Camila Cabello

In an interview with Apple Music about her 2018 self-titled debut, Camila Cabello told a story about a conversation she had at a Grammy party. It was with a guy—a famous guy, a celebrity; she called it “a flirtationship.” But even as their chat warmed up, Cabello sensed the guy was still performing, like he was stuck in a loop he couldn’t turn off. It freaked her out a little but also reminded her that too much polish can ruin anything. “I feel like the human stuff, the twisted stuff, the little isms—that’s what makes people interesting,” she said. In a culture where relatability has to share space with professionalism and hustle, Cabello has become one of the most grounded, appealing artists in pop. She’s the kind of singer whose life—being a young Cuban American woman and a hopeless romantic, living with OCD—comes through in her music without seeming self-involved. In the end, she turned that unsettling party chat into a song called “In the Dark,” because that’s what Camila Cabello does. Born in Havana in 1997, Cabello sang with the reality-show group Fifth Harmony before launching a solo career in 2017. Her most impactful songs—“Havana” (2017), “Crying in the Club” (2017), “She Loves Control” (2018), “Sēnorita” (2019), and “Bam Bam” (2022)—merge the hallmarks of classic Latin music like Celia Cruz and Calle 13 with contemporary R&B and the singer-songwriter intimacy of Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift. As much as Cabello is a product of her upbringing, she’s also a reflection of the mix of Latinx culture with the global mainstream. She leaned further into the simmering rhythms of Latin pop while exploring her roots on 2022’s Familia, and began indulging her more idiosyncratic sides on 2024’s “I LUV IT” with Playboi Carti and “HE KNOWS” with Lil Nas X. “I do feel like I'm a weirdo,” Cabello told Apple Music about the new direction. “And that's the music that I love, and that's the music that I feel the most proud of making.” As big as she gets, Cabello continues to stay grounded. “The human part of life is what makes you happy,” she says. “Just, like, conversations with people. Even walking in the street and having a stranger smile at you—that’s what really makes you happy.”