With the world awaiting Fifth Harmony next collective move after becoming a four-piece, the group’s members are ensuring the masses get to know them as individuals too.
Case in point Normani Kordei.
Fresh from signing on to ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, the ferocious performer now appears on the cover of Rolling Out magazine.
Beyond the striking feature shot, Kordei opens up about her solo and 5H plans, as well as how the ‘DWTS’ gig came about.
Peep excepts below…
Rolling Out: You mentioned that you guys started off on this path wanting to be solo artists, and then you were brought together. What would your solo project sound like?
Normani: I’m actually really excited to figure that out, as well, just because I’ve been in a group for five years now. I know who I am, and I know what I have to offer. It’s definitely more R&B and more soul because we’re generally pop [and] urban. But I definitely have more soul than I’ve been given the opportunity to showcase and offer. I kind of have to take pieces of myself to fit what it is that radio wants.
How does that make you feel, knowing that you can’t be yourself all the time?
I just feel like I haven’t been able to showcase my full potential. I hate the fact that people can judge based on something that isn’t fully given to them. Like this isn’t the full product. This isn’t all I have to offer, so don’t judge based on this little piece of what you’re given. I have so much in me that people don’t even know, and I can’t wait to offer it to them.Are you ever frustrated that you can’t share everything? I know that life is a process, and even as a solo artist, you couldn’t share everything in one take, so you have to evolve.
Like you said, there’s a process and there [are] learning lessons, and I think that as the years go by, growth happens. There’s always room for growth. I feel like I’ll never get to the point where I’m 100 percent happy with where I am with my career.What can you make better?
For me, honestly, I think it’s a mental game. I think that I need to recognize where I am. People kind of tell me sometimes, “Sometimes I even forget that you’re in one of the biggest girl groups of all time; I forget that you’re even famous,” because I can be so normal. I’m that girl from New Orleans; I’m that girl from Houston; you would never know that I’ve been through what I’ve been through. So I think [it will be] me kind of stepping into “Normani Kordei,” as opposed to just always being Normani.So let’s talk about 2017, since we’re fully in it. What are you looking forward to both personally and with Fifth Harmony?
So, 2017 with Fifth Harmony is going to be absolutely amazing. We’ve worked so hard. Looking back from 2012 up until now, we’ve had so much growth. We’ve been through so much and we’ve worked our butts off to get to where we are right now, and I just know that we have so much more to offer. I feel like 2016 was definitely a great year, and we kind of escalated and started moving up, but I feel like we haven’t actually reached our full potential yet. I feel like in this year, it’s definitely going to happen.So how are you going to juggle Fifth Harmony and your solo pursuits?
… obviously, with the group being the number one priority, and me doing my own solo projects, I think that it’s just about balance, keeping myself centered, and being happy and healthy. I also have an amazing team around me. It definitely helps when you have your mom on the road; I can’t imagine doing this without her. She keeps me grounded and she keeps me sane.How did joining the cast of “Dancing With the Stars” come about?
“Dancing With the Stars” is a show I always watched with my grandma, and it was one of my favorite shows, but more importantly one of her favorite shows. It was always captivating to see two people grow and have this journey with each other and maybe not win but come out stronger in the end.
Interesting.
We’d be fronting if we said we weren’t salivating to hear solo Normani; she’s too exciting of a prospect to not be buzzed.
Still, we’re keen to see the newly trim 5H mark their mark before any solo careers take flight.
Put simply, everything is due course.