Charli XCX opens up about writing Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes' hit 'Señorita'
She knew it would be a hit!
Last updated 11th Nov 2019
Charli XCX is known for her songs 'Boom Clap' and 'Doing It', with Rita Ora, but the singer is also a talented songwriter. Charli wrote the huge hit, 'Señorita', released earlier this year by Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes, and she's recently opened up about the song she 'gave away'.
The singer told an American radio station, "I knew immediately the song wasn’t for me, but that it was good." She went on to explain, "This Latin Pop flare just wasn’t right for who I am because I am not a part of that culture, I’m not from there."
She continued, "Whereas Camila has that in her blood, so when we wrote the song we thought about her and sent it to her."
Camila and Charli XCX were of course on tour with Taylor Swift on her 'reputation' tour, even joining the pop star on stage for her hit 'Shake It Off'. Charli explained that the song was around a year in the making, and was even being discussed between herself and fellow support act Camila on the tour.
"We were on tour with Taylor together at the time so we were talking about it a little bit," she explained. "She wanted to do it with Shawn Mendes and they were talking about it, like it was just everyone having a long conversation about it.
"Obviously both of them write as well so they kind of wanted to write on the song and make it more their own."
Who wrote the song 'Senorita' by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello?
After Charli XCX originally came up with the song in a studio session with Ali Tamposi, Jack Patterson from Clean Bandit, and Andrew Watt, who told Billboard that he sent the song to Shawn Mendes. Apparently, Shawn said that Camila would be "the only person" he'd do the song with.
Shawn and Camila then decided that they wanted to put their own stamp on the song, so made a few changes in order to make it their own, and thus also have songwriting credits on the track.
Producers Benny Blanco and Cashmere Cat also worked on the song.
NOW WATCH: Camila Cabello answers the Internet
Well, it was worth the wait, as Camila and Shawn had huge success with 'Señorita'. It went to Number 1 around the world and the music video was also a success with the steamy video now having more than 720 million views!
Now take a look at some of the biggest collabs this year:
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello - 'Señorita'
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello teamed up for their summer hit 'Señorita', also dropping their steamy music video.
Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber - 'I Don't Care'
Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber have teamed up for 'I Don't Care', a catchy, upbeat song which was immediately a hit with fans around the world.
Calvin Harris and Rag'n'Bone Man
Not only is Calvin Harris a superstar DJ, he's also an amazing producer and he teamed up with Rag'n'Bone Man on 'Giant' in January. The DJ told us how the singer slid into his DMs, sending over some chord ideas - and before long the pair were working together on this hit - 'Giant'.
Sam Smith and Normani - 'Dancing with a Stranger'
Normani confirmed she was working with Sam Smith late last year, and the pair dropped their single 'Dancing With A Stranger' in January.
Lauv & Troye Sivan - 'i'm so tired...'
American singer-songwriter Lauv and Australian singer-songwriter Troye Sivan teamed up for this Top 10 hit, 'i'm so tired...'.
Jonas Blue with Theresa Rex - 'What I Like About You'
British DJ and producer Jonas Blue has teamed up with Danish singer Theresa Rex for their great song 'What I Like About You', which reached the Top 10 in the UK Dance Chart.
Europa (Jax Jones & Martin Solveig) - 'All Day and Night' with Madison Beer
This collaboration between British DJ Jax Jones and French DJ Martin Solveig, under their collaborative name Europa, was released in March.
Avicii and Aloe Blacc 'SOS'
'SOS' is the first single to be released since the untimely death of Avicii in April 2018. At the time of his death, Avicii had been working on a new album and the album was completed by his collaborators and released with the permission of his family.
Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie - 'ME!'
Taylor's first single of 2019 was a collaboration with Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco. The pop star had her fans very excited when she first posted a date on her socials. On the 26th April it was revealed to be a new single, 'ME!'. The song, along with the music video have been a huge hit with fans. In just a few hours the music video had more than 16 million views.
Avicii and Chris Martin
Following the release of Avicii's posthumous album, 'Tim', the music video for 'Heaven', his collaboration with Coldplay's Chris Martin was released. The video was very emotional to watch.
Ariana Grande and Social House
Ariana Grande teamed up with American duo Social House on her single 'Boyfriend'. The music video for the song featured all three of them at a house party, which ended in a fight. Ariana even ended up shooting heart-shaped lasers!
John Newman and Nina Nesbitt
John Newman and Nina Nesbitt joined forces on their new collaboration 'Without You'. 'Without You' comes four years after John's last Top 5 hit, 'Come and Get It' was released and speaking about his new collaboration, John said, "I have also been a fan of Nina and always loved working with her, it was an easy decision to get her on this stonker!"
Kygo and Whitney Houston
Norwegian DJ Kygo released one of the hits of 2019 when he remixed Whitney Houston's cover of 'Higher Love'.
Ed Sheeran and Stormzy
Ed and Stormzy worked together for Ed's collab album in 2019, releasing the massive track 'Take Me Back To London'.
Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey
They are three of the most successful women in pop, so when Ariana, Miley and Lana teamed up to release 'Don't Call Me Angel' for the 2019 movie adaptation of Charlie's Angels, fans were left over the moon!
Becky Hill and Sigala
He's dropped some massive its in recent years, but Sigala's 2019 collab with Becky Hill was certainly one of his most popular! Becky wrote the track about an ex-boyfriend, and it became one of the tracks of the summer.
Tiesto and Mabel
Legendary DJ Tiesto teamed up with Mabel to release 'God Is A Dancer' in September 2019.
You can hear songs by Charli XCX, Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes on Northsound 1.
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