“F–k all of this. This is bigger than the music,” the 27-year-old singer says. “It’s bigger than what I’m trying to accomplish.”
Normani has opened up about the moment she found out her parents both had cancer, just as she endeavored to begin her solo career.
As her fame was catapulting to the next level in the late 2010s, the former Fifth Harmony member was brought back down to reality, remembering what is most important in life.
In an interview with Who What Wear, Normani shared that while the world was focused on the next stage of her career, her mother and father were privately starting their cancer treatments.
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The 27-year-old recalled the moment her mother told her the news and what went through her mind. “F–k all of this. This is bigger than the music,” she thought. “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,” said the singer.
While her parents were facing their separate cancer battles, Normani said she still needed to continue to make music to get through the dark periods in her life.
Her mom also wanted her to keep chasing that dream.
“Honestly, music got them through the cancer treatments,” said Normani. “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?'”
While her first full-length album is still forthcoming, Normani did release some solo singles, like her Top 10 duets with Khalid (“Love Lies”), Sam Smith (“Dancing with a Stranger”), and Cardi B (“Wild Side”), as well as her own “Motivation” in 2019.
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“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,” she added.
Normani’s mother Andrea Hamilton was diagnosed with breast cancer when Normani was five. Hamilton was cancer free for 19 years before it returned in October 2020. Then, her father Derrick Hamilton was diagnosed with cancer roughly a year after his wife’s latest treatments began.
“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 explained. “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.”
Normani has announced the title of her debut solo studio album, Dopamine. The album does not yet have a release date.
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