It’s another win for Camila Cabello.
Fresh off the release of the singer’s Rolling Stone cover story, it was announced that Cabello had broken a pretty notable streaming record. According to Billboard, the Cuban-American’s hit single “Havana” is now Spotify’s most-streamed song by a solo female artist … in history. The record was previously held by Sia for “Cheap Thrills.”
The publication reports that the Young Thug-assisted track has garnered more than 888 million streams since its release in September 2017. It’s reported Cabello is also the first solo Latina artist to break this record.
Not too bad for a track that was expected to flop.
During her recent interview with Rolling Stone, the Cuban-American singer spoke about writing “Havana”—a nod to her home country of Cuba—and how her record label had doubts about its potential success.
“We reworked it and reworked it and reworked it. I would go to a studio session and get another person I really vibed with and try to come up with something, and nothing worked,” Cabello told Rolling Stone.
She and producer Frank Dukes eventually worked with Pharrell, who then added his special touch to “Havana.” But even with Pharrell’s contributions, Cabello’s label still wasn’t convinced.
“Nobody wanted to make it a single,” she told Rolling Stone about the track. “They said that radio would never play it, that it was too slow, too chill.”
As we now know, Cabello stood her ground and insisted “Havana” be a promotional single from her debut studio album Camila. It has since received multiple platinum certifications and has topped international music charts.
“It just taught me a huge lesson: Screw whatever's ‘going to work,’” she said about the “Havana” rollout, “you just have to go with the thing that you feel is the most you.”
