- I felt like this was an opportunity for people to see
my sexy and me owning my sexy.
Like, there's so many layers to me as a woman.
And like I said, I wanted to express my femininity.
And I just think that women, I feel like we're superior.
And I think that we're the sexiest creatures alive.
And I just, I wanted to embrace that
and be free in my body and,
allow other people to be able to tap into their sexy
and just authentically and unapologetically be them.
(jazz music)
I always say that "Wild Side" is my pandemic baby.
I created this during a lockdown with my sister Starra.
She is an absolute frigging genius.
And she's able to pull things out of me
that I didn't even know it was there.
But I told her, I was like,
"Yo, I want something that makes me feel sexy."
You know, I'm on my grown woman.
I'm 25 now and I just felt like
out of all the records that we created together,
like there was something missing
in terms of what I wanted people to know about Normani.
I just wanted to let people know
that I am comfortable and I'm confident, you know?
I'm a girl.
I have insecurities.
And so I just, I need to get that record to make me,
make me get in the mood.
I was already rehearsing for the music video
for about three weeks prior to Cardi and I
getting this collaboration together.
I happened to be in the recording studio
in one of my sessions and I called Colin,
who styles both of us.
He styled the music video, great job.
And I was like, "Yo, we gotta do something.
We have to make something happen."
I knew that I wanted her on my project.
I didn't know what record exactly.
And, he called her and was like,
"Yo, Normani wants to do something."
And she said, she was like,
"Yo, is it the "Wild Side" song?
Is it the "Wild Side" song?"
And I was like, "Yo, just do you."
I was like, "Do the shit that Cardi does
because that's all I wanted."
Like, there's something that she can say that I can't say.
It won't come off the same way.
I might be thinking it, but,
I'm not about to be like, "It's my, and I want it now."
So I really wanted that aggression,
which I felt like only she could deliver.
I'm used to having control over things,
which I'm working on.
But I just, I love being empowered,
And I love, like I said,
feeling like the dominant and feeling like I'm in control.
So for me to say, "Shoot your shot 'cause I'm bulletproof.
Load it up and doo doo doo," like, I'm good like,
So what inspired the doo doo doo was
the genius herself, Starra.
I was trying to record this over and over.
If you guys could see or sit in a corner and watch me
record the doo doo doos,
you would probably laugh for a good week.
The swag that she has is unmatched,
to be completely honest with you.
I did my best.
I hope that I did the doo doo doos justice.
But I wanted to keep the integrity of like my Normani vocal,
keeping it RNB, keeping it central.
But that was kinda like me in my bag.
I feel like on my swaggy,
my swaggy shit.
Well, I wanted something that everybody could sing along to.
You know, it's not vocally the most challenging record, but,
I love it so much like I told you before
the backgrounds and all of those little,
doo doo doo, drip drip drip.
Those are fun, it's playful.
I feel like, yes it's a sexy record and,
it has that mood and it has that vibe, but also is playful.
And that's what I wanted.
A record that I felt like I could really shine
and show my personality, and not be taken too seriously.
A woman likes a man that has confidence.
Like approach me, you know?
Respectfully, that's something that I just, I love.
I mean, good girls always like bad boys for some reason.
But I think knowing that a man is confident.
Not cocky, there's a difference.
But confident.
Owning who he is enough to be able to approach a woman.
It's like, don't hesitate.
Like, know who you are own who you are.
Because the fact that you're confident
is gonna make me confident in you and it's gon,
it just looks sexy.
Confidence looks sexy on a man.
Us as women, we know our bodies.
I think when I'm saying don't hesitate when you,
you coaching him through.
You coaching him through it (laughs)
And there's nothing wrong with a woman
educating you on her body.
And I feel like not enough women speak up, you know?
And a lot of the time, aren't fulfilled or satisfied.
But, sometimes
I mean, they just don't know.
Like I said, I'm very comfortable in my skin.
I don't think that this record for me
is something that wasn't always there.
It's just the first time that everybody's tapping into it.
I mean, it's that Janet thing too.
You know, like I'm very shy.
But when you listen to "Any Time Any Place,"
it's like, "Oh she's she owns some shit" (laughs)
I'd be lying to you if I said,
"Take Me For a Ride" was to take me on an adventure (laughs)
Yeah, Nope.
Not the rides you ride at six flags.
That's the thing about this record.
There's so many double meanings and so many play on words.
I mean, when I hear "Fuckin' it up like oopsie-daisy,"
I could be like, I'm fuckin' it up.
Like I'm confident. I know that I'm fuckin' it up.
So I'm letting you know that I'm fuckin' it up.
Or it could be like,
"Fuckin' it up like oopsie-daisy,"
like, oops,
that wasn't supposed to happen.
You just gotta put in the work.
Get your stamina up.
Don't want no lazy.
Put in work.
Rise to the occasion.
Keep your stamina up.
Like,
I mean, I say it in the bridge.
I don't want it one or two times.
I want it a few times like, yes.
Lemme start with sonically.
So sonically, I always
say that I listen to music differently
because I am a dancer, right?
So the way that I create,
the way that I am able to process and digest music,
I hear it differently.
And what I wanted for this particular record,
which ended up happening,
my, (indistinct) he mentioned it.
He was like, "Yo, the way that your body moves,
the importance that I always say that I need
in terms of like the movement in the pocket,
that is also translated
through the vocal and through the melody."
So the way that my body is dancing
is the way that I want it to skate on top of the beat.
I didn't anticipate on the fans blowing me up,
asking me for the extended version like,
I'm such a bridge person and I feel like bridges,
aren't really a thing now.
Like they were in the nineties and early 2000s.
So yes, it feels nostalgic.
But the way that they blew my Twitter up,
clearly it was bag enough because I ended up,
I ended up putting it out like the next day.
They literally had me and my team on the phone
tryna figure this out.
We were like, "Okay, we need to drop it tonight.
'Cause they're not playing any games."
I think that they really don't think that I listened to them
or see them, but I hear them.
I mean, in times of the production,
Jonah Christian, he is such a unicorn.
And I feel like the world needs to know about him.
He, actually took on this section
and he was somebody that I really trusted
'cause I wanted to treat it almost like as a dance break,
which is why it was only in the video version.
It wasn't a part of the original.
I knew what choreography we were gonna do.
And I wanted the vocal to kinda like breathe around that.
I didn't want it to feel too congested because,
like I said, the pocket,
the instrumentation that he added
and incorporated to the bridge was enough.
I feel like that, for me,
the production is supposed to shine just as much as
the vocal and the visual.
It's basically the feature of the record.
I don't treat it as like a background.
I feel like you really have to channel
Cardi delivering this verse because me as Normani,
just won't do it justice.
I really have to tap in.
"Come take me out this Mugler" is probably my favorite line.
Because it's a woman that knows what she wants
and she's demanding.
Like I said, I love being the dominant.
It's like, boy, come here.
Like I'm ready.
What you standing over there waiting for?
When I heard the
"I could probably suck a watermelon through a straw,"
my brain broke.
I was actually scouting locations,
and I heard it on the way to the second location
that we were going to look at, and,
I was just stuck (laughs)
And I was also tryna process and wrap my mind around like,
huh.
How is this physically possible (laughs)
Well, I knew we needed an outro
'cause initially it just felt abrupt.
Like, the record just,
it just kinda ended.
So originally I was supposed to record that,
♪ Pull up in the err mmm Benz ♪
And I didn't sound,
I wasn't feeling it.
But I don't have that much sauce,
but Starra, she fucking killed it.
I love her version way better.
And my version will never see the light of day.
Okay, so there's this one doo doo doo meme,
it's like the ear pods and it's like,
doo doo doo.
Doo doo doo (laughs)
And there was another one.
I think they say like,
when you take a shit or something and it's like,
doo doo doo (laughs)
The Internet's a crazy place, y'all.