Normani

All-around entertainer Normani combines R&B, pop, and dance music with a strong personality that shines through whether she’s solo or featuring artists ranging from sensitive fellow singer/songwriters to tough rappers. She gained fame in the early 2010s as a member of the platinum pop group Fifth Harmony. Hits scored with Khalid (the Top Ten single “Love Lies”), Sam Smith (U.K. Top Three “Dancing with a Stranger”), and Calvin Harris (“Checklist”) quickly established her outside the group, and she capped the 2010s unassisted with the boisterous Top 40 pop hit “Motivation.” Collaborations with Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, and ballads such as “Fair” and “1:59,” preceded the arrival of Dopamine (2024), Normani’s long-awaited first solo album. Born in Atlanta, Normani Kordei Hamilton was raised in New Orleans until 2005, when Hurricane Katrina prompted her family to move to Houston. Normani had been performing for several years when, in 2012, she competed on the second season of The X Factor USA, which led to the formation of Fifth Harmony. The group’s albums Reflection (2015), 7/27 (2016), and Fifth Harmony (2017) all debuted within the Top Ten, and the first two went platinum, making them one of the biggest pop acts of the 2010s. The year the self-titled album was released, Normani also appeared in the video for Khalid’s “Young Dumb & Broke.” Shortly thereafter, Khalid and Normani co-wrote and recorded the pop-R&B ballad “Love Lies” for the soundtrack of Love, Simon. Released on RCA in February 2018, the song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 four months later at number nine. Normani rounded out the year appearing on tracks by Quavo (“Swing”) and Jessie Reyez (the “Body Count” remix), as well as issuing a collaborative two-song EP with Calvin Harris, simply titled Normani x Calvin Harris. In the midst of preparing her solo debut album, Normani released another hit duet, this time with Sam Smith. Produced by Jimmy Napes and Stargate, “Dancing with a Stranger” rose into the Top Three in the U.K. The stand-alone single “Motivation” arrived in August 2019, cracking the U.K. Top 30 and landing at number 33 pop in the U.S. (number nine on the Dance Club Songs chart). She then paired with Megan Thee Stallion for “Diamonds,” off the 2020 Birds of Prey soundtrack, and released 2021′s “Wild Side” featuring Cardi B, which hit number 14 on the pop chart. “Fair,” followed by “New to You” (a collaboration with Calvin Harris, Tinashe, and Offset), arrived in 2022, though it wasn’t until 2024 that Normani issued her debut LP, Dopamine. ~ Andy Kellman