Luis Fonsi's "Despacito" is leading the fierce race for "song of the summer," and it's only June. It helps that Justin Bieber, a veritable supernova of pop stardom, joined Fonsi for a remix that was released in April. Since the remix hit airwaves, "Despacito" has reigned as this summer's version of "Can't Stop the Feeling." (Let it be known that "Despacito," at least in this writer's eyes, is far better than Justin Timberlake's candy-coated jingle from last year.) Justin Bieber sings in Spanish! With Luis Fonsi, the legend! And Daddy Yankee! What could be better?
The answer is Camila Cabello, singing the same song. The 20-year-old sung a few lines from the hit song during an interview at Capitalfm last week. And in just 20 seconds or so, Cabello put Bieber to shame. The former Fifth Harmony member is a native Cuban, having emigrated to the U.S. when she was 7. (Cabello detailed the experience in an essay for PopSugar.) Naturally, she's far more familiar with the sounds of Spanish than Justin Bieber is — to put it lightly.
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Since releasing the song, Bieber has faced some criticism for not actually knowing the Spanish lyrics he sings in the song. During a performance at 1 Oak in NYC, the 23-year-old sputtered through the words, replacing most of them with "blah blah blah." To be fair, Bieber doesn't speak Spanish, and he likely learned "Despacito" phonetically and did not memorize it. Then, in Sweden Monday night, a fan threw a bottle at Bieber when the pop star refused to sing the song.
"I can't do it," he told the cheering crowd. Maybe next time, he can ask Camila Cabello to step in?
Watch the full video of Cabello, below.
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