Latin Women In Music
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From Gloria Estefan to Kali Uchis and Ana Bárbara, Billboard Latin Women in Music 2024 honorees walked the red carpet ahead of the music special, set to air exclusively on Telemundo on Sunday (June 9) at 9 p.m. ET. This year, Karol G will be celebrated as Woman of the Year; Gloria Estefan will receive […]
Just ahead of Billboard Latin Women in Music 2024 — where Kany García will be honored with the Spirit of Change Award on Sunday (June 9) — the Puerto Rican star sat down with Billboard to talk about her new album, García, her friendship with Young Miko and what it means to receive this special honor for her activism.
Her new album, released May 2, includes collabs with Edén Muñoz, Christian Nodal, Carla Morrison and Young Miko, someone who she says is “on an incredible path.” Says Garcia: “I feel it is important in the albums to make room for the new generations who are doing important things like her.”
The two artists met last year at Billboard Latin Music Week, where Young Miko expressed admiration for García. “When we met, it was beautiful,” García adds.
Throughout her career, García has placed 30 songs on Billboard‘s Latin Pop Airplay chart and eight albums — including five in the top 10 and one No. 1, 2019’s Limonada — on Top Latin Albums. Her latest, García, follows her 2022 El Amor Que Merecemos.
“There are two or three key people in my life who have been like anchors and people whose opinions have been important to me who don’t call me Kany and [instead] call me García,” the singer-songwriter says, explaining the meaning behind the album’s name. “These are people who care for me. In the song ‘García,’ I speak to myself and I want to give importance to what I am saying to myself, so I named it that. I love it because it was a way of giving it a certain place to the people who care about me and call me that.”
On receiving the Spirit of Change Award, García says, “On the one hand, it’s like a hug within the effort and the struggle. It’s an opportunity I have to continue inspiring new women who are coming up, and with women who are speaking up.”
Watch Kany García’s interview above.
Billboard’s 2024 Latin Women In Music airs Sunday, June 9, on the Telemundo network (9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. Central), and will stream live on the Telemundo app and on Peacock.
Gloria Estefan can do it all — from breaking molds in the music industry to doing her own laundry, literally. And she knows it.
It’s something she learned from the biggest “legends” in her life: her grandmother Consuelo and her mother Gloria Fajardo, whose life circumstances forced them to take the reins and provide for their family. “I grew up with two women who did everything,” Estefan says. “So for me there was never the question [of], ‘Well, as a woman, can I do this?’ Because the women in my life did it all.”
Since rising to stardom in the 1980s as the lead vocalist for the Miami Sound Machine — alongside her husband, visionary producer Emilio Estefan — Gloria Estefan has helped infuse Latin flavor into English-language pop music, breaking barriers with hits like “Conga” and “Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” and singing at the same time en Español.
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On the Billboard charts, she has placed 29 songs on the Hot 100, including three No. 1 hits (“Anything For You” in 1988, “Don’t Wanna Lose You” in 1989 and “Coming Out of the Dark ” in 1991) — as well as 30 hits on Hot Latin Songs, 15 of which reached the top spot (from “No Me Vuelvo A Enamorar” in 1986 to “Hotel Nacional” in 2012). Her first full-length album in Spanish, Mi Tierra (1993), spent a whopping 58 weeks at the summit of Top Latin Albums, and won her first of three Grammy Awards.
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This weekend, the Cuban-American superstar — who only six months ago became the first ever Latina artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame — will receive the Legend award at the 2024 Billboard Latin Women in Music gala in Miami.
You are a music icon and a legend. What many may not know is how down to earth you are. I remember I interviewed you a few years ago over the phone and you apologized for the noise of the washing machine — you said that you were doing laundry because you were going on a trip, and I confess I was impressed. I didn’t imagine that Gloria Estefan washed her own clothes.
Sometimes I have to, you know? [Laughs.] I am blessed to have staff at home who are really family — they have been with us for more than 30 years, and they pamper and spoil me a lot — but there come times when there are some things that you have to do yourself. And of course, I know how to do everything! And Emilio is the same too. Emilio starts cleaning because he is meticulous, he sprays water everywhere with the hose. It’s hilarious to watch.
How have you managed to stay so grounded despite all the fame and success?
You know what, I went through a lot as a child. Taking care of my dad [who had multiple sclerosis], trying to help my mother, who had everything left on her shoulders — raising her two daughters, helping my grandmother. My grandmother helped us too. I believe that when you have the example of knowing what’s really [worthwhile] in life, the things that have real value, which is health primarily, love, affection, family — and if it weren’t for my family I wouldn’t know where I’d be — that helps me a lot.
Also, I already had a son when we achieved great global success, and I was still a mother; I would take him on tour with me and he would see me on stage and see that part, but when I got off I was just a mom. Having family with you like that really keeps you grounded.
Who have been the female legends in your life, as a woman and as a musician?
My grandmother Consuelo, who came to this country at 57. She didn’t speak English. She grabbed my grandfather and told him, “This is what we’re going to do” — and she created a food business, with which she managed to buy her home and help us. She was an entrepreneurial woman who unfortunately was taken out of school in Cuba when she was 9, because it was the global Depression and she had many siblings and they had to help the family work to survive. She wanted to be a lawyer, she was born in 1905 — a woman in Cuba! She was brilliant. She was spiritual, someone who gave everything and helped many people.
My mother too. I grew up with two women who did everything, so for me there was never the question, “Well, as a woman, can I do this?” because the women in my life did it all. My father was sick, my grandfather too, so women had to take charge of everything.
And on a professional level, Celia Cruz was an inspiration for me — a woman whose humbleness, professionalism, love for what she did, for her people, for her fans, her family… I had the joy of being able to be her friend and share time with her, and she was a very big example for me. She was ageless on stage! For me, that is a legend, someone who really breaks all the molds that exist. That was Celia. So that is the triangle of women who have somehow left their mark on me in a thousand ways.
You’ve stayed active in music. Only last year, you released a Christmas album with your family and recorded the main track from the movie 80 For Brady (“Gonna Be You”). Now you’re writing a Broadway musical with your daughter Emily. You could easily retire and live off the royalties of your many hits. What keeps you going?
For me, it is a blessing and a privilege to be able to make music and in some way inspire others who listen to it; That is what I enjoy the most. Right now, we’re in the workshop of a musical that we have been working on for two years. It has been an inspiration to be part of the process and even more so working with my daughter, which is a very unique opportunity, and to put new songs in the hearts of people tied to an original musical based on the real life story of The Cateura Orchestra of Recycled Instruments [in Paraguay]. They are children who live next to a landfill, and the man who did all this created a music school and they have made instruments from waste and live off that landfill.
It is inspiring to see the triumph of the spirit of young people who, under the most difficult circumstances, have managed to send music to the world. This is not work for me. The luxury I have now is that I can choose the projects to which I say yes […] because now I also have a grandson and I don’t want to be away, I don’t want to miss those years that go by so quickly. So it’s a nice balance.
You have also remained active with the Gloria Estefan Foundation, which you created in 1997 in response to your accident (of 1990, when a truck crashed into your tour bus and left you temporarily paralyzed). What would you say has been the greatest satisfaction it has given you?
Being able to be of service to others. It is a privilege to be able to help in any way. We have many organizations that we support […] I also want to be part of the paralysis cure, because I was paralyzed and I was a positive story after that accident, so I want to help in any way. We help teachers a lot, because my mother was a teacher, so that they can help their children, because sometimes public schools don’t have the funds.
And a strange thing, but something I love: the Miami Beach Police can’t buy bulletproof vests for the police dogs, because they are very expensive and are not in the budget. So many of the dogs were dying — and I was able to buy vests and donate them, so they are more protected, because I also love animals. It is a nice way to be part of the community, be of service to others and find the best way to help.
Would you say that the accident was the most difficult moment you have ever had to go through?
It wasn’t fun, I can tell you that. But I wouldn’t change it. I wouldn’t want to go through it again, but, although I already appreciated life a lot, it gave me a way to live totally grateful every day of my life — for simply being able to stand up, go get a glass of water myself. Because my father was in a wheelchair, I knew what my family would experience if I remained in a wheelchair. Although I am very positive, and if I had stayed in the chair I would be playing basketball. [Laughs.]
It was difficult, but I had so much support, so many prayers that I felt and absorbed and that I know are part of my recovery. I worked very hard, doing six to seven hours a day of rehab — first floating in the pool, because I couldn’t walk. Until I was able to step on stage, 20 days before the one year anniversary of the accident. Every year when that date arrives, the day I broke my back, March 20, […] I celebrate my rebirth. So I’m only 34 years old right now.
How would you describe the role that music has had in your life?
Music for me has been the vehicle of my soul. To express myself. To stay strong. To vent. To have fun, celebrate. Music is the center of my life. Always has been. I’ve been singing since I’ve been able to talk, it came with me. And it’s not that I had to be famous or anything, because I had to get used to being the center of attention — it’s not part of my personality. But I can’t imagine my life without music. And having the privilege of other people listening to my lyrics, my melodies, is something I feel grateful for every day of my life.
When you look back, what moment as a Latin woman in music do you view with greatest pride?
The album Mi Tierra. Definitely. Because although I grew up in this country — I came when I was two and a half years old, and American music and everything I listened to became part of me — to be able to share my culture, an era of Cuban music that was paralyzed with the revolution and didn’t grow any more, being able to make original songs that celebrate and honor Cuban music and spread it throughout the world, for me is my greatest achievement. And if I had to leave only one album, it would be that one.
Billboard Latin Women in Music 2024 will air exclusively on Telemundo Sunday (June 9) at 9 p.m. ET, and will also be available on the Telemundo app and on Peacock.
With her eclectic fusions of Música Mexicana and Latin pop, Ana Bárbara has not only molded the Regional Mexican genre but righteously earned her title of La Reina Grupera (the queen of grupera music). In celebration of her 30-year career that has ultimately defined the grupero genre through 11 studio albums and various Billboard hits, […]
In a world where seasons change but legends remain, Ana Bárbara has positioned herself as an unforgettable icon in regional Mexican music and Latin pop.
Celebrating three decades of a spectacular career, the artist has excelled as the defining female voice of the grupero genre, with a mix of rhythms that has captivated millions. Throughout these years, the San Luis Potosí native has not only conquered hearts — with an extensive discography that includes 11 studio albums and 18 compilations — she has also molded the regional musical style.
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From the time she debuted with an eponymous album in 1994 until she became La Reina Grupera, Altagracia Ugalde Motta (her real name) has released a succession of hits that resonate with a unique energy. Two decades ago, she delivered one of her biggest and most transcendent songs, “Lo Busqué”. “It was the first to make a crossover between pop and country,” Ana Bárbara says — and, as she can proudly claim, started a trend that now influences artists like Carín León, Chiquis and more.
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Throughout her career, she has collaborated with legendary figures such as Vicente Fernández, Bronco and Paquita la del Barrio, and has been a key player in the rise of superstars like Christian Nodal and (more recently) Majo Aguilar and Adriana Ríos. Her career not only reflects her mastery of the stage, but also of the Billboard charts. Hits such as “Me Asusta Pero Me Gusta”, “La Trampa”, “Ya No Te Creo Nada” and “No Lloraré” reached the top 10 of Hot Latin Songs, and albums like Ay Amor (1996) and Yo Soy La Mujer (2014) established her as a mainstay on Regional Mexican Albums.
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Ana Bárbara will be recognized with the Music Lifetime Achievement Award at Billboard Latin Women in Music 2024. In this intimate dialogue, The Queen of Grupera opens the doors to her world, revealing more about her achievements, challenges and the passion that continues to fuel her impressive musical legacy.
This year you are marking 30 years of musical career, and you will celebrate it soon with La Reina Grupera Tour.
Cómo han pasado los años (how the years have gone by), as the song [by Rocío Dúrcal] says — and it’s been incredible. With so many things happening in life, to have life is a miracle. It’s a blessing to be celebrating with music and a tour! It’s a triple blessing. The tour is a surge of nostalgia, of history, of feelings, of ups and downs of emotions. Because in 30 years, how many stories could have been written? How many were part of my songs? I can’t express enough thanks for the gratitude that my heart feels, without a doubt.You sing, you compose, you dance. Is there an area that you enjoy the most in what involves being the superstar Ana Barbara, whether it’s recording, composing or performing live?They all have their magic. But the songwriting part of it is very exciting. It’s like, “Oh my God, I came up with this! Where did it come from? What part of the universe? Where was my soul?” When I start producing it, I see if I want guitar here or trumpet there. The creative process is like an adrenaline rush. Also, you know that a feeling crystallized, if you can call it that. A feeling that took shape. Just talking about it gets me excited. Right now I’m finishing [a song that I’m] crazy about and listening to it makes me thing: “How did I come up with this?” I know, it’s really cool. That’s an indescribable feeling.
I was listening to your most recent track, “Así bailé”. You have a very fun way of telling stories that make you smile.
If you listened to it and say, “I laughed, I smiled, it put on a good attitude,” then I have done my job. That song was to talk about the anecdote of when you meet someone and it doesn’t matter how old you are. You can be 17, 18, 40, 50 or 60 years old, be single and feel butterflies in your stomach again. Why not? That’s what I love about that song.
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You use norteño elements like the accordion, but it also sounds a bit country. How do you approach incorporating diverse styles into your music?
That’s something organic — that word is in style. “Lo Busqué” is going to be 20 years old, and I was lucky enough to be with Carín León at StageCoach [Festival on April 27], where he mentioned to those present that for him, that song, in his reality, was the first that made a crossover between pop and country. It is a song that marked him, and it marked me too when I wrote it.
When I wrote it, I had a lot of problems with the record label — because they told me: “Your song is neither grupera, nor ranchera, nor a ballad, nor country”. And I told them, “You know why it is nothing? Because it’s everything.” They’re songs that come naturally to me. I think it’s the impact of cultures — of traveling, of listening to all kinds of music — that makes me write that way.
Thirty years ago, when you were starting your career, regional Mexican music was even more male-dominated than it is today. What was it like to stand out and make your way as a female leader in the music scene and what challenges did you have to overcome?
The first challenge? Insecurity. It’s absolutely a man’s market. I still believe that. It’s misogynistic, and I say that with the authority of years of being in this. [A record executive] said, “We have five singles [to release], and Ana’s is going to be the fifth.” The first one, almost always, or always, is very male-focused. It’s insane! They’re career challenges that deflate your spirits.
But you keep going because of “orgullo de mujer cuando está herido”(or “a woman’s pride when it’s wounded”) — my song “Loca” (2004) says. Even if they [make you] let your guard down and say, “She’s probably going to get married or have children”, or “Oh, she’s not going to have the body she once had.”
No! If you got married, you got married; if you had a child, you bless them and move on. I have been a victim of these kinds of comments that can discourage any human being, any woman. Don’t let them make you let your guard down — you keep going, you keep fighting. If it impacts you, you have to know how to channel it. I have channeled it with my songs, through dance, concerts, and it has worked very well for me.
You proved it in February during your performance at Premio Lo Nuestro, with your medley of hits, the numerous costume changes, the choreography, and then you did a split! How do you prepare for that kind of gymnastics on stage? What’s your diet and routine like?
The worst thing that can happen to an artist, in my humble opinion, is that what they need the most is discipline or the routine to get in physical condition — to get on stage, sing and dance at the same time; daily exercise. We [artists] are always flying, traveling, going up, going down, all the time, and the only thing we don’t have is a routine. However, not having a constant of waking up in the same place — within that disorder you have to have an order.
I try to do sports at least three, four times a week. I do try to do them intensely — because imagine, singing, dancing, performing and costume changing is weight on your feet, arms and legs. Besides, you can’t become a fitness [guru], because you don’t have the time. One of the limitations is to look for schedules without routine, whether it’s in the evening, another in the morning, or at the crack of dawn. Do yoga, aerobics, things that give you the physical condition for that kind of performance.
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The logical thing to do when you’re not traveling, singing, promoting, taking care of your home or your family, is to rest. Well, no! In those breaks, the stress I put on my body is one that is called positive stress. Even if I’m very tired, I try to exercise to have the condition for these kinds of challenges that are award show presentations, or touring — because for each [tour] show, you need an hour and a half or two. Imagine being on stage, up there in heels at this age. [Laughs.] Yes, it’s a big challenge, queen.
You have been a judge in competitions such as La Academia and Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento. How was that experience of being on the other side of the music industry?
You can go all over the world and you will never come across a monument like a critic. It’s funny, but the critic can suddenly be cold hearted, and will only say: “Look, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta”, right? I was a critic, but I have been a judge — I have also been in programs as a contestant, not only once, but many times. From that sympathy, I made my comments [as judge]. I always wanted the contestant to feel good and comfortable, and leave there having lived a nice experience. Despite how strong [it can be], I always wanted them to have a glimmer of hope. But I tried to be realistic.
Besides the tour, what else is next for Ana Bárbara?
I have other music projects with new artists. María José, a Mexican singer that I love, just recorded a song. It is a song I wrote, called “Mi Rey, Mi Santo” (My King, My Saint), and the truth is that she sings it very beautifully. She invited me to sing it with her. It’s coming out [soon] and we are very excited.
Billboard Latin Women in Music 2024 will air exclusively on Telemundo Sunday (June 9) at 9 p.m. ET, and will also be available on the Telemundo app and on Peacock.
With a new look and unleashing her most unapologetic body of music to date, Camila Cabello is channeling a “big baddie energy” that’s fearless, bold and rebellious. But despite her new era, one thing stays consistent: her heart of gold.
Cabello — who’s logged 21 career entries on the Billboard Hot 100 including No. 1 hits “Havana” (with Young Thug) and “Señorita” (with Shawn Mendes) — has used her star power and platform to advocate for topics that wholeheartedly matter to her: immigration, mental health, climate change and LGBTQ+ rights, to name a few.
Celebrating her contributions that positively influence popular culture, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter will be honored with the Global Impact award at the 2024 Billboard Latin Women in Music airing exclusively at 9 p.m. ET on June 9 via Telemundo, and simultaneously on the Telemundo app and Peacock.
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“Hopefully when I’m no longer here, I want the legacy I leave behind to make the world, somehow, more loving,” she tells Billboard. “There’s different ways of doing that, through art and music, and I always try to keep myself accountable.”
Cabello (real name Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao), who formed part of famed girl group Fifth Harmony from 2012 to 2016, owes her kind, selfless and giving qualities to her parents: a Cuban mother (Sinuhe Estrabao) and Mexican father (Alejandro Cabello), who migrated to Miami when Cabello was six years old in search of better opportunities. Estrabao was an architect in Cuba, who worked at the shoe department in Marshalls; Mr. Cabello worked washing cars at Dolphin Mall. Today, they have a successful contracting company called Soka Construction (named after Camila and her little sister, Sofia).
“I’m so proud of my family history, and proud of my work ethics, and any sort of strength or drive that I have is from hearing their stories,” she explains. “I really feel that I come from a family of f–king hustlers. My mom and dad never lost that, and even my grandparents. I feel that so much of that is carried in my bloodline. There’s something carried in our story that I feel makes me handle life and look at life in a different way.”
Among her notable philanthropical efforts, Cabello has partnered with This Is About Humanity and Miami Freedom Project to host community events for new immigrant families in Miami and has raised half a million dollars with Equality Florida and Lambda Legal to combat harmful legislation in Florida targeting the LGBTQ+ community. She also launched the Healing Justice Project to provide mental health resources to BIPOC organizers across the country advancing racial, immigrant, and environmental justice.
“What strikes me the most is how sincere, hard-working, and caring she is as a human being,” Roger Gold, Cabello’s longtime manager, adds. “Camila really absorbed that from her family, from her upbringing, from her journey to The United States. She grew up very, very humbling.”
In addition to receiving the Global Impact award at the Billboard Latin Women in Music event, Cabello is preparing to release her fourth studio album C,XOXO on June 28, a set produced by El Guincho and Jasper Harris that was inspired by the eclectic rhythms and sounds of her hometown, and which she describes as the ultimate “Miami art piece.”
Ángela Aguilar was destined for stardom.
As third generation of the Aguilar musical dynasty — her father is Mexican music icon Pepe Aguilar, and her grandparents are the legendary Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestre — Ángela inherited the vibrant falsetto from her grandma, her grandfather’s knack for storytelling and her father’s passion for mariachi. She also inherited the great responsibility that comes from being part of a musical dynasty, especially when her last name is synonymous with regional Mexican royalty.
“To know just how much my grandma and grandpa had to work for their success, it makes me proud of where I come from,” the 20-year-old singer-songwriter says from her home in Texas, where’s she’s spending a day off from touring with her father, her brother Leonardo Aguilar and her uncle Antonio Aguilar Jr., in the family’s Jaripeo Hasta Los Huesos Tour, which continues the legacy of the equestrian shows pioneered by her grandparents in the 1960s. “To this day, I don’t want to disappoint our last name. I want to do the best of my abilities to represent in a respectful way.”
Ángela made her onstage debut at just three years old while she and her family accompanied her father on tour. Five years later, she released her first album at the young age of eight. It was a joint album with her brother Leonardo titled Nueva Tradición (which translates to New Tradition), that was powered by banda, mariachi and norteño sounds. At that moment, she says, she really understood that she was part of something bigger than herself.
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“When I was three years old, I really thought the stage was my playground but when I released my first album, that was my realization of, ‘Oh my gosh, this is way bigger than I thought.’ I felt I had become less of an individual and more of an institution, and that was more important to me,” she explains.
Born in Los Angeles, Ángela is a fixture in música mexicana, one of a handful of women that have forged their own path in the decades-old genre that continues to be overwhelmingly dominated by men. So far, she has landed three No. 1 songs on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart — including “Dime Como Quieras” with Christian Nodal, which ruled the tally for five weeks — and four top 10 hits on Latin Airplay, including her first No. 1 on that chart, “Por El Contrario” with Leonardo and Becky G. She also scored a Latin Grammy best new artist nomination in 2018.
On the touring front, she’s perhaps the most successful regional Mexican woman today with back-to-back U.S. arena tours (Jaripeo Sin Fronteras and Jaripeo Hasta Los Huesos) since her father launched the family show concept in 2018. In the middle of it all, in 2023, she went on her eight-date Piensa En Mí Tour, a solo trek across the U.S.
“Singing is a very lonely career because you go on stage and sing in front of 20,000 people and then you go back to a hotel room and you’re all by yourself,” Ángela shares. “But I have the privilege of having three people in my family that experience the same thing I do every single night. I get to learn from them every weekend.”
Most recently, Ángela released Bolero, a nine-song set produced by her father in honor of the genre that originated in the 19th century and inspires her ever expanding musical palate. With this LP, she doubles down on her effort to expose a new generation of fans to the styles that soundtracked her childhood home.
“That’s been my message for many years; wanting the younger generation to appreciate the music,” she says with pride. “I think people often question whether I’m singing the music I want to sing but I am. Truly this is my biggest passion. And I’ve inherited not only the passion for it but also the love passed on from generations of fans because I’m part of this musical dynasty. You don’t need to be part of one but when you are, it’s beautiful.”
It’s a sunny May afternoon in Miami’s lush Coral Gables neighborhood, and Camila Cabello greets me at her family’s one-story home accompanied by a small menagerie: four dogs — including her golden retriever, Tarzan, and German shepherd, Thunder — along with her rescued cockatoo, Percy.
Cabello is home “to recharge” amid a hectic few days that included time in California and will soon take her to New York for the Met Gala. But today, with her messy pigtails, Daisy Duke shorts and silver flip-flops, Cabello looks more like a college girl on break than a major pop star about to release her fourth solo album — a fearless artistic statement coming June 28 titled C,XOXO. Her father washes the driveway, her mother offers me cafecito, and her aunt plays with the dogs.
Cabello will receive the Global Impact award at Billboard’s Latin Women in Music, produced by and airing on Telemundo on June 9.
“Let’s go to lunch — I’ll drive!” Cabello exclaims as she grabs her tote. The 27-year-old got her license just two years ago and learned to drive during the pandemic; as we hop into her white Tesla — nicknamed “Tessie” — she admits that getting behind the wheel (with a good album or podcast on the stereo) is her favorite form of stress relief. She takes us to Pura Vida, one of her favorite local health spots, where we sit down outside with summer chicken bowls. “Girl, it’s this Met Gala coming up… I can’t wait to stuff my face after,” she jokes.
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With her still fairly new platinum blonde tresses (a fresh ’do she debuted on social media in February), Cabello largely goes incognito; some passersby seem to recognize her but are perhaps too shy to approach. Just one screams, “Camila, I love you!” — a reminder that while Cabello might periodically crash at her parents’ house, she’s still a global superstar. But while she jokes that her new look has the side benefit of granting her some anonymity in public, she explains that it has a deeper meaning.
“The voice that I found with my new album has this big baddie energy vibe,” she explains animatedly. “Part of that spirit is taking risks, not giving a f–k and doing whatever you want. I think the blonde was me staying true to that feeling. With the hair, it was like, ‘How do I tell people, visually, that this is my new era?’ Sometimes you need the physicality to let them know, ‘Oh, this is a new thing, a new character.’ ”
CD1974 courtesy of Retail Pharmacy top, SHAY earrings and rings.
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On March 27, Cabello unleashed the first taste of what C,XOXO might bring: the Playboi Carti-featuring “I Luv It,” co-produced by Spanish hit-maker El Guincho (Rosalía) and Jasper Harris (Jack Harlow, Doja Cat). “I Luv It” samples Gucci Mane (“Lemonade”), interpolates a 2011 Rihanna loosie (“Cockiness [Love It]”) — and has a hyperpop aesthetic that marked a significant departure from the more conventional pop (and more recently Latin-influenced) sound that made Cabello a household name, first as a member of Fifth Harmony, then as a solo artist.
The unexpected track was also significant for another reason: It was Cabello’s first Interscope Records release after leaving Epic Records, her label home of nearly a decade where she had been since Fifth Harmony’s debut and released her first three solo albums — Camila, Romance and Familia — between 2018 and 2022.
Reactions to “I Luv It” on social media were mixed, and the song debuted and peaked at No. 81 on the Billboard Hot 100. Still, the song (and its somewhat unhinged vibes) piqued interest in Cabello’s next musical chapter. “The unpredictability of it is so different for me,” she says. “It’s such a kick-the-door-down moment, sonically, that it makes me feel strong and powerful. At least for me, in this stage of my life, it would feel so unfulfilling to just have a song that was big but felt like something that I’ve already done before. That brings me no joy. I would rather have a song that’s weird and be new territory to me.”
While the strangeness of “I Luv It” encapsulates Cabello’s new era, it was a different track that truly set the tone for the C,XOXO sessions. “At first, we played around with different genres, trying to find the sonic world the album lives in,” she explains. “ ‘Chanel No. 5’ really cracked open the album. For me, as a writer, that was the voice I wanted for the album: coy, cheeky and kind of devious.”
Gucci jacket, SHAY earrings, Harlot Hands rings.
Erica Hernández
On “Chanel No. 5,” Cabello sings between trippy piano interludes, her falsetto distorted, about being a “cute girl with a sick mind.” At one point she even raps — she has recently taken inspiration from “c–ty, cocky girl rap” like Flo Milli and Baby Tate, she explains.
“We realized we hit this key transition in the process,” says Harris, who co-produced the album, of the track. “That’s the first song we knew was very C,XOXO, and creating every song forward, we would ask if it felt as true as ‘Chanel.’ It was our north star.” (“Chanel No. 5” will be released pre-album drop as a fan track.)
Cabello, El Guincho and Harris devoted most of 2023 to working on the album — in New York, Los Angeles and the Bahamas but primarily Miami — and along the way, she had another creative epiphany: Her previous sets all had a why, a when and a who at their center, but never a where. C,XOXO would: It’s a love letter to Miami.
Cabello wasn’t always a Miami girl, but her journey here — a city full of sounds and culture enriched by immigrants — was a big part of what ultimately made her one.
Born in Havana, Cuba, she moved to Mexico City with her parents at age 6 and ultimately arrived in Miami with her mother (her father joined almost two years later). Her mom, who had been an architect in Cuba, worked in the shoe department at Marshalls; her dad washed cars at Dolphin Mall. Today, they run a successful contracting company called Soka Construction (named after Camila and her younger sister, Sofia).
In ninth grade, Cabello auditioned for The X Factor, where she eventually joined contestants Ally Brooke, Normani, Lauren Jauregui and Dinah Jane to form Fifth Harmony. With Cabello in the fold, the girl group — one of the most commercially successful ever — went platinum with its first two albums, in 2015 and 2016, and notched a top five Hot 100 hit with the Ty Dolla $ign-featuring “Work From Home.”
Erica Hernández
Amid Fifth Harmony’s success, Cabello started exploring opportunities outside the group. In 2015, she teamed with Shawn Mendes for “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” which cracked the top 20 of the Hot 100; the following year, she released “Bad Things” with Machine Gun Kelly, which went to No. 4. In December 2016, Fifth Harmony announced Cabello’s departure from the group on social media. “After 4 and a half years of being together, we have been informed via her representatives that Camila has decided to leave Fifth Harmony,” the other four members stated. “We wish her well.”
Cabello quickly flourished on her own: Her first three solo albums all reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200, and she has logged 21 Hot 100 entries as a solo artist, plus picked up two Latin Grammys. All the while, she continued notching star collaborations, like “Hey Ma,” an early-2017 teamup with Pitbull and J Balvin from the Fate of the Furious soundtrack. But her solo career really took off in August of that year with the Young Thug-featuring “Havana,” which climbed to No. 1 on the Hot 100 the following January. Her second Hot 100 chart-topper followed two years later: the steamy duet “Señorita” alongside Mendes, with whom she was in a much-photographed, two-year relationship.
Still, Cabello hasn’t yet delivered her lasting, full-length statement — the one that strongly defines her creative ethos and is entirely her own. Her latest album, 2022’s Familia, scored a top 40 hit with the Ed Sheeran-featuring “Bam Bam,” but it was Cabello’s lowest-charting solo project. (Her feature film Cinderella the previous year — a splashy starring role that could’ve further boosted her profile — received, at best, middling reviews.) In September 2022, Cabello left Epic to sign with Interscope — home to young stars like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, who have become some of the biggest names in pop music by unapologetically establishing strong musical identities. With C,XOXO, Cabello is poised to potentially do the same.
“This was the first time she had the chance to decide on her own record label,” says Cabello’s longtime manager, Roger Gold of Gold Music Management. “[Epic was] wonderful and super supportive, but there’s a difference between being signed to a label without your own selection process and making decisions and then really getting to do that for the first time. It was a big deal for her to find people who deeply wanted to work with her, respected her and understood her. [Interscope] truly makes us feel like we’re the only artist on the label sometimes.”
“She’s the kind of artist who doesn’t compromise,” says Michelle An, Interscope Geffen A&M president and head of creative strategy. “It sounded like Camila wanted a label team that really gets into the weeds of everything. What are the big looks with the [digital service provider] partners? What is the strategy with radio? How are we implementing it internationally? She’s the boss of the boardroom, and she can tell us how she feels and how she wants to market. She’s really embracing the fact that she has a big team that operates like a boutique.”
No Sesso dress, SHAY earrings.
Erica Hernández
That level of label support, Gold says, allowed Cabello to treat C,XOXO as the kind of creative departure she had never explored before. “She’s feeling very confident in her womanhood, owning her own power,” he says, “and feeling like this is her time to bravely say the things she wants to say.” It may have been a sonic jolt and, to some fans, an outlier, but “I Luv It” was no red herring.
On C,XOXO, Cabello’s musical hallmarks remain — her hypnotic falsetto, her vulnerable ballads, her heartfelt songwriting — but in an entirely different sonic context that now blends hip-hop, Afrobeats, R&B, reggaetón and electronic music. They’re the sounds of Miami itself, vividly evoking the scenes of the city: driving past the clubs on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach or through bustling, artsy Wynwood on a busy weekend.
“So much of the inspiration for this album was driving, listening to music, rolling the windows down and hearing what people in the city are listening to,” Cabello says. “The voice she was using as a writer felt very much like the city itself,” El Guincho adds. “I thought it was a very interesting angle to have Camila represent her city strongly in a pop album context, which are usually very displaced and decentralized.”
Because the album was made almost entirely in Miami, Cabello says she looked at the city “with binoculars and extra-close attention. Sonically, it feels like it’s a Miami art piece.” For her palette, Cabello drew on a diverse group of collaborators to add unique colors, including Carti, Lil Nas X, The-Dream, fellow Floridians City Girls and BLP Kosher — and, most notably, Drake. That much-discussed (and paparazzi-snapped) jet ski adventure Drake and Cabello took in the Turks and Caicos Islands last year? They were finishing up a track together.
“He’s the f–king GOAT, so it felt like shooting for the stars,” Cabello recalls of initially approaching the Canadian rapper by sliding into his Instagram DMs. “I showed him the album when I felt comfortable enough and he really liked it. [The feature] came out of a nontransactional place. He had this idea of a song called ‘Hot Uptown,’ and it just felt like I was in the city. I was in Miami.”
ABLONDI dress
Erica Hernández
The flirtatious, Caribbean-infused track (which until their Turks meetup was, according to Harris, the only album cut created with a remote collaborator) isn’t Drake’s only C,XOXO appearance. On the nearly two-minute-long interlude “Uuugly,” sequenced immediately after “Hot Uptown,” he sings over soft synth beats and Cabello’s ghostly backing vocals. According to Harris, the interlude was Drake’s idea: “He wanted to do one more thing for the album.”
“Why does he have his own song? Because selfishly, I just want to hear Drake on my own album,” Cabello says with a laugh. “I love that for me — it’s like that rebellious mood. Who says I can’t do that? It’s Drake talking his sh-t.”
Another ballsy move for Cabello: This is the first time she has written all her lyrics and lyrical melodies for an album, taking full responsibility for the ideas and concepts behind them. “She’s fast, curious, has great instincts for melody, is strong with her opinions but also open for them to be challenged. She’s pretty much a freestyler with great first takes,” El Guincho says. The producer “really believed in me to take on the writing,” Cabello says. “That felt good and important to me. It makes me feel different when the whole body of work is purer, my thoughts and my taste in words. I think that’s why it sounds so cohesive, because it really feels like me.”
Today, at Pura Vida, Cabello pulls out her phone and opens a Pinterest board she created last fall. It has movie stills from Spring Breakers, girls wearing balaclava masks, long manicured nails, BMX bikes, photos of the city at night — all conjuring the quintessential DGAF Miami girl energy that Cabello telegraphs on the cover of C,XOXO, which features the sweaty-haired star with heavily mascaraed, just-out-the-club lashes, licking an electric blue lollipop, her tongue stained with its fluorescent color.
“She had specific memories of Miami and growing up there,” An says. “She described driving through the tunnels, with [their] very specific yellow lighting that you don’t see anywhere else. She described a specific hue of blue at the beaches and was focused on blue hour. The blonde hair was also a big deal. The party culture. She spent a lot of time trying to get us to understand the visual world of Miami.”
Erica Hernández
As she honed the album’s voice and vision, Cabello started dressing differently, always wearing lip gloss, fully embracing her bold new persona. “It was important for me on this album to feel that way,” she explains. “Pop music is so uncomplicated — it’s very one-toned. In a weird way, this album shows these chaotic, sometimes toxic scenarios, and I think we as humans are like that — we’re messy, complicated, super twisted.”
“There’s a lot of people that want you to be formulaic in this business,” Gold says. “There’s pressure in general to not rock the boat too much: If something isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Camila is not that type of artist.”
With C,XOXO finished, Cabello has some time to unwind and focus on herself. She finally started watching Breaking Bad; she’s currently into cold plunges; and she’s maximizing the time that she spends in chancletas (flip-flops).
“It’s when I feel the freest. I just want my toes to be free,” she confesses with a smirk. “I hate heels, I hate sneakers, I just want to be in chancletas all the time. This is actually the first time that I’ve gone to an interview in chancletas, and I feel that this album has given me the permission to do that.”
C,XOXO also allowed her to embrace her personal relationships. Simply being able to hang out with her friends at home enriched the creative process, she says: “That energy of being with your friends and that girl gang vibe felt so sick to me.”
That vibe particularly comes through on “Dade County Dreaming,” the final track she recorded for C,XOXO. Inspired by its namesake county, the collaboration with Miami hip-hop duo City Girls (who Cabello connected with through her sound engineer) captures the essence of both the album and who Cabello is today: a city girl herself, having fun and living life. The hard-hitting track — with its ’90s freestyle undertones, haunting piano lines and geographic name drops — was, Cabello says, “the missing piece on the album [because] City Girls represent Miami so hard.”
Erica Hernández
Just weeks ahead of releasing C,XOXO, Cabello tells me she doesn’t have any expectations. “Many things can happen, and they are out of my control,” she says. But she’s ready to face the feedback with the clarity and maturity she has cultivated in the 12 years since her Fifth Harmony debut.
“[When I was starting out], I wish I knew that not everybody is going to like me, and it has nothing to do with me,” she admits. “That affected me a lot in the beginning. When you’re that young all you want is acceptance and love, and you can’t understand when people don’t like you. You take it so personally, and it makes you feel like you’re doing something wrong. Once you get older, you realize that people’s reactions have nothing to do with you, and you don’t have to take it so personally and be affected by it. I’m way more at peace with it today.”
On an ordinary day, she’ll go to the beach, read a book, invite her friends to her condo in Sunny Isles for dinner, sip a Bacardi and sparkling water, put on a cute outfit and go dancing at Swan, a chic Euro-style spot in the luxurious Miami Design District, or Dirty Rabbit, an edgy Wynwood dance club. After a night out, she’ll make a mandatory stop at the 24-hour Pinecrest Bakery for some croquetas. Even if she’s tired, she pushes herself to go out and won’t hold back from dancing with a cute guy if she feels a vibe. “I’m living the Sex and the City life, but Miami,” she says with a laugh. But really, it’s the C,XOXO life.
“To me, it’s about going out more, going to more parties and just being a bit more fearless and rebellious,” she muses. “Before, I would go out and not care about what I looked like. If I felt kind of ugly, it was whatever — but now, I always want to feel pretty for myself. It’s about really enjoying life, and I always think to myself, that’s what sensuality is all about. It’s a sensory thing: enjoying the food you eat, enjoying putting on a few outfits in the mirror, enjoying the senses of being alive. It’s about taking in that baddie energy.”
This story will appear in the June 1, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Ana Bárbara and Kany García will be among the artists honored at the second edition of Latin Women in Music, Billboard and Telemundo announced today (May 8). The program will air exclusively on Telemundo on Sunday, June 9.
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Hosted by Jacqueline Bracamontes, the two-hour music special will celebrate Latina artists who “proactively work for positive change, inclusion, and gender parity in the music industry,” according to the press release. It will also stream on the Telemundo app and Peacock.
According to the initial list of honorees, the Queen of Grupera Ana Barbara will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for her three decades of unparalleled influence in regional Mexican music and Latin pop.
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Throughout her career, which dates back to the mid-1990s, the San Luis Potosí native has not only conquered hearts, but has also shaped the regional style, earning a special place in the history of Latin music. “Ana Bárbara’s success has represented a powerful statement of female empowerment, struggle and resilience,” the statement said. “She managed to break down barriers, concepts and opened the way for other women in the industry, becoming an artistic inspiration, and a symbol of admiration and respect in the regional Mexican genre.”
Meanwhile, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Kany García will receive this year’s Spirit of Change Award, which recognizes an artist who “drives positive change within music, society and beyond entertainment.” García — who just released her latest album, GARCIA — has used her talents and platforms to advocate for meaningful social causes, including support for LGBTQ+ rights, gender equality and social justice.
At last year’s Latin Women in Music event, honors were granted to those who’ve made significant contributions to Latin music and its industry. The recipients included included Shakira as Woman of the Year, Ana Gabriel as Living Legend, Thalia as Global Powerhouse, Maria Becerra as Visionary, Emilia as Rising Star, Evaluna as Tradition and Future and Goyo as Agent of Change.
In the coming weeks, Billboard and Telemundo will announce additional Latin Women in Music honorees in 2024.
The inaugural Billboard Mujeres Latinas en la Música (Billboard Latin Women in Music) — which celebrates Latin female artists, executives and creatives in the music industry — is right around the corner.
An expansion of Billboard’s Women in Music franchise, the debut ceremony will honor seven Latina singer-songwriters including the first-ever Latin Woman of the Year Award to Shakira.
“Shakira is the ultimate Woman in Music,” said Leila Cobo, Billboard’s chief content officer for Latin/Español. “Thanks to her, Latin women all over the world have been empowered to write and perform deeply personal music. She created a movement all on her own and continues to be more relevant than ever today, with grace, a deep tradition of giving back, and enormous talent. She is the definition of a Woman in Music.”
The other honorees include Ana Gabriel, who will receive the Living Legend Award; Emilia, who will receive the Rising Star Award; Evaluna, who will receive the Tradition and Future Award; Goyo, who will receive the Agent of Change Award; Thalia, who will receive the Global Powerhouse Award; and Maria Becerra, who will receive the Visionary Award.
Hosted by Ivy Queen and Jacqueline Bracamontes, the 2023 Billboard Mujeres Latinas en la Música will be taped at the Watsco Center in Miami on May 6 and will air exclusively on Telemundo May 7 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT.
Below, count down to the televised event by listening to the ultimate playlist featuring music by the seven honorees and our host, Ivy.
Tickets to attend Billboard Mujeres Latinas en la Música live in Miami on May 6 are on sale now. For more information and to purchase, visit BillboardMujeresEnLaMusica.com. For the latest news, visit BillboardMujeresEnLaMusica.com, or follow Billboard on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter at @billboard. Join the conversation using #BBMujeresLatinas and visit BBMujeresLatinas.com for more information.