Growing up, the house was filled with “good music”: Tina Turner, Toni Braxton, Anita Baker, and whatever was playing on BET’s R&B and hip-hop program, 106 & Park. “She was literally my mom when my mom wasn’t there,” Normani says. Normani Kordei Hamilton was born in Atlanta, Georgia to a flight attendant mother and her father - “a union man.” When she was three months old, they moved the family to New Orleans, where her grandmother looked after her when her parents were traveling for work. Now that that time in her life is behind her, Normani faces another challenge just months out from the release of her debut album: She has to decide which version of herself she wants to introduce to the world. What followed: intense public scrutiny, a rigorous recording and performing schedule, and a messy, public split that ground all that busyness to a halt. The story of Fifth Harmony is one of resilience in which five young women of color formed a girl group manufactured by a wealthy white man on a national television competition show, finished in third place, and was still the most famous act from their season. The importance of this juncture in Normani’s career is not lost on her. I hope to follow in her footsteps one day.” Early in my trip to L.A., Normani brings it up, beaming: “ somebody that I've looked up to for a very long time. While making the rounds this September at New York Fashion Week, Normani landed a short but significant cameo in Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty lingerie show, along with pretty much the highest compliment a rising performer can receive: “NORMANIIIIII you bad BIH!!!! Ugh why can’t I be you,” Rihanna gushed in a tweet after the show. A brass-inflected stadium-pop number, the song and its accompanying video trended at the top of on YouTube upon release, and her subsequent live performance of the track at the 2019 VMAs only served to prolong the feverish online conversation. From March through June, she was on the road with Ariana Grande, opening for the pop star’s Sweetener World Tour before finally releasing her debut single, “Motivation,” in August - her first major release since Fifth Harmony announced an indefinite hiatus in March of last year. The 23-year-old singer, dancer, performer, and former Fifth Harmony member’s mind is still ticking after a very busy year. A professed fan of escape rooms, Normani quickly takes the lead, rifling through some prop luggage and diplomatically suggesting new ideas whenever we get stuck. Moments earlier, we listened to our objective: Alice has been accused of stealing from the Red Queen, and we have an hour to build a case that proves her innocence. It is a hot and sunny fall day on Melrose Boulevard in Los Angeles, and Normani, her crew, and I are in a pocket replica of Wonderland at the city’s #1 ranked escape room company, 60out. We all raise our hands, and a voice crackles from a hidden speaker: “Match the hats to the heads on the walls.” We’ve already consulted the set of instructions we received - a riddle suggests we need to be looking for tea - but are stumped on where to begin. All we’ve found is a set of four kooky-looking hats. “Should we ask for a hint?” Normani asks the room, which is full of friends and handlers, after a couple minutes of searching.
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