Camila Cabello hasn’t had it straightforward together with her newest album C, XOXO. Since dropping the lead single “I Luv It” in March, she’s been criticized for “making an attempt too exhausting” to go in opposition to the radio pop identification that she constructed together with her hits “Havana” and Señorita” — two songs, by the best way, that stan Twitter already hates. She was accused of copying her contemporaries, straining to be edgy, and embracing an aesthetic that appeared to contradict the picture-perfect pop star manufactured for her when she was in Fifth Concord. However all alongside, this Cabello — a fried-blonde, anime and rap-referencing wild baby she’s offered on C, XOXO — was at all times there. Many people simply hadn’t met her but.
Cabello’s fourth album follows the “rebrand” mannequin set by the pop stan cycle. These expectations round reinvention are positioned virtually solely on girls, and demand that artists change their aesthetics and elegance for each single album. Take Taylor Swift going from snakes and revenge on Status to rainbows and Lisa Frank on Lover. Or Katy Perry, who went from frolicking amongst flowers on Prism to edgy Nicki Minaj collabs and an notorious pixie lower on Witness. Girls in pop are requested always to peel a layer of themselves for the patron and current a brand new “model” of their artistry, typically for followers, like in Cabello’s case, to choose aside. It creates an unsustainable, endless loop for pop queens and units artists up for an inevitable flop period.
However the factor is, we ought to be letting the pop girlies attempt what they need with out a lot scrutiny and strain. And on this case, there’s motive to consider Cabello is definitely tapping into an actual facet of herself, somewhat than simply making this entire aesthetic up for business positive factors. She’s at all times been the weirdo she exhibits us on C, XOXO: Throughout Fifth Concord’s Reflection and seven/27 eras, she was identified for placing followers onto experimental pop music similar to Jon Bellion’s Human Situation and Stromae’s Racine Carrée — two albums identified for his or her eccentric, boundary-pushing manufacturing types. Cabello was at all times as much as one thing that didn’t align with the sugary pop cuteness she’s identified for, even when it wasn’t obvious to the informal listener.
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This C, XOXO Cabello, who wears ski masks onstage and samples Gucci Mane, will not be that far of a cry from the one she confirmed us on the often-forgotten, and actually underrated, “Love Unbelievable,” the Cashmere Cat collaboration co-produced by… checks notes… the incomparable Sophie. On “Love Unbelievable,” Cabello’s voice-filtered high-notes danced over hip-hop drum beats that had C, XOXO’s experimental coronary heart written throughout it. Cabello merely might not have been given the prospect to indicate this facet earlier than, given label pressures and her woman group previous. As she informed The Line of Finest Match, this album lastly sees her “finishing up what my intentions have truly been from the start of my profession: to make pop music that feels left-of-center. To be on the within, whereas nonetheless being just a little bit on the surface.”
Artists are at all times digging deeper to seek out extra to their artistry, and it’s typically met with backlash. See, for instance, Becky G, who allowed herself to go from teenage rap star to reggeaeton reina to música mexicana singer within the span of three albums. Although some followers accused her of pandering to Latin tendencies, she finally discovered the area to embrace all sides of her Latinidad on Esquemas and Esquinas. Or take Rosalía, who transitioned from the avant-garde, flamenco-focused Mal Querer to the helmet-wearing, reggaeton-infused Motomami — and confronted fast pushback. Paired with a shocking dwell present, the Motomami period proved to grow to be a fan-favorite and earned her 4 Latin Grammys, together with Album of the Yr. It takes braveness to attempt one thing left-field — ultimately, the popularity follows swimsuit. (C, XOXO and Motomami share manufacturing mastermind El Guincho in widespread.)
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Apart from the rebrand, Cabello’s rollout has been tormented by a sequence of unlucky occasions outdoors of her. Charli XCX arrived with the generation-defining album Brat, which many tried evaluating C, XOXO to; seemingly each different pop woman — Dua, Billie, Ariana, Normani, Tyla — dropped seminal albums across the similar time. Metropolis Ladies’ JT and Yung Miami beefed on-line because it was introduced they’d be a part of her on a Dade County ode and Drake, who’s featured prominently on an interlude and an album standout “Scorching Uptown,” instantly turned rap’s most-hated villain; and to prime issues off, The-Dream, whom Cabello samples (and initially featured) on standout “Dream-Ladies,” confronted a rape accusation every week earlier than Cabello introduced her LP’s tracklist. All of this pulled consideration from and clouded the kooky experimentation Cabello embraced on the album. Sadly for Cabello, her music merely doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
Whatever the notion of her fourth album at this time limit, C, XOXO shall be an thrilling album to revisit as soon as we’re distant from the pop oversaturation that’s been 2024. The album captured Cabello departing from the single-focused album period that outlined her prior to now and sees her as a substitute embracing a brand new aesthetic and musical power that pushed her out of her consolation zone. C, XOXO was made to subvert expectations, to stretch her songwriting muscle groups, and can, maybe, be extra of a cult basic than a typically embraced report. And that’s OK. As Rolling Stone’s assessment described, Cabello offered a “feisty, hungry album that feels fearless even because it grapples with the unknown.” She’s a greater artist for giving it a stab.