Making a brief foray into the mainstream in 2019 with the mostly lackluster “Small Talk” video for Katy Perry (though, to be fair, it was also a lackluster song), Ukrainian-with-Cuban-ties Tanu Muino is making 2021 the year of her iconic “rap-pop” video. Starting with Cardi B’s “Up,” Muino clearly got a referral to Normani from Belcalis for a video that can best be described as “WAP 2.0” (incidentally, Normani did make a cameo in “WAP”) during the time it also took her direct Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”
Incorporating the same surrealistic, high-fashion elements that are clearly a staple of Muino’s style (or the people she chooses to work with), Normani has eight different segments and therefore eight different ensembles (one being a total lack thereof) to go with those scene changes. Each portion is a testament to Muino’s own rapidly developing aesthetic as she delves deeper into the world of American pop culture while still trying to sustain some aura of opulent elegance. Her most similar “competition” of the moment would have to be another Cardi and Thee Stallion favorite, Colin Tilley (yes, the director of “WAP”).
To best describe the video, one ought to break it down by the costume changes. We start in a room where Normani attempts (and mostly succeeds in) being her own modern art piece while wearing a black cutout number with thigh-high boots (an ideal bondage looQue). This intercuts with her in a purple mini dress with coordinating arm-length gloves as she writhes on the floor in front of her backup dancers.
From there, we transition to her “La Isla Bonita”-inspired red dress with a matching ice cube-type headpiece. Normani then gets pushed up through the ceiling to appear on the rooftop of the Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts in an ultra 00s outfit complete with black cargo-style pants and a bra top with a cropped shoulder-padded jacket. Her dance moves here are particularly standout as she has the open-air environment to fully maximize them. Unlike the confined environment of the comically petite helicopter she appears in next to showcase the latest outfit: a leopard mini dress with matching hat and boots.
As the glass of the helicopter’s windshield cracks, we cut to Normani standing in a jeweled bikini that leaves little to the imagination among a backdrop of mirrors reminiscent of the style Madonna employed in the video for “Hollywood” (itself taken from the Guy Bourdin school of photography). She’s soon “twinning” to do a scissoring sort of floor dance that Cardi and Megan only wished they could have achieved during their Grammys performance earlier this year.
Leading up to a total state of undress with that bikini, Normani now appears naked next to Cardi. Having already worked with the other half of “WAP,” Megan Thee Stallion, on “Diamonds” (from the iconic Birds of Prey Soundtrack), it seems a natural progression that Normani should make her way to the next bi-curious (at least when it comes to music video visuals) bia in the duo. Indeed, it seems she’s been waiting her entire career for a collaboration as “saucy” as this. And yes, one has to admit “WAP” comes across as far tamer now, especially considering the majority of the lyrics in the song induce laughter rather than horniness. Not so with “Wild Side” and its sensual, extrapolated-from-Aaliyah rhythm. Cardi appears at the two minute, thirty-four second mark in her standard attire: nothing at all. Treating the hanging chain in the shot like the pole she’s long been accustomed to, Cardi “lets” Normani occasionally appear nude in the scene with her so that they can embrace and caress each other for erotic effect.
This mood is cut short with costume eight: sheer white pants and another “bra top” with crisscrossed straps. Meant to emulate the plastic sheets usually put up during a house’s construction or remodel, this is the precise backdrop Normani and her dancers deliver their final moves in front of (or rather, some diaphanous white curtains that look like plastic sheets). Almost as though to subtly indicate you’re dealing with such a wet ass pussy in need of a wild sex ride, you’re going to need to put in Patrick Bateman/Dexter level preparation into making sure the space doesn’t get too dirty with all the fluids about to splash around.
Like Britney Spears, Normani has made no secret of dancing being her “first passion” (as was evident in her breakout solo hit, “Motivation,” co-written by Ariana Grande). That much shines through in yet another video (apart from SZA’s “Hit Different”) that harkens back to the 00s for its emphasis on choreo that can’t be so easily emulated on TikTok. And that’s thanks to the return of Normani’s choreographer for “Motivation,” Sean Bankhead.
For those who might also notice the choreographic similarities to Aaliyah videos like “Try Again” and “Rock the Boat,” Normani seems aware of the parallel as well, which is perhaps why she chose to sample from the too-soon-gone chanteuse’s mid-90s hit, “One in a Million.” A phrase that seems apropos to describe the career trajectory Normani’s is about to take after her long-awaited debut album comes out (much to fellow ex-Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello’s dismay). Especially if she keeps asking Muino to help her create the visuals that will become forever associated with the songs.
