Normani x Calvin Harris


Normani x Calvin Harris is an EP by American singer Normani and Scottish producer Calvin Harris. It was released on October 22, 2018. It is classified as an EP by media outlets and as a single by iTunes. It features the songs "Checklist" featuring Wizkid and "Slow Down". "Checklist" was intended to be released as a single on November 9, 2018, but was later canceled and replaced by Normani's collaboration with 6lack titled "Waves".

Background

According to Normani, Harris reached out to her for the collaboration; she said: "he was like 'yo, what do you think of this?' I was like, 'this shig is fire!' I am a huge fan of his." The pair recorded and finished the singles in June 2018.

Music

The EP features two songs, "Slow Down" and "Checklist". The former has a groovy, house-styled production in which Normani pleads with a lover to return her feelings. Wandera Hussein of The Fader praised Normani's vocal performance by saying the singer sings "heavenly" on the song's hook. "Checklist" features a danceable beat with heavy influences of Afrobeats and dancehall music. On it, Normani delivers some rapid, half-rapped flirty lines.
Complex noted that the two tracks feature a production style similar to Harris's 2017 album Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1, "although featuring a more reggae-inspired edge". Rolling Stone called the songs "clubby R&B with tropical tinges", saying Normani hits a "bouncy pop stride" on "Checklist", and noting "Slow Down" "does exactly the opposite of what the title teases: it's a slow jam that builds up to a house-y dancefloor burner for the verses".

Promotion

News of the collaboration was revealed in June 2018. Normani teased the project at the 2018 American Music Awards, saying a song was to be released "in the next few days". Normani also posted a short clip online of herself writing "Oct. 22" on a piece of red tape before a voice off-camera tells her to "drop the pen".

Track listing

Note: Both tracks are produced by Calvin Harris.

Charts

"Checklist"
Chart Peak
position
Ireland 76
New Zealand Hot Singles 22

"Slow Down"
Chart Peak
position