C FOR CAMILA
Born: Havana, Cuba
Full name: Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao
Birthday: March 3, 1997
First break: The X Factor (USA) made her a part of Fifth Harmony
Inspirations: Ed Sheeran, Emma Watson, Jennifer Lawrence and Taylor Swift
Album: The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving. (to be released soon)
Stream now: I Know What You Did Last Summer, Crying In The Club, Bad Things
Who’s Camila Cabello?
The 20-year-old Cuba-born singer is a former member of Fifth Harmony, a product of The X Factor (USA). While her debut album, The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving., is set for a September release, the first single off it, Crying in the Club, is enjoying attention on both sides of the Atlantic.
Cuba-born living in the US?
Her backstory inspires her to excel. Camila’s mother Sinuhe Estrabao was an architect in Cuba but she wanted her daughter to have “opportunities”. When she was six years old, the family flew into Mexico and then took a bus to the American border. “We left everyone behind, my friends, my family. My fear was that my husband wouldn’t [ever] be able to come,” her mother told Glamour in April. Her father, Alejandro Cabello, stayed on in Mexico while her mom had to ditch her architecture dreams to work at a shop where she stacked shoes. When her father joined them 18 months later, he started off “washing cars in front of Dolphin Mall in the blistering Miami heat”.
“We always had periods where my dad would be out of a job. It was a constant flow of having money, losing everything, and then finding a way to get it again. If we had food to eat, a roof over our heads and I was going to school, that was enough,” the singer has opened up to Teen Vogue.
What about her first break?
The five-feet two-inch girl was studying hard to land a scholarship which would have been her ticket to college. After seeing a One Direction “tips on auditioning for The X Factor” video, she wanted to go the music reality TV way. In 2012, her mom drove her to the audition site in North Carolina where she wasn’t the first choice and was about to be turned away. But Camila was persistent. “I ended up auditioning because they saw how badly I wanted it and how persistent I was — it’s a Cuban thing. And so I got to audition. I got four yeses, went to boot camp, didn’t make it and was put in my group (Fifth Harmony).”
No longer with Fifth Harmony, right?
Camila left in December 2016. She had worked with the quintet on two albums — Reflection and 7/27. When she left, the band was also taking more risks, making that transition from being a group formed at a reality show to one that was seeking long-term goals.
What went wrong at Fifth Harmony?
It’s a bit like the case of Zayn Malik and One Direction. There was little she was allowed to deliver. In an interview with Seventeen, Camila said she was tired of songs that weren’t personal: “Fifth Harmony wasn’t the maximum expression of me individually.” Then there is the case of oversexualisation, which she had touched on in Lena Dunham’s podcast in January: “Especially with being in a girl group, there’s been a lot of times where people have tried to sexualise us to just get more attention. Unfortunately, sex sells. There’s definitely been times where there’s stuff that I have not been comfortable with and I’ve had to put my foot down.”
Great, so how’s her solo career going?
Not bad at all. Before leaving the band Camila tested the waters with a duet with Canadian throb Shawn Mendes. I Know What You Did Last Summer climbed to #20 in the US in 2015 and a year later, she released Bad Things, with rapper Machine Gun Kelly, which reached #4 on Billboard. Last month, she delivered her debut solo single, Crying In The Club. The video is interesting because it opens with a sombre cello and an intro that incorporates the opening lines and music from her second single, I Have Questions: Why did you leave me here to burn?/ I’m way too young to be this hurt. I feel doomed in hotel rooms, staring straight up at the wall. Both the tracks will be featured on her solo album, which Camila has described (in an Instagram post) as: “The story of my journey from darkness into light, from a time when I was lost to a time when I found myself again.”
Why are the lyrics so dark?
The songs mirror her personal experiences and about growing up in the public eye. “This process has taught me not to be afraid to feel. Feeling sad is a part of life. Grief is a part of life. Heartbreak is a part of life just as much as falling in love is a part of life. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that those emotions are bad. They are just as necessary as the happy ones. And so don’t be afraid of them, welcome them, let them in,” Camila told BBC this month.
From a Camilizer
Camila,
I’m writing this to let you know the huge impact you have had on my life. You are such a blessing to me and to everyone. You change lives.
You were a baby when I first heard of you, now you are a powerful woman. Words can’t describe what I feel for you and how grateful and proud I am to be a Camilizer.
Camila, you heal people! You calm troubled souls and you give us hope.
My baby girl, I have no words to tell you how proud you make me feel every day.
If it depended on me, you would never be sad and I would never let people mistreat you.
You have the wonderful ability to be super cute when you want and so dang hot minutes later. I love the “performing Camila”. When you are on stage you are different. I think you are fascinating.
Several years ago you were just like me, a fan with dreams, but look at you now! I used to say that you are lucky, but I’ve realised it has nothing to do with luck, you are so incredibly talented and you deserve all that you have right now.
Camz, you will always be my cute girl with crazy bows. Thank you for bringing joy to my life.
I hope you know I love you a lot, I’m just one more little Indian fanatic in this sea of Camilizers, but I just wish you all happiness. You have such a beautiful smile and I hope you show it to the world often.
With all my love,
Roopkatha Sarkar,
DAV Public School
Campus Team fans
I used to listen to Camila Cabello when she was a part of Fifth Harmony, and she stood out in the group. I really like her fashion sense
— Sohini Das,
19, St. Xavier’s College
I like Camila because she has an incredible vocal range, great hair and is an excellent performer, so much so that you can’t take your eyes off her when she is on stage. And she has the ability to inspire with her powerful performances
— Sehrish Hazarika,
19, Jadavpur University
Friends and more than friends
Taylor Swift
In March 2015, Tay celebrated Camila’s 18th birthday with a party attended by Haim, Selena Gomez, Jaime King, Hayley Williams, and Hailee Steinfeld. “The reason we became friends was purely because we think the same way about a lot of things: We’re both really sensitive and emotional when it comes to love. We love love, and we love writing songs about love,” Camila has said.
Shawn Mendes
Camila and Shawn have been in the news for more than just being friends but he has killed rumours in an interview with People: “We’re just really close friends. She is one of those people who is just very easy to connect with and still, to this day, is one of my greatest friends. You find that instant connection with people, and she’s one of them.” Of course, that hasn’t stopped the Canadian singer putting out a short video of the two of them singing Ed Sheeran’s Kiss Me.
Ed Sheeran
She’s star-struck. “One of the first times I met him was at an award show. Then I went to the bathroom and proceeded to sob. He’s cool. He’s amazing,” Camila said during a red carpet outing. This “amazing” fellow has confirmed that he has written a song — The Boy — for her next album.
Austin Mahone
Her first major relationship and heartbreak. In November 2014, she moved away after almost a year of cuddles with the 21-year-old singer.
Camila Cabello is my favourite because.... Tell t2@abp.in
