Waves

"Waves" is a song by American singer Normani featuring 6lack. Normani first performed the song at a Tidal X concert in Brooklyn in October 2018. The song premiered on Beats 1 and was released on November 15, 2018. The music video for "Waves" was released in February 2019 and won the 2019 MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video. 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: "Waves" was serviced to radio and in January 2019 ranked No. 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. On March 13, 2019, Normani and 6Lack performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. MTV praised the performance. Questlove, who leads The Tonight Show band, later stated, "After some 2000 summed odd episodes of Late Night/Tonight I’ll say that Normani’s performance on #FallonTonight was one of the most impressive performance debuts". Composition Musically, 'Waves" is an "alluring and hypnotic" R&B slow jam. The song opens with "atmospheric" synths, before being met with skittering percussion and throbbing bass bombs." Lyrically, Normani refers to a relationship she finds herself going back to on the song, singing "When I have you, wanna leave you/If you're gone, that's when I need you." Originally, the pre-chorus for the single, as well as some lyrics, were different, however it was changed once 6lack began working on the single.