3 November 2017
With all the tropical house appropriation of the preceding couple of years, it’s somewhat heartening that 2017 gives us two huge Latino Caribbean hits—‘Despacito’ and now ‘Havana’—from acts for whom the culture is their family heritage rather than a keyboard setting. That said, I wonder if there are native Cubans who feel about ‘Havana’ the way Irish people do about Ed Sheeran’s ‘Galway Girl’. (The logical extension of this analogy is that Havana is the Galway of Cuba.)
Let’s tidy up the extras first. Young Thug hasn’t distinguished himself in recent times. And in another act who has associated themselves with sexual creeps, the huhs and hahs and other background vocals on ‘Havana’ are by none other than Pharrell, who used to show up here a lot more frequently. Right: moving on.
Fifth Harmony weren’t huge on our side of the Atlantic, but the snazzy ‘Work From Home’ had been a top five hit here in 2016 and I recall being aware enough of them to know that Camila Cabello was the anticipated breakout solo star of the group. (Cabello left at the end of that year; the remaining four trooped on for another couple of years before the dreaded “hiatus”. They turned the reunion trope on its head in 2025 by making a Camila-less surprise once-off appearance during a Jonas Brothers show. Of the four non-Camilas, you should check out Normani’s 2024 solo album Dopamine. I wouldn’t know the other three if they bit me. Now you’re up to date.)
Even without that groundwork in place, ‘Havana’ would have made a star of anyone: it’s charming and memorable. Again, the native Cubans among you—and you having the Buena Vista Social Club album doesn’t qualify on that front—may demur at what could well be the sound a musical Lonely Planet guidebook of Havana would make when you open it, but the salsa-rhythm piano riff is catchy, and the likeable Cabello—of Cuban stock—captures the romantic ache and romanticised sultry glamour really well. Just like Ed Sheeran did for Galway, says you.
