After years of anticipation, Normani released her debut album ‘Dopamine’ this week.

Powered by preceding singles ‘1:59’ and ‘Candy Paint,’ the LP sees the star shine with a body of work that is strong, assured, and all sorts of cohesive.

Continuing along the press trail for the set, the 28-year-old spoke with Vogue about finally releasing the album, her breakthrough moment artistically, and working with The Vocal Bible Brandy.

Check out quotes below…

On Finally Releasing Dopamine:

“I think a weight has been lifted, for sure. It’s been such a long journey and process for me, and I know everything that I’ve endured and put into this, so I’m just doing my best to be present and grant myself some grace and celebrate myself.”

On ‘Wild Side’ Being Her Artistic Breakthrough:

“I feel like the first time I defined my own sound was with “Wild Side.” Still, to this day, that’s one of my favorite records that I feel wholeheartedly just represents me and represents stylistically the type of music that made me fall in love with music from a very early age—Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, Timbaland, the nostalgia of it all. I always joke that I feel like I was born in the wrong generation, because my favorite era is undeniably the late ’90s and early 2000s. I started this process a very long time ago, and I’ve learned a lot more about myself not only as an artist, but as a woman too. And I think you can hear that on “Wild Side”—it was a real breakthrough, and one of the first moments where I was like, Oh, wow, this feels authentic. This feels like it really represents where I am.”

On Working with Brandy:

“I actually remember going into the studio with Stargate [a producer on the album] and being like, “I want to do something like this”—like Brandy’s ‘Something’s Missing.’ That was everything I wanted to capture, so she was definitely the inspiration from the very beginning with that song. And then I decided to just shoot my shot, and ask if Brandy could help with the vocal production, because obviously she’s a master of her voice and of vocal production. She’s someone that I’ve always been influenced and inspired by since I was young—she was one of the very first artists that I fell in love with. So it felt like a full-circle moment. The fact that she actually loved the song just as much as I did and believed in it enough to want to jump on it really meant a lot to me. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith.” [Via Vogue]

Click Here To Check out That Grape Juice’s Top 5 Tracks From Normani’s ‘Dopamine’

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