Camila Cabello, now 20, spent her childhood bouncing back and forth between Cuba and Mexico. She went to Disney World for a vacation when she was six years old, according to her mother. Instead, she and her Cuban-born mother moved to Miami, where her Mexican-born father followed 18 months later.
Cabello (born Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao) remembers counting down to her father’s arrival with a calendar and learning English with the help of American cartoons, although being too young to comprehend what was going on. She laughs and says, “That was cool.” Don’t worry, she made it to the Most Magical Place on Earth in the end.
Cabello gets to show off what she calls “the essence of me” by participating in the creative process. “There’s no aspect I didn’t show on here,” the singer explains. It’s impossible to be vulnerable in front of a camera and talk about how you’re truly feeling that day, so I can only do that via my music.”
Some of the dark realms visited by the record may surprise fans. “In an interview, you can’t have a nervous breakdown,” she explains, “but you can have a nervous breakdown in a song.” Cabello thinks that “Havana” will appear in around half of her future album. This album has a strong emphasis on her ethnicity.
