User:Guiga321/sandbox

=Waves=

Background
Normani originally performed the song without 6lack at a Tidal X concert in Brooklyn on October 23, 2018. Billboard reported on the performance, calling it "slow-churning" and its hook "intoxicating". Covering the concert, Paper called the song an upcoming single in October. The singer announced the song on Twitter and shared its cover art on November 14. "Waves" premiered on Beats 1 and was released as a single on November 15. Normani explained to Zane Lowe on Beats 1 why she chose to work with 6lack: "He's an amazing lyricist, and I feel like he took the record to a whole other level. I already love the record as is, but he totally exceeded any expectation I even had, which was pretty high, because I admire him as an artist."

"Waves" was serviced to radio and in January 2019 ranked #73 on the Mediabase rhythmic format. On February 9, 2019, Normani posted a teaser of the music video on social media, announcing that it will premiere on February 12.

Development and synopsis
The music video for "Waves" was released on February 12, 2019, and was directed by Emil Nava. The video was shot during two days in Los Angeles city with the choreography elaborated by Sean Bankhead with whom Normani worked since Fifth Harmony. The video has an intergalactic aesthetic and is set in space with "dark, star speckled skies and sandy, rocky beaches" as Daily Mail's Caitlyn Becker noticed on her publication for the website. Josua Espinoza from Complex magazine detailed the visual of the video as "a place lost between space and time."

The video's opening sequence features Normani waking up on a deserted planet next to a white Beats Pill speaker. She performs in various dance sequences in a sheer body suit and slicked-back bun, accompanied by four female dancers wearing identical costumes over a starry sky. It is also intercut with scenes of her performing alone on the surface of a lonely planet where she wears a luminous mini-dress and long braids, the other scenes show Normani caressing a starry silhouette on a diving board in the sky, lying on a mattress floating on the surface of a dark ocean, floating underwater, and disappearing into a star field. 6LACK appears shortly after the two-minute mark, on the surface of the Moon as he and Normani embrace while shooting stars fly past.

A scene of 6LACK in front of a destroyed car is also shown. The clip ends with them holding hands as they lie on mattress floating in the middle of a submerged crater as the camera zooms out. Regarding the video, the editor Trey Alston of MTV News made an observation and perceived that the video deals directly with the lyrics' theme; as Alston pointed out, the gravitational pull of the sun and moon on the Earth causes tidal waves and the video for "Waves" takes place mostly on the moon, instead of in water.

Normani begins the video by waking up lost on a beach, but over time she transitions from the deep blues of clean sea water to the star-peppered skies over the moon.

Recepction
Billboard's Michael Saponara perceived that the choreographed dance moves are amplified in contrast with the special effects implemented by the director Emil Nava. Desiree Murphy of Entertainment Tonight website called the video "dreamy" saying that Normani took the viewers on a "mystical journey through the galaxy" and also complimented the choreography executed by her and the background dancers, writing that the moviments seemed "beautiful and sultry." James Dinh for IHeartRadio and Jordan Darville of The Fader both similarly thought that the clip felt "psychedelic" while writing about it in their respective websites. On Much.com website, Allison Bowsher said that the video was "so freaking good" to watch and also applauded the dancing skills of the singer in the visual, writing that she once again proves herself as "one of the most talented dancers in the music biz." Bowsher later wrote positively about the production of the video and completed her article stating that the clip "deserves an Oscar."

Trey Alston of MTV News wrote that the clip mixes "sexy with sci-fi in ways that seem impossible," for him, Normani's confidence "makes the video a winner." Chloe Gilke from Uproxx made a positive critic about the video writing that the concept and the production values are an "immediate call to attention." For the writer, the music video is a "surreal, intergalactic dream," where Normani proves she's a "phenomenal" dancer for leading a group of "great" matching backup dancers through "alternately fluid and glitching moves."

Live performances
On March 13, 2019, Normani made a performance of "Waves" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. She appeared wearing a black top and high skirt with her hair in a long ponytail, backed by four backup dancers, the performance presented Normani executing the dance moves amidst clouds of smoke and blue lightning while crouched on the floor. 6LACK joined the performance during his verse before Normani brings the song to an end in a cloud of the smoke. MTV News Trey Alston praised the performance saying that the "ocean's mystery was replicated beautifully" on it and called the dancers "brilliant." Questlove, who leads The Tonight Show band, later stated that Normani’s performance on show was one of the "most impressive performance debuts".

Analyzing the performance, a Billboard editor felt that the singer looked "cool and confident" at the performance and noticed that the stage’s blue lighting created an "underwater vibe." "Waves" was also included on Normani's setlist for the Sweetener World Tour–to which Normani supported as an opening act during its first leg– as well as other shows she did throughout the year of 2019.