Camila Cabello’s official interview has arrived.
Camila Cabello released her fourth album, C,XOXO (read: See, X-O-X-O), at the end of June. Inspired by her hometown of Miami, the album explores genres beyond pop and pushes boundaries both musically and visually, making it a symbol of Camila’s evolution as an SSW. Camila herself wrote the songs for this album, which was produced by El Guincho, known for his work with J Balvin, ROSALÍA, and Billie Eilish, and Jasper Harris, who has worked with Jack Harlow, Baby Keem, and Roddy Ricch.
In addition, many luxurious guest artists participated in this work. In addition to Playboi Carti who participated in “I LUV IT” and Lil Nas X who collaborated on “HE KNOWS”, Drake participated in “HOT UPTOWN” and “Uuugly”, and collaborated with City Girls’ JT and Yung Miami on “Dade County Dreaming”. In addition, PinkPantheress participated in “pink xoxo”, and “koshi xoxo”, an interlude by BLP Kosher, samples “Leaving” by yanaco, an electronic musician based in Tokyo.
Ahead of the release, Camilla wrote on her social media: “C,XOXO is my favourite side to myself. C,XOXO is blue and pink ski masks, never going without lip gloss, reviving during the blue hour, long nails and sharp eyeliner to seduce any man, crying with your make-up on and sending pictures to your friends, wearing a bikini under a t-shirt, going to the beach for dinner with sticky hair, getting a tan and drinking white wine with your girlfriends. Living it to the fullest. C,XOXO does no harm but doesn’t care.”
It gave me the confidence, the boldness and the wabi-sabi that we all need in this world. This is for strong girls, dreamy girls, lovable girls in recovery. I love living in a world of ‘C,XOXO.’ See you there soon.”
The official interview below goes into more detail about the album “C,XOXO.” Check it out below.
Camila Cabello’s latest album “C,XOXO” official interview
–Could you tell us about the concept of “C,XOXO” and the inspiration behind this work?
Camila Cabello: I feel like this album was inspired by a lot of things. There’s a line in “DREAM-GIRLS” that goes, “All the girls that are learning to be women now,” and I think that’s the big theme of the album. “Becoming an adult.” Like, “From a girl to a woman.” There’s a kind of confident energy in this work. The “C,XOXO” persona represents that side of me. I wanted to express that side of myself in this work and performance. Confident energy. And friendship, too.
–The album “C,XOXO” was inspired by your hometown, Miami. How has Miami influenced you musically and culturally?
Camila CabelloI moved to Miami with my mom when I was seven, and I’m so grateful for that city. There were a lot of immigrant families there, and it became our new home. It’s really beautiful to personify a place that has taken you in and write a love letter or a love letter to it. That’s what I’m expressing on this album. Miami has shaped a lot of who I am and my taste in music. It’s like a melting pot of cultures, with Latin, rap, Afrobeat, Caribbean music. That’s what my taste in music is. For example, my favorite dance spots have always been in Miami, because they have the best music there.
–In the trailer for “C,XOXO,” Miami is called “Caribbean Tokyo.” Did the futuristic atmosphere of Miami remind you of Tokyo?
Camila Cabello: That’s a great question! I think Tokyo is very C,XOXO-esque. I feel like there’s a futuristic energy and theme to this album. There’s robot dogs on stage, the color scheme is a lot of silver chrome, everything feels like it’s from the year 3000. I think there’s a futuristic aspect to the neon colors of Miami, which reminds me of a place like Tokyo in the Caribbean. I’ve always wanted to go back to Tokyo. It’s very C,XOXO-esque, especially in the song “Chanel No.5,” where you mention Japanese in the verses.
–In “Chanel No.5,” many Japanese phrases appear, such as “origami,” “murakami,” “wabisabi,” “umami,” and “omakase.” Please tell us how you decided to use Japanese words in the lyrics. Also, what does the perfume “Chanel No.5” symbolize in this song?
Camila Cabello：For “Chanel No.5,” when I came up with the melody, vowels came to mind first. Then, when I was writing the lyrics, I used a website called RhymeZone to search for rhymes, and many of the words there were Japanese words. I also included Japanese words that I personally found really beautiful and attractive. I was reading Haruki Murakami’s books at the time, so I just packed in Japanese words that fascinated me. I love eating, and I thought it was great that umami is considered the fifth or sixth basic taste, and I also think wabi-sabi, the concept of beauty and imperfection, is a really nice word. That’s the concept behind this song, and I sang beautifully about what I thought was beautiful. The perfume in “CHANEL N°5” was the perfume I wore when I was with someone, and he loved that perfume, so I’ve always wanted to write a song about it.
–The album “C,XOXO” features many hip-hop artists, including Drake, Lil Nas X, Playboi Carti, and City Girls. What is the background behind the album having such a strong hip-hop influence?
Camila Cabello:Looking back, some of my favorite songs have been collaborations with rappers. “Havana” with Young Thug, “My Oh My” with DaBaby, and the remix of “Real Friends” with Swae Lee were all cool. I think rap has always been a big influence in my songwriting and melodies. And I always think it’s a lot more interesting to have people from different musical realms working together than two similar artists on the same song. Collaborations with those people are always exciting, so I wanted to do more of that on this album.
–Apart from the singles you’ve released so far, what song on “C,XOXO” is your personal favorite, and what song would you like your fans to listen to?
Camila Cabello: It’s the songs on the album other than the singles. It’s hard to choose the song I want my fans to hear the most because I really love every song. I really felt like I had to put every song on the album. So it’s really hard to choose, but I’d like my Japanese fans to listen to “Pretty When I Cry” because it’s a really “cute” song and it reminds me of everyone in Japan.
-How would you like Japanese fans to listen to “C,XOXO”?
Camila Cabello: I hope that my Japanese fans will feel more confident after listening to this album. Even now, especially when I was younger, I would listen to female artists to feel more confident before doing something that would make me nervous. When I play songs by female artists that I like, like Beyoncé’s “HOMECOMING,” I feel calm. I feel like I did that for myself with this album. So I hope that people who listen to this album will feel more confident in who they are and more playful. I also want to tell people that the best environment to listen to this album is when you’re with your friends.
-Finally, please give a message to your Japanese fans.
Camila Cabello: I want to tell my Japanese fans that I love you. I love you all and I want to go to Japan again soon. I really love Japan. I love Japan and everyone here, and every time I go to Japan, I feel like I can’t believe it, so I wonder when I’ll be able to go to Japan again. I’m sure I’ll be able to see you soon!
【release information】
Camila Cabello 『C,XOXO』
Release Date：2024.06.28 (Fri.)
Cat.No.: UICF-1138
Price: ￥2,860 (Tax included)
Tracklist:
1. I LUV IT (feat. Playboi Carti) ★ 1st single
2. Chanel No.5 ★3rd Single ＜Focus Track＞
3. pink xoxo / pink xoxo ※←Pink Panthers are participating!
4. HE KNOWS (feat. Lil Nas X) ★2nd single
5. Twentysomethings
6. Dade County Dreaming (feat. JT and Yung Miami)
7. koshi xoxo / Koshi xoxo *Sampling “Leaving” by yanaco, an electronic musician based in Tokyo!
8. HOT UPTOWN (feat. Drake)
9. Uuugly (feat. Drake)
10. DREAM-GIRLS
11. 305tilidie / 305 tilidie
12. BOAT / BOAT
13. pretty when i cry
14. June Gloom
*Domestic version: Includes lyrics, translations and commentary / First production run includes Japan-only sticker
