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With each video and single that comes out, Normani continues to shed her Fifth Harmony persona, and show us that she’s one to watch…better yet, one to know. At the age of 22, she’s collaborating with artists who only elevate her and what she’s trying to accomplish with her music.
In her latest video for her single “Waves,” which was released back in November, she takes an intergalactic journey with none other than 6LACK. Watch the video below:
“He’s an amazing lyricist, and I feel like he took the record to a whole other level,” she said during an interview with Zane Lowe, according to Complex. “I already love the record as is, but he totally exceeded any expectation I even had, which was pretty high, because I admire him as an artist.”
And just a few weeks ago, the songstress was featured in Sam Smith‘s “Dancing With A Stranger” video which perfectly blended pop and R&B. The “Stay With Me” singer described how the duet came to be, and it was as if the Houston native made a case for herself by doing what comes naturally: “I saw her Billboard performance…When I saw her do that on the Billboard Awards, I was like, ‘Wow.’ She’s a triple threat. She’s special. And you can tell that she works really hard,” he said reports Billboard. “I said to her, ‘Do you wanna hear this song?’ I played her the song. When she came into the studio, she just jumped on the song there and then with me in the room. She just sang it and it was perfect.”
And if you need help remembering what he was referring to, here’s a reminder:
Normani went from being forced to sing background vocals and being the least followed in her group, according to Essence, to being a star, and people are taking note! She’s not coming into her own as a solo artist, but she is her own, in a league that is completely dominated by herself. She even revealed to Billboard that she spent half a decade trying to understand who she was within the confines of a group, and now it’s time to spread her wings.
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“I’m able to go to the studio now and write about ideas that actually mean something to me,” the songwriter said reports The Fader. “I am going back to the music that I grew up with that really inspires me. I get to pull from that and incorporate those sounds into this project. It’s not like somebody else sitting in a chair over at the label has a set idea as to who these girls are going to be and us having to go along with that.”
Comparison kills, and the RCA-signed artist can no longer be compared. Her highly anticipated debut album is said to be inspired by her southern roots and predicted to make an impression on the charts: “There’s so much that I have to get off my chest,” she said. “And there’s a responsibility I have as a black woman — one of the very few to have the power to kill it. Even in the mainstream, there’s not many of us. Especially chocolate girls. Like, being African-American is one thing, but girls [with] my complexion…it’s unheard of. It’s me, and SZA. Who else?”
TELL US: What are you looking forward to from Normani’s upcoming album?
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