Normani Is Dropping the Damn Album
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In 2018, Normani tweeted these six words: “I have my album title y’all.” Ever since that moment, where she announced the title without announcing the title, whenever the former Fifth Harmony member has posted anything, her comments section has exploded with fans wondering when she’ll drop her debut album. “That [title] didn’t see the light of day,” she jokes. “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.”
Now, six years later, she’s finally shared its name with the world. Dopamine, which is preceded by the single “1:59” featuring Gunna, out today, is set to be released on June 14, and Normani plans to go on tour. The album shows a different side of her: Dopamine has dance tracks but also features songs exploring her struggles, during and after Fifth Harmony. Both of Normani’s parents were diagnosed with cancer (they’re doing well now), and she had to fight for creative control earlier in her career. She’s also faced heartbreak and intense, unwarranted internet scrutiny. As she says now, “This body of work really is just a representation of my resilience.”
There’s a lot of pressure for this album due to the wait. How does that feel?
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.”
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.
Are social media and the digital age at war with authentic music?
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.
What did it mean to have an outpouring of support on the album announcement day, including from the members of Fifth Harmony?
This is a milestone, knowing everything that I went through in order to just get to this point. I wanted to be present in that and not allow any negative comments. I really wanted to just celebrate myself. In terms of the support from the girls, that’s really full circle, to be quite honest. We were put in very unrealistic circumstances. We did our absolute best with what we had, but I think that it’s really cool to just see everybody prosper. It was cool that that moment [for me] could also be a moment that could bring us all together.
Why did you call the album Dopamine? Why the rocket for the album cover?
Dopamine represents the highs and the lows I’ve endured. It’s been such an emotional roller coaster. I worked relentlessly with my creative director, [Kwasi Fordjour]. We did our research. I really wanted to have a title that felt like it definitely encompassed everything that I feel I’ve been through in my journey to get to the point that I’m in right now. [The cover] feels energetic. It feels like a hit, and I feel like people have been waiting—[it’s been] one of the most highly anticipated projects.
In hardship, I think people either turn to or away from God. Why did you turn to and not away?
I’ve always been heavy in my faith. I grew up in a God-fearing household. That’s always been a really important factor in my life. I would say spiritually, just throughout this process, it’s like I’ve heard God say, “Just trust me. Dare to trust me. I know that you’re afraid.”
In the group, I had a really hard time. When I say my confidence was shot, my confidence was shot. Navigating that on top of being compared [to others], on top of everybody else having an opinion when you’re still figuring out who you are—not only as an artist, but as a young woman—it just takes a toll on you mentally. Everybody else’s perception of you starts to become the perception that you have of yourself, so that was something that I really had to fight against. I had to trust God even when I was afraid and recognize that I don’t have control over what I don’t have control over.
I must admit, I’m a “Motivation” lover. It comes on in the gay club, and I’m like, “Let’s go!” but…
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.
You never want to release anything that you aren’t personally passionate about. I’m sorry you were put in that position.
It’s okay. I’m not that sorry now. Now it’s fine. At the time, I was so sad, but it’s all good.
You’ve been teasing a track called “Candy Paint.” Why that one?
“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.
You’re also costarring in Freaky Tales with Pedro Pascal and others. How did you like filming?
It was such a refreshing experience for me, especially since a lot of my time and my heart had been dedicated to music for so long. I felt like I was able to be creative in a different way. There was no fear going into it. Obviously slight nerves, because this was a new environment for me, but that’s what I loved about it most: that I could just start from scratch, like clean slate, blank canvas.
My co-star Dominique Thorne and I spent a lot of time together. I won’t ever stop being a student, so I asked her questions—she was telling me what I was doing well and just encouraging me to be present. It was just a really dope experience for me. It went by fast and slow all in the same breath. I was curious to see how they were going to put all of the different parts together, and they did a beautiful job.
How do you see the state of women in music right now? What is your hope for women in music moving forward, and specifically Black women in music?
I want to see more women in charge. I want to see more Black women as chairmen. I want to see more Black women as CEOs. I want to see more Black women produce. I know that all of those exist, but it’s just about getting the opportunity and the recognition.
I have to bring her up: Having Beyoncé, a Black woman in music, taking over the country space is revolutionary. Those are the types of things that I set out to do. Now you have country artists who look like us coming out and just being like, “We’ve always been here.” I think that it’s educational not only for music lovers, but also in the Black community. We’ve pioneered a lot that we don’t get recognition for. I think that it’s just really cool being able to witness Beyoncé be fearless and do something that is much bigger than herself.
That’s honestly what I want to see more of in every single space of the music industry, because we deserve that. I also want to see Black women not have to fight so hard. It gets exhausting. We’re just as brilliant. We have amazing ideas, and our resilience.
A version of this article appears in the May 2024 issue of ELLE.
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