Khalid & Normani - Personal

If you had told me back in 2018 that Khalid and Normani’s careers would be in such steep declines in 2024, I would have thought you were crazy. In the six years since their 2018 top 10 collaboration “Love Lies”, Khalid has fallen off commercially and artistically with his most recent album, the sleepy “Sincere”, barely peaking inside the top 50 of the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. Normani’s decline has been even more dramatic as she finally released her debut album after releasing her lead single “Motivation” way back in 2019. Maybe it’s the shift in the music trends from the woozy, sleepy trap-R&B of the late 2010s and early 2020s to the more upbeat 90s-inspired R&B that’s in vogue today, but these two young artists have struggled to keep up with the times!

Which brings us to their second duet single “Personal”, a slinky R&B track that’s in the same vein as “Love Lies”. The best parts of the song are when Khalid and Normani’s voices blend together. For some reason, it just works! The chorus is catchy, if a little lackluster, and the overall vibe of the song reeks of sanitized R&B filler. Due to the diminished commercial powers of these two artists, it’s very unlikely that this song will be a major pop hit. However, i wouldn’t be surprised if it gets a lot of love from urban and R&B radio as it’s a solid song. I’m just glad to see these two artists continue to release music. Hopefully, talent wins out and they collaborate on a better song that returns them to the top of the charts in the near future!