The 'X-Factor' stars formed their group in 2012 before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2018.
Normani is opening up about her tumultuous time as a group member of Fifth Harmony alongside Ally Brooke, Camila Cabello, Dinah Jane and Lauren Jauregui.
In a lengthy profile for The Cut, the 27-year-old singer recalls her experience as 1/5 of the wildly successful girl group. Fifth Harmony was formed in 2012, after the five girls competed on The X-Factor. In 2016, Cabello announced her decision to leave the group, and two years later, Normani, Jane, Jauregui and Brooke shared that the band was going on an indefinite hiatus, in order for them to focus on their solo endeavors.
The "Wild Side" singer calls the group "a blessing that also traumatized her," referring to her time in the group as "a prison sentence ordered and duly served."
"I didn't want to be at the forefront. It wasn't until later that I started feeling like a token," she tells the outlet of her thoughts after being told she wasn't ready for a solo career by the X-Factor judges. She later admits that she was trying to hide, which isn't the first time Normani has admitted to using the group to do so.
Normani recalls the alleged non-reaction from L.A. Reid's label Epic Records via Syco Music after a 2016 incident where she awoke to death threats in her inbox and messages from strangers referring to her as "Normonkey." The racist messages were seemingly a reaction to Normani casually describing Cabello as "quirky" and "cute" in an interview, which fans, who sensed tension between the girls, interpreted it as a dig.
Andrea Hamilton tells The Cut that she remembers "seeing my daughter's face Photoshopped on bodies of people being whipped" on social media.
"We just continued to do shows, and I was fearing for my life," Normani claims. "But they continued to put me out there on the stage. It was pretty much like, 'The show goes on.'"
The singer admits that the experience fractured her relationship not only with the label, but with journalists, the other girls in the group, and with those calling themselves their fans. "It was probably the lowest point for me," she says of that summer.
A few years later, Cabello's racist Tumblr posts from the early days of the group resurfaced on social media. In an interview with Rolling Stone in February 2020, Normani responded to the incident with a lengthy email, explaining that she didn't want her words to be misconstrued. She pointed out that she actually faces "senseless attacks daily" as a Black woman.
"Direct and subliminal hatred has been geared towards me for many years solely because of the color of my skin," she wrote. "It would be dishonest if I said that this particular scenario didn't hurt me. It was devastating that this came from a place that was supposed to be a safe haven and a sisterhood, because I knew that if the tables were turned I would defend each of them in a single heartbeat."
Normani then criticized how Cabello initially handled the situation, including the racist messages she says she received while they were still part of Fifth Harmony.
"It took days for her to acknowledge what I was dealing with online and then years for her to take responsibility for the offensive tweets that recently resurfaced," she added. "Whether or not it was her intention, this made me feel like I was second to the relationship that she had with her fans."
"I really hope that an important lesson was learned in this," Normani wrote. "I hope there is genuine understanding about why this was absolutely unacceptable. I have spoken what is in my heart and pray this is transparent enough that I never have to speak on it again. To my brown men and women, we are like no other. Our power lies within our culture. We are descendants of an endless line of strong and resilient kings and queens. We have been and will continue to win in all that we do simply because of who we are. We deserve to be celebrated, I deserve to be celebrated and I'm just getting started."
But Normani is looking to the future now, including the release of her long-awaited debut album, Dopamine.
The singer revealed the upcoming album back in February, nearly six years after Normani and her Fifth Harmony group members announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus.
At the time, Normani told ET that the group's decision was "very scary."
"And heartbreaking for me personally. The first day that we even put out the announcement for the hiatus, it was the toughest day," she added. "So many people saying, 'Oh my god, what happened? What's wrong?' Just having that attention on something that you already know is real and the fact that now everybody else knows it's real, it's like, 'Wow, this is really happening.'"
Since then, the singer's solo career has consisted of sporadically released singles over the last several years, although most drops have been met with much acclaim. Her 2019 breakout hit, "Motivation," was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, earned a Diamond certification in Brazil and landed on various publications' year-end lists. It was even named one of the songs that defined the 2010s by iHeartRadio and was ranked as the 79th greatest song of the 2010s by Crack Magazine.
She also released a two-song EP with Calvin Harris in 2018, collaborated with 6lack, Sam Smith, and joined the Birds of Prey soundtrack with "Diamonds" alongside Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.
More recently, she released "Wild Side" with Cardi B in 2021 and "Fair" in 2022.
While the long wait for her debut album made Normani the subject of many memes, the delay came amid personal burdens for the singer.
In June 2023, she revealed that her father, Derrick Hamilton, was diagnosed with cancer one year after her mother, Andrea Hamilton, battled cancer for a second time.
In an interview with Who What Wear, Normani shared that when her mother told her the news, the first thing she did was recognize for herself, "F**k all of this. This is bigger than the music. It's bigger than what I'm trying to accomplish. This is life or death. All I wanted to do was be there for them."
The singer said that her parents' cancer diagnoses forced her to think about her own purpose as an artist, allowing her to gain perspective on how she wanted to move forward in the future. "Honestly, music got them through the cancer treatments. I remember being on FaceTime with my mom while she was undergoing chemo and her asking me, 'How's the studio today? How's the music coming?'" she told the outlet. "As hard as it was for me to not be with them as much as I wanted to, ultimately, pushing through made the circumstances of the last few years feel a bit lighter for my parents."
"It was in those moments with my parents that made me realize that I have an opportunity to make an impact in this lifetime," she added. "I know everything I've been through isn't in vain. There's always something that God wants me to see in the season. It's all in service of making me better for all that he actually has in store for me."
And there are four people who are as excited as Normani's fans to see that impact come to fruition: her Fifth Harmony girls.
After the "Motivation" singer announced the news of her highly anticipated debut album, her former group members took to the comments to share their excitement.
Cabello reacted with a series of rocket emojis.
Brooke replied with a series of pink heart emojis and a hand clap.
"There she is," Jane added with a series of flame emojis and a pouty face.
"Let's gooooo," Jauregui wrote.
Normani took notice of the love, and replied to a tweet calling out the girls' support with blue hearts.
Dopamine will be available to stream on June 14.
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