After it was announced that Camila Cabello was departing Fifth Harmony, the X-Factor created female singing group, at the height of their success to pursue a solo career, my initial reaction to the news was that we would never hear from her again. But how very wrong I was.
She had already begun taking steps to break out on her own while she was still in the group by collaborating with Shawn Mendes on a duet they wrote together, “I Know What You Did Last Summer”. The song reached the top twenty on the U.S. pop chart and then Cabello provided the hook on Machine Gun Kelly’s single, “Bad Things”. This song made it to number four on the pop charts in 2016 and Cabello was soon out of Fifth Harmony and ready to get to work on a solo album.
Cabello first continued working with other artists on their singles including a song for the “The Fate of the Furious” soundtrack which she teamed up with Pitbull and J. Balvin on “Hey Ma” with the Spanish-language remix doing very well in Latin America. Her first official single as a solo artist was “Crying In the Club” and released last May. It was a modest success but didn’t really make her particularly noticeable in the crowded dance-pop field. It would be her follow-up that would cause a major shift in her aspiring career.
Using her Cuban heritage for inspiration, the Miami-raised singer co-wrote “Havana”, a sensual, mid-tempo dance track driven by a Latin-flavored beat. This song became an international smash last year, reaching number one in several countries including Britain and the U.S. This prompted Cabello to alter the direction of her debut album and "Camila" which was released last month, features far more elements of Latin music and r&b than was originally planned. This certainly helped the twenty year old singer stand out and the album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart. Enjoy a sample of a few of my favorite tracks from the album:
