Normani’s long-awaited debut album is actually almost here, for real this time. The musician has shared both cover art and a title — though the release date is still unclear.
On Twitter, Normani dropped the album art, which features her riding an all-black rocket ship. In a testament to the fact that she was finally able to share some concrete details about an album fans have been waiting on for more than five years, Normani wrote, “cryingg typing this rn. DOPAMINE THE ALBUM.”
Even more on the nose, Normani shared a new website aptly dubbed, WheresTheDamnAlbum.com (she did so with a retweet of a note she posted in 2018 — 2018! — proclaiming, “I have my album title y’all”). The website contains pre-save links for both Apple Music and Spotify, and one last tease: An ostensible release date, though the days and months keep changing in rapid succession. At least the year, 2024, remains fixed.
After a wildly successful run in Fifth Harmony, Normani embarked on her solo career in 2018, releasing a collaborative EP with Calvin Harris, as well as a couple of singles and soundtrack songs. Early hits like 2019’s “Motivation” and “Dancing With a Stranger” (featuring Sam Smith) ratcheted up anticipation for her solo debut, but over the next four years, a few more scattered singles dropped, but no concrete album details ever emerged.
In the interim, Normani found herself embroiled in a copyright dispute over “Dancing With a Stranger,” but she and Smith ultimately prevailed. Last year, Normani also switched up her team, leaving S10 Entertainment’s Brandon Silverstein, and signing with Brandon Creed, whose other clients include Charli XCX and Troye Sivan.
In an interview with Rolling Stone from 2020, Normani spoke about her perfectionism, especially how it stemmed from the online vitriol and abuse she received as the only Black member of Fifth Harmony, as well as the way she was often pigeonholed as “the dancer” when in the studio with the group. Making her album (which was about halfway done at the time of the interview) was also part of a process of learning how to open up.
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“I want to be able to feel like I was represented in the most authentic way possible because I know what it feels like coming from a girl group and being told who to be,” she said. “[It’s] just overwhelming now to have the opportunity to be all that I want to be.”
She added: “I feel like I’m not the most open person. I want every girl out there to feel like I’m going through the same thing.”