Normani Gets Candid About Being in Fifth Harmony: 'I Don't Feel Like Anyone Saw the Truest Version of Me'

Normani is on the cover of The Fader‘s Now issue, out now.

Here’s what the 23-year-old “Motivation” singer had to say…

On how being a member of Fifth Harmony restricted her as an artist: “I don’t feel like while I was in the group anyone saw the truest version of me. I wasn’t allowed the opportunity to showcase that…I’m not able to go in in the way that I want to [because] of what the group was.”

On feeling alienated following an incident that resulted in racist, hateful comments from fans: “[The girls] offered support, but I’m not sure they could be there in the way that I needed because it’s not their experience…they don’t have to face on a day-to-day basis the things that I have to. I definitely learned after that that I had to walk a different way. I can’t look like everybody else.”

On the personal significance of her forthcoming album: “I’m doing this as therapy for me…to be able to get to know myself in a way that hasn’t even been revealed yet, to be vulnerable in a way that I haven’t been before. I want this to be like a diary of all women — to reflect and showcase the many layers of us. We’re not one-dimensional.”

For more from Normani, head to TheFader.com.