The 'Wild Side' singer shares her praises for R&B superstar Ciara during her takeover as guest host for 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show.'
Normani is giving flowers to her idols while they're around to enjoy them. On Thursday, the "Wild Side" songstress makes an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she shares her admiration for guest host Ciara, whom she credits for helping shape her growth as both an artist and a woman.
The singer tells Ciara that it "meant a lot" for her to introduce Normani's TV debut of "Wild Side" at this year's MTV VMAs because of how impactful her career -- which spans almost 20 years -- has been to Normani's growth.
"It really meant a lot to me for you to share that moment, you know? You're somebody that I've looked up to forever," the 25-year-old shares. "I've always felt like representation was so key and being a little girl in my grandmother's living room learning the '1, 2 Step' and 'Goodies.' Literally, the earliest memories that I have, you were a part of that. You really helped shape the artist and the woman that I felt like I could be. You really opened my mind to those possibilities."
The confession causes Ciara to tear up, and the two share a sweet moment where the 36-year-old thanks Normani for sharing and they hold hands.
Ciara isn't the only artist Normani has shown her appreciation for recently. During her big night at the 2021 BET Soul Train Awards, the singer explained to ET why she's always happy to pay homage to musicians that paved the way for her success.
"They gave me the opportunity to be the Black girl that I am today and the Black artist and woman that I’ve evolved into," she told ET. "Them giving me representation at an early age for me to be able to, when I was four or five years old, tell my mom and my dad, 'I wanna be like Janet [Jackson]. I wanna dance like Ciara. I wanna be like Beyoncé.' What I’m seeing on the television is who I wanna be and it really opened my mind to the possibilities of who I've had the opportunity of becoming and for me that means absolutely everything."
"Like I said [onstage], for Black women like myself it's not been an easy journey being a woman in a male-dominated field on top of being a Black woman. But, you know, that's my super power," she added.
The singer also told ET that any fans waiting for her debut album should be on the lookout because the "summer is going to be lit."
"I wanna tell you that summer is going to be lit," the singer said when asked about her debut. "We're doing everything! I’m ready to perform, I miss performing."
RELATED CONTENT
