A year after the release of her ’90s-infused “Motivation,” Normani is inviting us to roam in the ferocity of her sexual prowess. With her comeback track “Wild Side,” a hotly-anticipated collaboration with the evermore sex-positive emcee Cardi B, the Fifth Harmony breakout star is delivering us the sultry makings of her solo career.
Vocally, the single casually saunters across Aaliyah’s “One In A Million” sample with ease and appeal — subtly cementing the hailed popstar in the R&B genre. “We can’t just keep talking about it / We think too often about / We can’t just be cautious, I want to get wild,” the 25-year-old smoothly croons in the chorus, atop the percussion-heavy beats. “Take me for a ride boy / Show me your wild side, boy. I wanna get wild.”
Visually, she stuns as always. The performance powerhouse commences the foray into her untamed terrain in a heavily cut-out leotard number with her rear poised to the heavens. From there, the choreography-packed video flows through aesthetically-pleasing scenes (in one, she’s outfitted in leather on a rooftop and seemingly channels Janet Jackson).
Merely covered by her ultra-long strands, Cardi B spits her sexually-riveting verse as she flaunts the glorious backside of her birthday suit (and camouflages her newly-announced belly bump). Beckoning the sexual liberation of WAP, the rapstar explicitly details her erotic desires in bars like, “Baby, let me blow it like a trumpet / I could do it all.” As her and Normani slowly gyrate in the nude, she seals off her evocative lyricism with, “You got to this sh*t in person, believe me.” Trust us, we believe you Cardi!
Most of all, “Wild Side” lives up to its brimming expectations and also sets forth more for the promising songstress. Is she the new era’s sexual provocateur? Or, is she simply carving out her range for us all to awe in? We are only assured that Normani has yet to fail us.
