Normani Kordei Hamilton born May 31, 1996) is an African-American/Indian-American/French-American singer, dancer and model. She is a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, alongside Lauren Jauregui, Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane, and formerly, Camila Cabello. Normani is a Mezzo-Soprano with 4 octaves and 3 notes and the third-youngest out of the original members.
Hamilton has been singing and dancing since four years old. Her main musical influences are Aretha Franklin, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, and Jennifer Hudson. She considered herself as a singer of Soul and Gospel until she was incorporated in a girl group. Hamilton has won a number awards and honors. Before The X Factor she competed in the Miss Texas and made it to the final but decided to audition for The X Factor. During the program she had a great friendship with Arin Ray. There have been many rumors about a romantic relationship between the two, but both of them have denied. This has caused a conflict with the show and Simon Cowell. Hamilton also played the role of Bryn in a short film called “Book,” which deals with bullying and social prejudice. “There’s definitely a lot of pressure on us, being part of the team of Simon Cowell, because he is one of the most respected search engine talent in the world,” says Hamilton. “The fact that they believe in our potential as a group is a great achievement.” Hamilton has modeled for brands such as Target and has also made appearances on the catwalk.
Normani says she’s a very shy and private person, but when it comes to perform on stage she’s a different person, “She (Beyoncé) says that she’s a very shy person, when she’s Beyoncé but when she gets on stage she’s Sasha Fierce. So when I’m on stage I pretend like I’m Beyoncé”. She does not like social media, due to her being private in real life.
Like most of the other girls, Normani’s first bootcamp wasn’t shown. Therefore, it is unknown what she had sung, until a fan revealed on Twitter that she sang “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys — Lauren Jauregui’s audition song. Normani sang What Makes You Beautiful against Arin Ray. Throughout this time, the two showed mild affection. The judges enjoyed both of their performances. Particularly Demi, who thought Normani was great. She was eliminated but then placed in Fifth Harmony.
Outside of Fifth Harmony, Normani has demonstrated her talents as a solo artist by releasing several covers to SoundCloud and YouTube for her fans; Say It by Tory Lanez, Fake Love / Sneakin’ by Drake and Don’t Touch My Hair / Cranes in the Sky by Solange Knowles. Alongside this, before she auditioned for the X Factor, she released a video cover to YouTube of Beyoncé’s Best Thing I Never Had. She has also appeared in dance videos by the group’s choreographer, Sean Bankhead.
Normani released her debut single, “Love Lies” with Khalid from the Love, Simon soundtrack on 14 February 2018, making her the last of the group to release a solo single. The song reached over 50 million Spotify streams in less than a month, and debuted at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as entering the top forty in the UK. The song’s music video has also been successful, making it onto YouTube’s trending page and reaching over ten million views in several weeks. These statistics collectively name “Love Lies” the most successful Fifth Harmony solo single as of March 2018.
In April 2018, it was announced that Normani had signed to Keep Cool/RCA Records for her solo debut studio album. Normani confirmed she was working on an upcoming music collaboration with Missy Elliott. In May 2018, it was announced that she signed to a modeling contract with Wilhelmina. Over the next few months, Billboard confirmed Normani was collaborating with Calvin Harris and Kehlani. In August 2018, Normani was featured on Jessie Reyez’s remix of her song “Body Count” alongside Kehlani. She then featured with Davido on the song “Swing” from Quavo’s album Quavo Huncho (2018).
