Single of the Week: Normani's "Motivation"

Normani has been one-patient superstar.

Three years ago, the seemingly ubiquitous girl-group, Fifth Harmony, announced their split, with Camilla Cabello as the catalyst. It’s easy to understand how this happened. Cabello, with her string of well-marketed collaborations and the Latina-influenced ‘Havana’, proved she was the Beyoncé of the group, achieving more success in a year than the group did in their half-decade run.

To their demise, all of the other members of Fifth Harmony raced to fill the role of Kelly Rowland, releasing flop after flop after flop. Except for Normani.

By limiting her releases to exclusively collaborations with other high-profile artists, Normani was able to successfully build hype for a monster debut. And a monstrous debut it was.

“Motivation” with its melodic build and slick instrumentation is built to stick around, for years.

The nostalgia is absolutely real on this radio-friendly banger, with hooks reminiscent of 2000’s bubble-gum pop. The twerking-friendly-beat along with the song’s urban flare ultimately showcase Normani on the same level as Pussycat Dolls in their prime time.

The music video is equally as iconic. A young Normani watches future Normani on an antiquated tv, as the real music video begins to play out. Here, Normani makes two bold references through costuming, setting and choreography: one to Crazy in Love & one to …Baby One More Time.

While these two songs hold strong places in the public consciousnesses, there’s a reason why Normani didn’t opt for an Oops… I Did It Again reference or a Single Ladies one.

By referencing these two strong, debut singles – it seems like Normani’s trying to communicate to the viewer that she’s got longevity, enough to become an everlasting pop-princess like a Spears or a Yoncé.  

It’s a bold statement. But, I think I back it.