Summary: The Scientist explores two albums created by talented black women. These albums are named after chemicals; Traumazine & Dopamine. This entry aims to describe how each chemical reaction affects them personally whilst discussing the effects of misogynoir, colourism and featurism in the music industry.
Why I wrote this?: I listen to Both Megan Thee stallion and Normani's music frequently, each one affects me differently and I've had personal experience with each chemical reaction that the albums are based on.
Sidenote: I know "Traumazine" is not a real chemical, I don't wanna hear anyone drag me for being a "scientist" and not knowing that. But for the purposes of this blog entry walk with me.
Content Warning: This blog contains themes of grief, domestic violence, abuse, colourism, and misogynoir. Please read with caution.
Section 1.
Background of the Traumazine album and lawsuit with former label:
In 2020, Megan Thee Stallion filed a lawsuit against her now former record label 1501 Certified Entertainment to renegotiate her contract, after her management company Roc nation found discrepancies within the contract. I vividly remember the internet clowning and criticizing her for "not having fully read her contract" despite her only being in her early 20's when she first signed. It was truly jarring seeing people on social media suddenly act like lawyers and claiming that only a fool would sign a record deal without properly reading the contract. Mind you, these are the same people who probably didn't read the terms and conditions of the same phone they were using to type out rubbish and abuse towards Megan.
Since then, the rapper has been on a long and exhausting legal battle with the label owner Carl Crawford, who attempted to block multiple opportunities for Megan such as: trying to stop the release of the iconic 2021 collab with BTS on their hit song Butter remix ft Thee Hot girl coach and attempting to stop the release of her ep Suga back in March 2020.
When Something for the Hotties was released in 2021 the record label didn't recognize it as an album, because it has 29 minutes of new material instead of 45, so the rapper would have to release two more albums in addition to Something. This caused Megan to file another lawsuit against the label claiming that Something respects the definition of an album with at least 45 minutes of material (it was a great album that still gets played in my household).
August 11, 2022, Megan took to X ( formally known as twitter) to announce that her second studio album Traumazine would be released the next day. The rapper expressed her disappointment and emotional distress she was facing in releasing her music. Finally, October 19, 2023, Megan was officially freed from her abusive record label.
Violence and misogynoir in the music industry:
I still remember when Megan first opened up on Instagram live about being shot by Tory Lanez. Like clock-work, people doubted her, defended Tory and joked about her pain and abuse all over social media. As a survivor of domestic violence myself this hits close to home, for years I have been terrified to report my abuser to the police because I was scared that no one would believe me.
In the end, washed up rapper, Lanez was found guilty in December 2022 on all three counts of felonies: assault with a semiautomatic firearm, discharging a firearm with gross negligence, and carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle. August 8, a judge in Los Angeles sentenced the abuser to 10 years in prison. However, to this day there's still online discourse with misogynistic LAMEZ supporters that refuse to believe Megan. To the supporters of that leprechaun; don't type her nothing else, don't write her nothing else. Download jpay since yall have so much to say, or schedule a conjugal visit or something. You dick riding ass n*****
My thoughts on the album
Traumazine is a beautifully made album, exploring a range of topics such as grief, anxiety, empowerment, sexuality, self expression, and overcoming in the face of intense trauma. I appreciate Megan's vulnerability on songs like anxiety, flip flop, not nice, where Megan opens up about the loss of her parents and where the current state of her mental health is. It frustrates me when critiques on her music are things like "she doesn't change her flow and all she raps about is pussy". First of all there's nothing wrong with rapping about pussy. She is a grown woman that is allowed to express their sexuality in their art. Secondly, this is simply not true as Thee Grammy award winner has shown time and time again that she has the range and it clearly shows that her biggest critics are not listening to her music like that (even though we know they're still tuned in). Megan's pen game is simply unmatched and she's able to switch her flow about four, five times in one song - see gift & a curse or even the spooky Halloween classic; scary featuring Rico Nasty (one of my faves)
Megan Thee Stallion is a true visionary, who created a word that perfectly describes how trauma chemically changes the brain and using it to make music as a creative outlet is very Aquarius energy of her, it's truly inspiring. The science nerd in me loves this so much.
Megan is a survivor, who was forced to deal with her trauma in the public eye, this came with a lot of backlash as the public made her trauma a "joke" as she was a constant target for harassment online. It's made worse due to featurism and being an unambiguous black woman. Despite this she's been able to overcome all odds and people that were praying on her downfall and wishing her the worst were not able to stop her from achieving greatness.
Section 2.
How the chemical "Dopamine" empowered Normani
This section explores Normani's debut album "dopamine" and her journey navigating the music industry as a dark skin black woman.
Background and development of Normani as an artist:
At the tender age of 16, Normani first came on the scene as a member of popular group, Fifth Harmony, formed during the second season of The X factor in 2012. As Fifth Harmony announced it's indefinite hiatus in 2018, plans of Normani's debut studio album first came about in July as the singer announced that she had her album title ready, to which fans like myself were super excited.
Eight singles were released between 2018-2022, including a pop classic Motivation (2019). This was supposed to be her lead single for the debut album but it unfortunately didn't make the final track list.
Fans like myself were eagerly waiting for her debut album and finally on February 21, 2024, Normani announced the title of her highly anticipated debut album, Dopamine (an organic chemical). In her interview with Elle magazine, the singer expressed the album title "represents the highs and the lows [she has] endured" and that she wanted a title that encompassed everything that she felt she went through in her journey to get to this point in her career.
This was a huge moment for Normani, especially with the pressure and expectations she dealt with whilst making the album, as well as the struggling with both of her parents having cancer.
Colourism and misogynoir in the music industry:
Being the only dark skin black woman in Fifth Harmony, she faced colourism and misogynoir. I remember Camila Cabello stans hurling racist abuse towards Normani on social media, twitter was especially bad for that. Despite this her former bandmate Camila never once spoke out in defense of Normani. This came as no surprise as Camila's old tumblr posts resurfaced where she used the N word multiple times, mocked Black and Asian people and also made fun of Rihanna being abused by a violent and well known abuser Chris Brown.
In an interview with Billboard, she talks about her struggles she faced as a dark skin black woman, which she expressed that it affected her self-confidence and made her feel alone. She recalled a time she would cry in studio sessions because whilst the other members had solos, Normani was the only one restricted to background vocals on the song No way.
Growing up, I remember loving Normani because as a young black girl I was able to see myself in her. It really pains me seeing the online abuse she faced, 2012-2016 social media was a terrible time for dark skin black girls and femmes, we were constantly the butt of many jokes, I remember many comments about how dark skin girls shouldn't wear bright lipstick, derogatory comments of our hair and many comparisons to animals. Without doubt, this affected my self esteem and confidence growing up, honestly I only really started falling in love with my skin five years ago. I can’t imagine having to deal with that in the spotlight as a young person, and that’s what Normani faced daily.
My thoughts on the album:
Like the name suggests, Dopamine is a feel good album. Her voice is so smooth and sensual, it's truly a pleasure listening to her sing. I believe this was a solid debut album! It's got something for everybody, r&b, pop and music that should be played all over the radio. I enjoyed experimental songs like take my time, insomnia, grip, 1:59, tantrums and candy paint!
As someone who was waiting patiently for the album, it was definitely worth the wait. I'm so excited to see her continue to grow and improve. Normani was my fave member in Fifth Harmony because I loved seeing a black girl on screen and in my opinion, she had the most charisma and stage presence. To see her go from my favourite member in the girl group to wowing us with her outstanding debut album makes me so happy, my inner child is beaming right now.
Conclusion:
Both women have gone through significant transformations/metamorphosis and both chemical reactions have had a significant effect on their lives. However, they were able to channel all that energy into making beautiful chemical melodies and musical molecules. Their music not only symbolizes their continued growth as artists but also making them a force to be reckoned with amongst their peers in the music industry and I personally believe that in years to come we will talk about Megan and Normani as iconic artists of their generation.
So I guess the moral of the story is...LEAVE BLACK WOMEN ALONE!!!!
Key words:
- Misogynoir - Term coined by Moya Bailey which describes systemic discrimination, anti-black rhetoric and misogyny towards black women.
- Colourism - Discrimination and prejudice towards dark skinned people in the preference of having lighter skin.
- Featurism - Discrimination and prejudice against afro-centric features in preference of euro-centric features
Written by The Scientist
References:
- Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Traumazine. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traumazine#:~:text=Lyrically%2C%20Traumazine%20contains%20themes%20related%20to%20self-expression%2C%20the,women%2C%20death%2C%20and%20overcoming%20difficult%20moments%20in%20life.
- Romano, A. (2022, December 12). The Megan Thee Stallion-Tory Lanez trial: Why it’s so important. Vox. https://www.vox.com/culture/23494788/megan-thee-stallion-tory-lanez-assault-trial
- Billboard. (2019, January 21). Normani: From Fifth Harmony to solo star. Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/music/features/normani-billboard-cover-story-8492889/
- Nelson, M. (2019, December 19). Camila Cabello apologizes for past racist Tumblr posts: Here's what happened. Cosmopolitan. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a30282281/camila-cabello-racist-tumblr-posts-controversy-apology-explained/
Help resources:
- National Domestic Violence Helpline (UK): Phone: 0808 2000 247, Website: National Domestic Violence Helpline
- Women's Aid Federation (UK): Phone: 0808 2000 247, Website: Women's Aid
- Men’s Advice Line (UK): Phone: 0808 801 0327, Website: Men’s Advice Line
- National Domestic Violence (USA): Phone: 1-800-799-7233 Website: The National Domestic Violence Hotline
- RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) USA: Phone: 1-800-656-4673, Website: RAINN
- Domestic Violence Resource Center:, Website: Domestic Violence Resource Center
- Loveisrespect (for young people): Website: Loveisrespect
- International Domestic Violence Helpline: Website: International Domestic Violence Helpline