Camila Cabello: 'Made in Miami.' A behind-the-scenes look at the 'Havana' star conquering the globe
YouTube is proud to present Camila Cabello’s “Made in Miami,” an Artist Spotlight Story created in collaboration with the rising superstar that gives an intimate and personal look at her journey, from arriving in Miami to topping the global charts.
Directed by Tabitha Denholm and released today on YouTube, “Made in Miami” is the story of Camila Cabello's path from arriving in Miami as a kid, carrying nothing but a backpack and a few toys, to becoming a global star with over 2.5 billion combined YouTube views and the biggest record in the world.
Boldy striking out on her own this year to follow her dreams, breakout artist Camila Cabello released a stunning debut solo album and created her iconic music video for “Havana,” a global smash which has garnered well over a billion views across YouTube since its release.
The unstoppable hit has been the #1 song on the YouTube Music Global Top 100 for every week of 2018 and earned massive views in countries including the United States (332 million), Brazil (132 million), the Philippines (120 million), Mexico (100 million), the United Kingdom (91 million) and Germany (72 million). Cabello’s hit is currently the most-viewed track of 2018 on YouTube, both globally and in over 30 individual countries.
“I knew I wanted to make a song called 'Havana' to honor my heritage — it's a love letter to that,” Camila Cabello explains in her Artist Spotlight Story “Made in Miami.” “I’m super proud to represent the Latin community and just super proud of my family and their story, and of who I am.”
Born in Cuba and raised in Miami, Camila gravitated to singing at an early age, eventually turning to YouTube to help build her audience. “Something clicked for me where I was like — this is a way to get into the singing thing, because you don’t need to have money to post a YouTube video.”
Uploads like her rendition of Demi Lovato's “Skyscraper” followed, foreshadowing the singer’s future success on and off the platform. “I would get, like, two comments, and I would be like, 'Oh my God!'” Camila explains of those early videos. “Posting those covers on YouTube definitely gave me a little bit more confidence.”
This led to her audition on Fox's talent competition “The X Factor,” which of course led her to being selected as a member of the vocal group Fifth Harmony. Their brassy single “Worth It” became the first video by a girl group to reach a billion views, while runaway hit “Work from Home” became YouTube's most popular video of 2016.
With the courage and talent to strike out on her own, she left the the group to write and produce her solo debut “Camila.” It is the video for the aforementioned “Havana” that best encapsulates Camila’s transformation to a global superstar.
“She wanted to tell a story,” explains Lyor Cohen, YouTube's Global Head of Music of her video for “Havana.” “She was able to weave that story into her music video, showing how much creativity people can have on YouTube.”
For Camila, it is all part of the ongoing journey. “My family’s attitude of never setting limits on yourself,” the singer explains in “Made in Miami.” “That’s literally the reason there’s a camera here right now.”
“Made in Miami” captures Camila’s story with intimate videos and insights into an artist stepping out onto the world’s stage to tell her story on her own terms, and the world may never be the same.
“Our Artist Spotlight Stories are intimate and personal portraits of artists that give them the unique opportunity to share these special moments with fans,” added Cohen. “‘Made in Miami’ is just that.”
For more on Camila Cabello, stream her Artist Spotlight Story “Made in Miami” on YouTube now and tune into her livestream Q&A about the film with fans at noon ET.