Normani last released an album in 2017 as part of her former girl group, Fifth Harmony, and some fans are getting tired of waiting for new music from her. In fact, some fans are so frustrated that they took to Twitter to accuse her of having no more drive to create music. One user got as bold as saying they didn’t “see the same passion from her” as they once did in a tweet that has since been deleted, per Billboard. This sparked another person to reply, “What happens when you’ve gotten comfortable and you’re not HUNGRY anymore.”
just shut the fuck up https://t.co/puMktqrUNR
— Normani (@Normani) August 9, 2022
Normani, 26, saw the thread and she immediately put her foot down. “just shut the f—k up,” she replied in a quote tweet. The tweet divided viewers who saw the Texas native’s response, with some asking people to be kind to her, and others taking it as an opportunity to demand more music. “It’s so interesting that people that have no clue what it’s like to be in the music industry & the complexities that can come with that, but will dish out unwanted & rude opinions all the time smh,” British designer Hayden Williams tweeted underneath Normani’s clap back. “Perhaps it’s not in her control guys. Maybe it’s something the fans are missing?” another person reasoned. However, not everyone was buying it. “we just want some new music from you, we’re not asking for much here,” stated. “you’re the one lying to your fan base every year on your album’s release,” another slammed.
Normani released her debut single, “Motivation”, in 2019, which was meant to support her upcoming debut album. However, she has pushed back the release date time and time again. She last confirmed that she would be releasing her album during the summer of 2022 and then going on tour in a June interview with Bustle. However, the end of summer is nearing, and no word on the album’s official release date has been added.
“I understand that [waiting] might not be the easiest in regards to supporting me, but I think that people really don’t understand, especially coming out of a girl group, what most may have thought was the perfect time for me to release — during ‘Motivation’ — was not it at all because I would’ve put out a body of the work that I wasn’t confident in,” Normani told the publication regarding the delays.
She added, “I had a lot of growing to do. I had a lot of artist development, which I feel like people don’t take seriously. They throw artists on stage completely unprepared. And for me, that mentality was very important. Now, I’ve also been very critical on myself. So I think it’s been a combination of things, but it’s definitely going to be worth the wait.”
Normani has released two solo tracks following “Motivation”: “Wild Side” featuring Cardi B in July 2021 and “Fair” in March. She has also collaborated with several A-listers, including Khalid for 2018’s “Love Lies”, Sam Smith for 2019’s “Dancing With a Stranger”, and Megan Thee Stallion for 2020’s “Diamonds”. She is also featured on Calvin Harris’ single “New to You”, which was released at the end of July.