There’s a little bit of a media surge surrounding Camila Cabello right now. She’s covering both Cosmopolitan and Rolling Stone. Her album dropped in January so it’s a little late for that publicity. However, she’s also is currently opening for her friend Taylor Swift’s Reputation Tour, which is a pretty big deal. But as far as I can make out much of the buzz around her is proving she did survive outside of Fifth Harmony. I’ll admit I didn’t follow the drama surrounding her spilt with the group and she only really came on my radar when the band had a representation of her thrown off the stage at the 2017 Grammys. Since then, I have fallen madly in love with her single, Havana. Her album did well for a debut. But it sounds like maybe people still aren’t taking her seriously as an artist. Fortunately, Camila keeps the negativity at arm’s length, specifically by keeping all her social media on her mom’s phone so she doesn’t have to see it.
On coping with the negative aspects of fame: “I try to protect myself as much as I can. I don’t have any social media on my phone. I have it on my mom’s phone, so if there’s anything I want to say or if I want to read through what my fans are sending me, I can. It has made a world of difference. If it’s right at your fingertips, there’s a huge chance you’re going to come across something that really hurts your feelings. Huge. And it’s impossible to forget it.”
On controlling her nerves before a performance: “It’s something I have to work on, and I’ve gotten so much better, infinitely better, at it now. You have to remember that, first, it’s not that serious. Second, if I choose to have fun, it’ll make the show a billion times better. I just want to live my best life [laughs]. Twitter slang!… I read The Happiness Advantage, and it tells you that right before you do something that scares you, give your brain a whirlwind of things that make you happy. I think about my dog I have in Miami. I think about my family. I think about people who mean a lot to me.”
On her friendship with Taylor Swift (who she is currently the opening act for): “We met like four years ago at the VMAs. I went up to her and Lorde, and I was like “I just want to say that I really look up to you guys.” We’ve been friends ever since. She’s one of the people who made me want to start songwriting. I love her. She’s been a great friend, very caring.”
On love and relationships: “I just love love! I’ve always been a hopeless romantic. I need to feel that emotion. Finding your person is one of the closest things we have to magic. You just can’t explain it. The same way you can’t explain why a song makes you cry.”
To give a little more context to her answer on controlling her nerves while performing, Camila has been open about dealing with anxiety and OCD and it’s great that she is still talking about it. Camila discusses her friendship with Taylor in almost every interview but I suspect she’s asked about it rather than Camila trying to leverage the relationship. And it makes sense here because she is Taylor’s opening act. I still hope Camila finds someone else to go to for dating advice but if she’s being mentored career-wise by Taylor, she could do worse.
I do, however, support her approach to social media. It might sound odd but taking the apps off your phone is a great way to distance yourself. I’ve confessed many times that Facebook wreaks havoc on my self-esteem and yet I can’t quite quit it. Earlier this year, I changed the password on my computer and promptly forgot it so I can’t access my FB app – I’ve never been so happy. I recently did a trial run of taking Twitter off my phone too. This works for me because my office is in my detached garage so when I settle into my chair in the living room, laziness prevents me from getting up and going to my computer. Putting all my stuff on someone else’s phone would have the same effect, I would think twice before I had to ask someone to use their stuff. It’s kind of brilliant, and a great technique for someone dealing with anxiety. I think Camila has it in her to be a standout and I’m pulling for her.
I’m posting the Havana video because I think the telanovela reimagined thing is pretty cute:
Photo credit: Matthew Eades/Cosmopolitan received via promotional email and YouTube
She is the new/next Taylor Swift to me. Completely overrated with limited talent, yet pushed heavily in the media. She actually has one of the worst voices I’ve ever heard, but her songs are catchy.
All I know is I like her better. Singing and style.
I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed her album. Since now she is not trying to “over sing” as she did in the group, her restrained voice is quite pleasant.
That Havana music video is hilarious, I love it
Yeaaa wouldn’t jump on this bandwagon. Did she ever apologize for liking racist tweets/comments that were about her former band mate?? Or did she simply deny? No thanks! This girls voice lacks power and her personality lacks staying power.
I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE! I need to let the world know this HOT and IMPORTANT CC goss: I worked the front desk at a spin studio and she came in to take a class. And this wasn’t a fancy spin studio like SoulCycle…this was a place that was barely functioning. Anyway, she took a class and rented our spin shoes. Since it was her first class, we offered her complimentary use of our shoes. She took the class and left with the shoes. We called the phone number she provided and nothing. It was her mother’s phone. No return call. SILENCE. She never returned these gross spin shoes! Doesn’t she have people to do these kinds of errands? And the cherry on this petty sundae was that a couple months later a billboard with her on it was put up right next to our building. I HOPE YOU’RE USING THOSE SHOES CAMILLA!!!!
OMG No way… hahahaha! Gross, why keep the shoes?
I love her voice. There have been 3 songs recently that I heard and thought who is THAT singing and all 3 were hers.
This girl is highly overrated.