Normani "1906" (2018-2019), the Scrapped Debut Album
After Fifth Harmony makes their official disbandment in 2018 after 6 years of being together, Normani begins her own journey to reclaim her identity, narrative, and set the foundations of a solo career.
Normani would record songs with Stargate, Monsters&Strangerz, Missy Elliot, Boi-1da, BlaqN'Mild, write with frequent collaborators Victoria Monet and Tayla Parx (who she would work with in the group) along with other songwriters like Ester Dean and Sarah Aarons. These notable R&B and pop producers who've helped create hits for artists like Beyonce, Rihanna, Aaliyah, Drake, and other artists.
Normani as a new solo artist would begin her journey of self discovery and go on interviews claiming that she wanted to bring it back to the 90s and early 2000s which are her favorite time of music. Normani at this point in her journey has to reintroduce herself to the world as a new artists even though she has been within the public eye for many years except this time she can sing and write her own songs, set the tone for her own career, and control her own story.
Normani would set the album where it all started for her... New Orleans.
“My Mom was raised in the same house in New Orleans that I was raised in as a little girl. I want to shed light on my truth,”... (Normani, 2018, The Fader)
“This is a city that I’ve grown to love so much, and it means everything to me,” says Normani. It’s here where, at age 3, she sat on the floor of her grandmother’s living room, watching Annie, and declared to her mother, “I want to do that.” (Normani, 2019, Billboard Magazine)
Normani while originally born in Atlanta, Georgia would spend her early childhood in New Orleans, Louisiana living in her grandmother's house which her mother grew up in. However at the age of 9, Hurricane Katrina would impact New Orleans which forced Normani and her family to evacuate and start anew.
“I remember my mom asking, when we were in traffic, ‘Do you want to go to Dallas or do you want to go to Houston?’” They had family in Dallas, but then Normani remembered something. “I was like, ‘Isn’t Beyoncé from Houston?’ [My mother] was like, ‘Yeah.’ So I said, ‘OK, let’s go to Houston,’” and her father, grandmother, mom, dog and two turtles all moved there. “That felt like some sort of destiny.” (Normani, 2019, Billboard Magazine)
"...She traces the arc of her emotions back to the origin point. She’s is coming back to herself, learning how to be Normani again." ("Normani's true self", The Fader, 2018)
What we know of this album is that Normani would be creating R&B and pop records with smooth vocals and production. Songs have leaked over the years, like Stargate teased "Make It Hard", Parade, Black Woman, and many others that have been believed to be recorded at this time show this.
Normani was also rumored to have records with Daniel Caeser, Nicki Minaj, SZA, and Big Freedia. The album would have been packed with features that complimented Normani's tone and energy, allowing herself to explore her range in artistry and reach. Black Woman a record that's co-penned by Victoria Monet is an anthem for black girls and women across the world who are often underrepresented, disrespected, and tokenized within their own communities and by others. A record like this would have been especially impactful considering what Normani had been through in the summer of 2016 when the fanbase of one of her former bandmates racial cyberbullied her on social media for a misrepresentation of her own words and actions that were deemed "shady" and "rude".
An anthem that not only reminds Normani but other black girls and women across the world that they are beautiful and blessings would have definitely caused conversations that would have hopefully created positive changes within the black community and give Black women another anthem that they can listen to, to uplift their spirits and pass down onto their children to remind them that no matter what the world may say or how it will treat them, they are perfect and deserve respect, love, and care.
“There’s so much that I have to get off my chest,” she says. “And there’s a responsibility I have as a black woman — one of the very few to have the power to kill it. Even in the mainstream, there’s not many of us. Especially chocolate girls. Like, being African-American is one thing, but girls [with] my complexion” — she gestures to the back of her hand for emphasis — “it’s unheard of. It’s me, and SZA. Who else?” (Normani, 2019, Billboard Magazine)
While there are so many details that can be talked about regarding this version of the album, such as Normani's proposed idea to shot the album cover in the New Orleans bayou, the projected release date of Q1 2019, and many collaborations. What we do know is that had the album came out in the original date it was supposed to, this album could've been a solid debut for Normani to start her solo career.
Let's not even talk about how this album most likely went through two different versions, such as the more pop oriented version of the album that was being created in 2019. But that can be another post for a different day....
But we also have to understand that there were most likely many things out of Normani's control such as the industry and within Normani's personal life that led to her scrapping this version of the project. While many will claim that the 2019 version of the album that had Motivation attached to it would have been her claim to stardom and pop dominance. We should acknowledge the version of this album she originally was working on before the song even came into question, and the potential this project could have had, and how it could have changed the state of her career.
