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Normani: ‘In Fifth Harmony we had a lot of things taken away from us’

It’s six years since the former girl group star announced her first solo album. Now – after a breakup, family illness and battles with her label – her vision of ‘divine femininity’ is about to be unveiled

It was a traumatic period that she prefers not to dwell on (not least because the topic of racism has dominated her interviews ever since the group announced their hiatus in 2018), but with the members now on demonstrably better terms, she reflects that all five women struggled to find their voice within the reality show vacuum. Over the years, Normani has stayed visible; collaborations with Sam Smith, Khalid and Megan Thee Stallion have marked her out as a strong team player, while appearances at Rihanna’s 2021 Savage X Fenty beauty show and in the WAP music video demonstrate her undeniable star presence. A rollercoaster may have been a more literal interpretation of her journey, but on her album’s cover, she has plumped instead to depict herself astride a giant rocket, clad in shiny black lingerie, lips gently parted in concentration, poised and totally in control.

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