“Havana” Single by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug from the album Camila
Released August 3, 2017
Label Epic, Syco
Songwriters: Camila Cabello, Jeffery Williams, Brittany Hazzard, Pharrell Williams, Adam Feeney, Brian Lee, Ali Tamposi, Andrew Watt, Louis Bell, Kaan Gunesberk
Producer Frank Dukes
Charted No.1 in, No.1 in UK
“Havana” received critical acclaim with music critics calling the song “sultry” and “bouncy”. “Havana” peaked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first number one song for both Cabello and Thug. Outside of the United States, “Havana” topped the charts in 23 countries worldwide, including Australia, Canada, Chile, France, and the United Kingdom. It is certified Diamond in eight countries. Its music video, directed by Dave Meyers, shows Cabello playing herself as Karla, as well as a telenovela actress and a film protagonist. It won the Video of the Year award at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, receiving three other nominations. A vertical video, directed by Sam Lecca, was released on November 10, 2017, on Cabello’s official Vevo account. The clip shows the singer and several dancers in the New York City Subway.
The video featured appearances by Lele Pons as Bella, LeJuan James as Abuelita, Noah Centineo as Cabello’s love interest, Marco DelVecchio as the twins Juan and Rodrigo and Mikey Pesante as the dancer. It was directed by Dave Meyers and was released on October 24, 2017. Young Thug also appears in the video.
The main song starts late but the music video starts with Karla, played by Cabello, watching a telenovela, before being interrupted by her grandmother, who turns off the TV and advises her to live her life instead of spending her days indoors. Karla then leaves the house to go see a movie. The film she is watching, called Camila in Havana, takes the form of a music video, starring a version of herself wearing a fringe-covered red dress and performing at a club. Aside from appearing as Karla, Cabello also plays the telenovela actress and the movie protagonist. After the film ends, she leaves the cinema and stumbles across a cyclist, also the male protagonist of the film, and begins dancing with him.
The clip won Video of the Year at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards. The former Fifth Harmony star was also named Artist of the Year during the ceremony.
