Muni Long wrote lyrics for Ariana Grande, Pitbull, Fifth Harmony. She beat Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige for a Grammy

Gianna Montesano, Treasure Coast Newspapers
·3 min read
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The 2023 Grammys were nothing short of historic, but for one Treasure Coast artist — it was career-defining.

Muni Long, a 34-year-old singer-songwriter from Gifford, won the Best R&B Performance category against iconic stars including Beyoncé and Mary J. Blige. Long's performance of "Hrs & Hrs" beat out Beyoncé's performance of "Virgo's Groove" off her critically acclaimed 2022 album "Renaissance."

Long was presented the award during the Grammys preshow ceremony.

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Who is Muni Long?

While she is beginning to get traction as Muni Long — pronounced "money long" — she grew up as Priscilla Renea Hamilton on her grandparents' farm in Indian River County's Gifford neighborhood west of Vero Beach.

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In 2004, Long began posting YouTube videos of herself singing covers and writing her own music. She went viral a few times before landing a deal with Capitol Records, where she released her debut album "Jukebox" in 2009 under her real name.

After that, she began writing some of the biggest hits of the 2010s for artists such as Rhianna, Selena Gomez, Madonna and Kelly Clarkson. If you have ever listened to hits such as "Imagine" by Ariana Grande, "Timber" by Pitbull featuring Kesha, or "Worth It" by Fifth Harmony — you can thank Long for those lyrics.

In 2018, she adopted her stage name and left Capitol Records to be represented by her own label, Super Giant Records, before signing with Def Jam Records in 2022. Her first album under her alias was released in 2021, called "Nobody Knows."

Her 2022 album "P.D.A." is what scored her three Grammy nominations this year. She was also nominated for Best New Artist, but lost to Samara Joy, and for Best R&B Song, but her song "Hrs & Hrs" lost to Beyonce's "Cuff It."

"My deepest desire is that somebody is following my story. There is a little one out there that is going to see me and understand what it took for me to get here and realizing they can do it too," Long said in a Grammy interview. "Hopefully, this means that people will listen to me the first time when I say something and I don't have to continue to fight to get my vision across."

Here are the other nominees in each category Long competed in:

Grammys: Best R&B Performance

  • "Virgo's Groove," Beyoncé

  • "Here With Me," Mary J. Blige featuring Anderson .Paak

  • "Over," Lucky Daye

  • "Hurt Me So Good," Jazmine Sullivan

Grammys: Best New Artist

  • Anitta

  • Omar Apollo

  • DOMi & JD Beck

  • Latto

  • M?neskin

  • Tobe Nwigwe

  • Molly Tuttle

  • Wet Leg

Grammys: Best R&B Song

  • "Good Morning Gorgeous," by Mary J. Blige, David Brown, Dernst Emile II, Gabriella Wilson and Tiara Thomas

  • "Hurt Me So Good," by Akeel Henry, Michael Holmes, Luca Mauti, Jazmine Sullivan and Elliott Trent

  • "Please Don't Walk Away," by PJ Morton

Gianna Montesano is TCPalm's underserved communities reporter. You can contact her at [email protected], 772-409-1429 or follow her on Twitter @gmontesano13.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Beyonce loses Grammy to Muni Long of Florida for Best R&B Performance

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