
Her father's a business owner, model and trainer.
She's made Grammy history.
In November, Hazel became the youngest Grammy nominee in history when Monét’s “Hollywood” nabbed a nomination for best traditional R&B performance. When news of the nomination dropped, Hazel was much more interested in “Baby Shark” than anything else.
“I’m so proud of her, but she has no idea,” Monet told Billboard then.
“She’s like, kind of panicking because she doesn’t know why we’re all screaming. I know I’ll be able to explain it to her when she gets older, and she’ll definitely appreciate it because she’s already into music and is starting to write songs unknowingly. She’s making potty songs and all that kind of stuff. So I’m super excited that this will be something that she has forever. I’m already thinking about her wardrobe for the Grammys.”
