Normani, 1:59 | Song Review 🎵

While Normani doesn’t reinvent R&B or the wheel on “1:59,” she and featured guest, Gunna, successfully serve up sexy vibes.

“Back on that vibe again / It’s hard to fight again / Shit, we can’t hide again / Ooh, ooh.” Ooh, ooh indeed! We have been waiting, and waiting, and WAITING… R&B singer Normani (Normani Hamilton) has been releasing singles as a solo artist since 2018, long after her Fifth Harmony days. However, a Normani album has been a no-go until 2024. Dopamine, her debut album, arrives June 14, 2024, led by the single, “1:59”.  “1:59” marks her first single in 2024.  Furthermore, it is also her first single since 2022.  The process has been slow. Can “1:59,” which features an assist by Grammy-nominated rapper, Gunna, be the catalyst of superstardom?

Soundly produced contemporary R&B, Tommy Brown and Leather Jackettt stitch up the track for Normani.  The sound of this sexy, slow jam is reminiscent of the 1990s and 00s R&B. “1:59” does not sound ‘brand-new’ or innovative per se, but it is enjoyable, respectable, and sound.  Normani sings superbly, showing off her sultry lower register.  A prime example occurs in the opening line of the first verse: “Phone ringin’, it’s you, I’m on that time.” Sex, sex, sex – that’s what’s going down between these reunited lovers. If the demon time didn’t confirm, the chorus does as Hamilton asserts, “When I get you alone / Boy, what you gon’ do with it? (shh) / Don’t talk too much, just do this shit.” Do this shit is… S meets E and then, they X.  Gunna complements Normani in the second verse, providing a melodic, lustful performance (“Fuckin’, we made love to tunes, fuckin’ shrooms / Lock you to the bed, don’t let you move”).  The script is tried but also, true.  I’m not sold that “1:59” is a record that catalyzes the superstardom of Normani, but, it is a sexy vibe.

Normani // Dopamine // RCA // 6.14.24

[📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; RCA; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]