Normani stormed back onto the scene today with her long-awaited new single ‘1.59.’
The track, which features Gunna, serves as the lead offering from the starlet’s eagerly awaited (and gestating debut album ‘Dopamine’).
With the countdown officially on to the LP’s June 14 release, Normani posed it up for Elle and then opened about her journey to this point – waxing candid on scrapped album titles, what fans can expect from her project, and her goal to be a “revolutionary” artist.
Quotes below…
On Today’s Era of Artistry:
“I always joke that I was born in the wrong era. When Justin Timberlake was coming up, when Destiny’s Child was coming up, and Beyoncé in the early 2000s, the only thing that mattered was the music. I strive to be [both] a revolutionary and a legacy artist, but you can’t not be aware of the temperature of the world. The reality of it is that TikTok drives records now.”
On Taking the Reigns of Her Career:
“I know what it’s like to put out music and records that I don’t wholeheartedly believe in. When we were in [Fifth Harmony], we didn’t have the opportunity to have a real opinion until the last project we did. I promised myself, “If God gives me another opportunity to do things in my own way, I’m not going to take that for granted.”
On Tweeting She Had Her Album Title Back in 2018:
“That [title] didn’t see the light of day. At one point, it was 1906, because that was the address of my grandmother’s house that I was raised in. Then it evolved and turned into Butterfly Effect. That was a whole thing, but it didn’t stand the test of time.”
On People’s Misconceptions About Her:
“I think that there’s a false narrative that because of how long this process has taken, that means I don’t care, or that means I’m more interested in doing other things than putting this body of work out. Nobody wants this project to come out more than me. I think that at the end of the day, if I stand behind this wholeheartedly, it doesn’t matter what the world thinks.”
On ‘Motivation’:
It’s crazy. Now I appreciate that song so much more than I did then. I cried, I “boohoo” cried. I was like, “I don’t want this to be my single.” Then I had total creative control over the video, which meant a lot. I just wanted to feel represented. Now I get it. I understand it more now.
On The Buzz Around New Song ‘Candy Paint’:
“‘Candy Paint’ is Dopamine. It bridges the gap, I think, between “Motivation” and where I am now. It’s the big cousin to “Motivation.” As soon as it comes on, you move, and when you think of me, you think of movement. I feel like where we are musically, we can afford to pick it up a little bit, like tempo, energy, full-on eight counts.”
![Hilarious! Normani Prank Calls Her Boyfriend, Ciara, & Gunna for 'ELLE' [Watch]](https://thatgrapejuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/dopamine-dk-metcalf-prank-calls-elle-thatgrapejuice-2024-ciara-normani-gunna--464x260.jpg "Hilarious! Normani Prank Calls Her Boyfriend, Ciara, & Gunna for 'ELLE' [Watch].")
TGJ really set her up. They want to her to get dragged so bad. Not the Revolutionary Artist on the headline……However I don’;t blAME YOU GUYS COZ SHE IS MEGA FLOP@
Too many platinum plaques without an album to be considered a “flop”
Loool try again hater
There’s nothing wrong with striving to be a revolutionary artist. She didn’t say that she is one now.
So basically her label shelved 2 of her albums 😂🤣😂. 2018. Debut album 1906-❌ if motivation took off hit #1. 2021. Butterfly effects❌ – if Wild side hit #1. 2024. Dopamine ❓❓ if 1:59 ever charting…..
Lies! Mani decided not to drop because she wanted to perfect her craft! Can’t say the same for camiIa.
1:59 is crap whatever she is crafting… trash 🗑️
Bro dont even start i am not a camilla or normani fan but again i live in Europe nobody knows normani just her fans camilla sold millions of records and her songs are knowin her she is the Beyonce Normani is the kELLY LIKE IT OR NOT JUST FACTS
GURL
Yaaaaas the princess is coming! Colorism, racism and her parents sickness have been holding her back for way too long! I will literally be in tears once she drops this year 😢🥹
Save your black tears 💅🏻 excuses and excuses. A flop is a flop! Wait 1:59 failed to chart and she will go hiding for another year 😂🤣😂
Bro she should stop talking to much just work instead of making this unecceassary comment. The time will show how you career will go she want to be soo hard Beyoncé like girl chill. She is the Kelly Rowland of the group facts Camilla is the Beyonce just the truth the numbers are proving that. Kelly is not a bad postion but she is not all that she is to cooky.
There is nothing to compare
Did she not mention Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake as references?
I’m still waiting for her to do something revolutionary…….
this gurl is a lost cause.
These are very bold statements, look at what happened to Camila, she lost steam on that choo choo train . Thomas the Engine be like Wha? I don’t think she’s going to hit mega star status . She doesn’t have the. “it” factor that blows us away , that za za zoo , wow factor . I mean they are trying “something” with her riding that rocket I think lol But then they released a sleepy single. It’s contradicts the image they are trying to portray . I’m scratching my head . She needs a better team around her . Hire me please .
Well, how do you marketing her? Genius. Look at Chloe, her label was willingly invested her. She had performed have mercy on many big award shows. She is still flopping.
I just don’t hear a HIT with this song. Can you sing back the Hook to me like a ” Thank you next ‘ ? or ” the damn ” get it from your Mama song ? I want her to WIN but I just asking who is in the rooms when talking about the MUSIC.
Normani is boring in every way possible
Republic’s Taylor Swift has notched the second-biggest album debut of all time with THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. Her 31-track marvel moves an astounding 2.6m units in its opening week, knocking NSYNC’s No Strings Attached out of the #2 spot (Adele’s 25 remains the all-time #1 with 3.4m+).
Physical sales account for 1.9m of the total, with record-setting vinyl sales contributing nearly half. As we reported earlier today, Swift also set a new first-week streaming record, logging 865m streams…….
So basically she released two albums at once but called them one album to cheat the charts. Got it
#1 @taylorswift13 #TSTTPD 2.6M
#2 @1future & @MetroBoomin 69K
#3 @Beyonce 66K
#4 @MorganWallen 63K
#5 @PearlJam 60K
#6 Future/Metro 55K
#7 @NoahKahan 47K
#8 @bensonboone 40K
#9 Taylor (Lover) 38K
#10 @sza 38K
Just the 2.5 million gap between 1 and 2 hahahaha
*sigh* she is setting herself up for failure with all this talk paired with little action but I’m still here for Dopamine
I don’t know one person who gives a sh!t about her music. I don’t know what her future is but it’s not music.
People are blaming her team, but didn’t she just get a new team? and now we have the same results