If you come at the king, you best not miss. Normani may be one of the last artists you ever associate with the gritty street tales of The Wire, but the 25-year-old singer's new video for her Cardi B collaboration "Wild Side" has her back on track to become the next Queen of R&B.
Outside of the song sampling the sparse drums and airy ambiance of Aaliyah's classic "One in a Million," the video is an ode to a time when R&B artists put out daring visuals. In the first 70 seconds, Normani contorts her body all over a crimson red living room in ways no human body should be able to bend, lays majestically unbothered on the ground while the tilting camera sends men sliding around her, and finally elevates into an afrofuturistic land where black leather is the uniform and choreography is just as coordinated. This is before her interlocking leg dance with a mirror version of herself and Cardi B's mostly nude embrace. It did more in the time it takes to send a text than most artists do in multiple music videos.
