Victoria Monét’s daughter made history as the youngest person to be nominated for a Grammy, and the singer says that the two-year-old has a bit of an inkling of what’s going on.
Monét, 34, is bringing her daughter Hazel with her to the Grammys on Sunday and tells PEOPLE that the child is not completely unaware of the excitement that awaits her.
“She understands that she’s done something really great, but I don’t think she understands the magnitude,” Monét told PEOPLE at the Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Saturday. “So as she gets older, I’ll be excited to explain this to her and show her, hopefully, a Grammy with her name on it.”
Monét collected seven nominations at this year’s awards, including Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Hollywood,” which also features Hazel and Earth, Wind & Fire.
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Despite Hazel’s youth, Monét says music has always been important to the mother-daughter duo.
“The whole pregnancy I played music in her belly. I worked on Jaguar’s Christmas: Orchestral Arrangements project and I had these headphones that I would play her music on.”
In fact, there is one song that has been Hazel’s favorite since before she was even born.
“One song I played her at the time was ‘My Girl’ by the Temptations and when she was born it was the only song she could go to sleep with, so I know she heard it. It was familiar to her. It was white noise and ‘My Girl’. I know that music has been in her life since then [she was a] the fetus,” she says.
Victoria Monét and her daughter Hazel celebrate ahead of the 2024 Grammy Awards.
Sara Jaye/Getty Images for Jimmy John’s
The second-most nominated artist at this year’s awards, Monét previously told PEOPLE of her nominations — and Hazel nodded, “It’s a really big deal. I think it’s another full-circle moment for me because everything was really scary during pregnancy.”
She continued: “People have been telling me how bad a career move it could be, how damaging it could be for everyone.”
“Pregnancy, it’s going into unknown territory and no one’s story is the same. So for one of the scariest moments of my career to turn into one of the best moments of my career is really magical. I’m honored to be a tribute to her.”
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Victoria Monét and her daughter Hazel celebrate her nomination ahead of the 2024 Grammy Awards.
Sara Jaye/Getty Images for Jimmy John’s
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Monét says that since welcoming Hazel – who she shares with fitness trainer boyfriend John Gaines – juggling career and motherhood has been “the hardest”.
“I feel like I’m in Cirque du Soleil. The best thing I can do for balance is bring her into my world. So, I love when she’s at the shows,” she said of Hazel. “I love when she’s in the studio. I love when she’s at events because it feels like I’ve merged my worlds and I think that’s the best… I’m not in two places at once.”
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Gaines, however, is a “great dad” and that helps ease her burden.
“Sometimes if I’m at work, my heart is with her. So I love when they get together and I could just be,” she continued. “But I definitely have a great team that helps me balance everything and a great partner that helps keep the family healthy and combat any scheduling complications.”
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Source: HIS Education