Stars of 2017: Camila Cabello

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As I wrote in last week’s Future Pop, Fifth Harmony have had a strange trajectory as a band, and their future, as well as the individual members’, is truly hanging in the balance as we reach the end of 2016. They reached new heights with Work From Home, which should have been the beginning of a huge album campaign, but tensions in the band have been the prevailing story in the press and among fans ever since. It’s uncertain whether the group will continue on to release a third album, but one thing is clear – Camila Cabello will be making a play for solo stardom, as a member of the band or otherwise.

Although Fifth Harmony doesn’t officially have a lead singer, Camila was a favourite in the band from the X Factor days, thanks to her cute personality/style and relatable One Direction fandom. She had a wobble when some very unpleasant pre-fame social media posts were unearthed, but as the group hit their stride with singles like BO$$ and Worth It, she strode ahead of the rest (a million Twitter followers ahead, to be precise). She dated teen star Austin Mahone and befriended Shawn Mendes, which resulted in a collaboration, released even before the band had finished promoting their first album. Since then, she’s recorded with Diplo, befriended Taylor Swift and her squad, hired her own high-powered manager, and is featured prominently on the new single by rapper Machine Gun Kelly, which recently hit no.1 on the US iTunes chart.

As a solo artist, Camila will no doubt struggle with a reputation that she’s not a team player, but I do admire her drive and ambition – it’s a shame that these qualities aren’t appreciated in female celebrities. I’m sure her career has many more ups and downs to come, and I can’t deny I’m excited for the 5H drama to kick off once they complete the obligations of their current tour, but I hope it won’t overshadow her potential as a young female pop star with a name, connections and the determination to make it.

Click here to find out more about This Must Be Pop’s Stars of 2017 and come back on 19th Dec to vote for the artists you think, and hope, will be the biggest pop breakthrough of 2017. The results will be announced in the Future Pop mailer on 2nd Jan.

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