Normani is coming! On Wednesday, the singer announced her long-awaited debut album, Dopamine.
"cryingg typing this rn," the 27-year-old songstress captioned the Instagram post unveiling both the name and cover art for the upcoming album. "DOPAMINE THE ALBUM."
The reveal has been a long time in the making for both fans and the musician. It's been nearly six years since Normani and her Fifth Harmony group members -- originally comprised of Lauren Jauregui, Dinah Jane, Camila Cabello, and Ally Brooke -- announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus to "purse solo endeavors" back in March 2018. At the time, Normani told ET that the group's decision was "very scary."
"And heartbreaking for me personally. The first day that we even put out the announcement for the hiatus, it was the toughest day," she added. "So many people saying, 'Oh my god, what happened? What's wrong?' Just having that attention on something that you already know is real and the fact that now everybody else knows it's real, it's like, 'Wow, this is really happening.'"
Since then, the singer's solo career has consisted of sporadically released singles over the last several years, although most drops have been met with much acclaim. Her 2019 breakout hit, "Motivation," was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, earned a Diamond certification in Brazil and landed on various publications' year-end lists. It was even named one of the songs that defined the 2010s by iHeartRadio and was ranked as the 79th greatest song of the 2010s by Crack Magazine.
She also released a two-song EP with Calvin Harris in 2018, collaborated with 6lack, Sam Smith, and joined the Birds of Prey soundtrack with "Diamonds" alongside Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.
More recently, she released "Wild Side" with Cardi B in 2021 and "Fair" in 2022.
The upcoming release of Dopamine follows a change in management. Last August, Rolling Stone reported that Normani parted ways from S10 Entertainment's Brandon Silverstein in May 2023 and linked up with Brandon Creed, who recently launched his own management company, Good World Management, and Lydia Asrat.
Per the outlet, Creed is known for managing stars such as Charli XCX, Troye Sivan and Mark Ronson, among others. Asrat -- who was named Forbes' 30 under 30 in 2022 and co-managed and A&R'd Doja Cat from 2017 until March 2022 -- currently manages Coco Jones and several other artists under her 10Q Management company.
"With new music on the horizon, and Asrat and Creed now at the helm of her musical career, she and the rest of her team are extremely excited to embark on this new chapter and partnership," a rep for Normani told Rolling Stone. "She wishes Silverstein all the best."
While the long wait for her debut album made Normani the subject of many memes, the delay came amid personal burdens for the singer.
In June 2023, she revealed that her father, Derrick Hamilton, was diagnosed with cancer one year after her mother, Andrea, battled cancer for a second time.
Normani made the revelation in a promotional collaboration with Bose, in which she opened up about how music has been a safe haven for her and her family.
"[When my mom was going through chemo] the thing that really kept her going was getting on FaceTime and being like, 'How are the sessions going?' She's always so eager to hear the new records we've been working on," she said. "And then a year later when my dad ended up being diagnosed, he would say mid-treatment, 'I'm ready for you to take over the world.'"
It's unclear if Derrick is still battling cancer. Andrea underwent cancer treatment when Normani was only four years old. After being in remission for nearly two decades, Normani announced in October 2020 that the cancer had returned.
In July 2021, Normani opened up to Power 106 about how important it was to put out new music during Andrea's battle with breast cancer, particularly the hit track "Wild Side," featuring Cardi B.
"This past year, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer," Normani said. "For me, this work that I was able to put out into the world really saved me, to be completely honest. Even just being on FaceTime with her as she's going through her chemo and her radiation, and just wanting me to update her on how this video is going, and how the music is coming, it really got her through that. It got my family through the darkest time of our lives."
"For it to happen all over again, in such a pivotal and heightened moment for my career... there's so many moments I was like, 'I need to be at home' and I felt guilty for not being able to be physically there with her," the "Checklist" singer continued. "I remember being in the doctor's office with her after she had her surgery in October. She's like, 'Baby, I'm gonna be fine. What I need you to do is focus. I need you to be Normani. I need you to be the best version of yourself. I need you to continue to work hard. We gotta get this music out. We have the world to impact.' She was just like, 'I'm gonna be fine.' Anything that my mom says, to be completely honest, I believe."
A month later, she announced on Twitter that her mother "had her final round of radiation."
As of now, Dopamine has no release date but fans can pre-save the album on Spotify and Apple Music.
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