Havana (Camila Cabello song)

"Havana" is a salsa-inspired^[17] mid-tempo pop^[18][19] and Latin^[20] song with R&B-pop beats^[21] and trap influences,^[22] on which Cabello embraces her Cuban heritage.^[23] Cabello sings the chorus over Latin-influenced piano riffs and rhythm, with the melody's chord progression constantly switching between Gm–E♭–D₇ and Gm–E♭maj₇–D₇. It is performed in the key of G minor, with Cabello's vocals ranging from G₃ to D₅.^[24][25] It has the same slinky, snap-accented intro as "Same Old Love" by Selena Gomez, released two years before.^[26] Sadie Bell of Billboard interpreted the line "Half of my heart is in Havana" as the song chronicling "a romance that found Cabello's heart left down south",^[27] while for Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos said that in the "clubby, smooth" track, Cabello falls in love with "a mysterious suitor from East Atlanta", though she has left her heart in her hometown.^[28] Young Thug performs a sing-song verse over the "bouncy" piano.^[27][19] Rap-Up described the song as a "Latin fusion",^[20] and XXL called it a "straightforward pop track".^[19] The second verse featuring Young Thug is replaced with the original lyrics sung by Cabello.^{[29][failed verification]}

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"Havana" received universal acclaim. Jamieson Cox of Pitchfork regarded the "sultry, salsa-inflected" song as a "keystone for a superstar origin story."^[17] Writing for Billboard, Sadie Bell said that the "sexy" track radiates a "Latin flare".^[27] Similarly, Much's Allison Bowsher opined the track "arrives just in time to keep the summer heat going on the radio."^[30] Raise Bruner of Time wrote that "Havana" "hits a freshly sultry note that we hope to see more of in her debut album."^[31] Peter Berry of XXL felt that Young Thug's verse "blends with the bouncy piano perfectly."^[19] Billboard considered it the 19th best song released in 2017, with Lyndsey Havens writing that the song "didn't arrive like a breakthrough hit, but it ended up changing the entire course" of Cabello's solo career, as she "sheds the weight that came with trying to prove herself outside of her former girl group and clears a path to finally be herself."^[32] Popjustice ranked it 19th,^[33] while The Fader ranked it 48th.^[22] Stephen Kearse of Complex, which ranked the song 28th, wrote: "Warm, bouncy, nostalgic, and sweaty, 'Havana' builds a one-night stand into a pulsating fever dream that blurs reality and fantasy", praising Cabello's "layered vocals" and Young Thug's presence.^[34]

Accolades

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Year-end lists

Publication	List	Rank	Ref.
Billboard	The 100 Best Songs of 2017	19	[32]
Complex	The 50 Best Songs of 2017	28	[34]
The Fader	The 101 Best Songs of 2017	48	[22]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	The Best Songs of 2017	placed	[35]
Popjustice	The Top 45 Singles of 2017	19	[33]
Stereogum	The Top 40 Pop Songs of 2017	32	[36]
	The 50 Best Music Videos of 2017	18	[37]

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Decade-end lists

Publication	List	Rank	Ref.
Billboard	The 100 Songs That Defined the Decade	placed	[38]
Elle	The 52 Best Songs That Defined The 2010s	placed	[39]
Paste	The 100 Best Songs of 2010s	60	[40]

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In the United Kingdom, "Havana" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 53 on the chart dated August 11, 2017.^[41] It rose to number two in its ninth week, behind only Post Malone's "Rockstar" featuring 21 Savage.^[42] On November 3, it reached number one, giving Cabello and Young Thug their first UK number-one single.^[43] It then held the top position for five weeks before falling behind Ed Sheeran's "Perfect".^[44]

In October 2017, the single reached number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 in its twelfth week, becoming Cabello's second top 10 entry as a solo artist and Young Thug's first.^[45] In January 2018, "Havana" reached number one on the Hot 100 for one week after spending seven non-consecutive weeks occupying the number two spot behind both Post Malone and 21 Savage's "Rockstar" for five weeks and Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé's "Perfect Duet" for an additional two weeks, becoming both Cabello and Young Thug's first song to top the chart. The song took 23 weeks to reach the top spot, equaling the longest climb for a female artist with Sia's "Cheap Thrills" (2016) and Patti Austin's "Baby, Come to Me" (1982–1983). Cabello became the third artist in chart history to top both the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 for their first time in the same week, after Britney Spears and Beyoncé did so in 1999 and 2003, respectively.^[46] The song has also been certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[47] "Havana" became the ninth song to top the Mainstream Top 40, Rhythmic and Adult Top 40 airplay charts–over the 22 years that all three charts have coexisted.^[48]

"Havana" reached number one on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in its twelfth week on the chart, becoming Cabello's first number-one song, including during her time as part of Fifth Harmony.^[49] It held the summit for three weeks before also being displaced by "Perfect".^[50]

The song became Spotify's most-streamed song ever by a solo female artist in June 2018, with more than one billion streams at the time.^[51]

Cabello shared a 26-second preview of the short film for "Havana" on October 22, 2017, through her YouTube channel. The video filmed in Los Angeles, California. 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.^[52]

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.^[54] Aside from appearing as Karla, Cabello also plays the telenovela actress and the movie protagonist.^[55][56] 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.

Tom Breihan of Stereogum, which ranked the song 28th of 50 best music videos of 2017, reviewed on December 18, 2017: "Camila Cabello is going to be a movie star one day, and she might still never deliver a better performance than the one she gives in this multiple-role video."^[37]

It received four nominations at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, for Video of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Video, and Best Choreography, winning the first.^[57] As of January 2025, the video has received more than 1.11 billion views on YouTube,^[58] while the audio track has over 2 billion views,^[59] a total of over 3.11 billion.

Cabello performed the song for the first time on television on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on September 25, 2017.^[60] The same week she performed on The Today Show, where she delivered a message to "all the dreamers" in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.^[61] On October 27, Cabello performed a Spanglish version of the song at the Latin American Music Awards.^[62] She also performed the song at the BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards,^[63] LOS40 Music Awards^[64] iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina,^[65] and the MTV Europe Music Awards.^[66] Her performance at the MTV EMAs was ranked as the best of the night by Billboard writer Joe Lynch.^[67] Her performance at Billboard Women in Music was the stripped-down version of the song, backed only by a guitar, keyboard and light drumming.^[68] It was also performed at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve in 2017,^[69] and later she gave a cabaret-style performance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show during the album release week.^[70][71] She gave a performance inspired by Marilyn Monroe's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes role and Madonna's "Material Girl" music video at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards with Young Thug.^[72] Cabello performed the song with Ricky Martin, J Balvin, Young Thug and Arturo Sandoval as the opening act at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in February 2019.^[73] On May 28, 2022, Cabello performed the song in the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final.^[74][75]

Several remixes of the song have been made. On November 11, 2017, a remix made by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee was published on Cabello's official YouTube channel. The first verse of the remix is sung in Spanish while Daddy Yankee replaces Young Thug's verse. The video has 142 million views as of January 18, 2023.^[5] Additionally, a popular remix made by YouTuber Maestro Ziikos was uploaded to YouTube on November 24 which was a remix that featured then U.S. President Donald Trump "singing" (the remix was made via taking excerpts from various Trump speeches and adjusting their tone to the song). Though the song was generally praised for the effort that went into it, Cabello herself, as a critic of Trump due to his plans to rescind DACA, was displeased with the remix, and after fans repeatedly asked her about it, she took to Twitter to apologize to the city of Havana for the remix.^[76][77] The Trump remix has 132 million views as of January 18, 2023.^[78]

Credits from the liner notes of Camila and adapted from Jaxsta.^[92][93]

Studio recording

• Camila Cabello's vocals recorded at NightBird Recording Studios (West Hollywood, California)
• Young Thug's vocals recorded at Westlake Recording Studios (West Hollywood, California)
• Camila Cabello's vocals produced at TwentyNine Lions (Studio City, California)
• Mixed at Larrabee Sound Studios (North Hollywood, California)
• Mastered at The Mastering Place (New York City)

Personnel

Performance

• Camila Cabello – lead vocals
• Young Thug – guest vocals
• Pharrell Williams – background vocals
• Starrah – background vocals
• Frank Dukes – piano, bass, programming
• Kaan Gunesberk – keyboards
• Serafin Aguilar – trumpet
• Tom Moffett – trumpet
• Leland Whitty – saxophone

Production and songwriting

• Frank Dukes – production, songwriting
• Matt Beckley – vocal production, songwriting
• Camila Cabello – songwriting
• Kaan Gunesberk – songwriting
• Brian Lee – songwriting
• Starrah – songwriting
• Ali Tamposi – songwriting
• Andrew Watt – songwriting
• Pharrell Williams – songwriting
• Young Thug – songwriting

Technical

• Martin Gray – recording
• Mike Gaydusek – recording
• Robbie Soukiasyan – recording
• Kyle Mann – recording
• Marco Falcone – assistant recording
• Sean Madden – assistant recording
• Henry Guevara – assistant recording
• Jaycen Joshua – mixing
• David Nakaji – assistant mixing
• Ivan Jimenez – assistant mixing
• Kevin Peterson – mastering

Live version

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[94]

• Camila Cabello – vocals
• Ryan Cecil – recording
• Emerson Mancini – mastering
• Serban Ghenea – mixing

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