‘HE KNOWS’ That Camila Cabello Is No Longer ‘Crying In The Club’

If, by chance, you were at the club on Thursday night, hypnotic blue strobe lights anchoring onto a line of mini skirts, and expected Camila Cabello’s ‘Crying in the Club’ to come on like a nostalgic flashback, you wouldn’t be the only one. The hit came out a whopping seven years ago! On May 19, 2017, to be exact, which sounds absurd. But we digress. Rather than those first two words, “You think,” being sung, we were slapped pretty hard with the known reality that we’re in 2024. The period of the “I think.”

And, yep! Just like that, there is known ground here. ‘HE KNOWS,’ the actual song we heard come blazing out of the club speakers, has two similarities thus far with one of her first hits. Both settings are in the club, and the opening line is eerily the same. We’re not quite sure if Camila planned this on purpose, but if so, bravo. 

‘HE KNOWS,’ with the music video directed by Onda, is the second single off her fourth album C,XOXO, hitting streaming platforms on June 28. The track features our favorite lasso-spinning queer cowboy Lil Nas X and therefore makes it an instant favorite—the two pistol off in a round of flirt-off with a fluid mannequin. 

We’re not mentioning here that during Camila’s first stopover for ‘Crying in the Club,’ she was almost the plastic doll herself, dancing in a glass-blocked-off platform as if those around her were mindlessly consuming her pain as entertainment. Nope, not at all! These commonalities would continue until they were set off like dominos, so the two projects eventually collided. But we’re feeling daring, so that’s precisely what we’ll do! Who else is down for comparing these two?

Silicone Siren: Choreography 

Choreographer Calvit Hodge Jr, with their shuffling sidekick assistant Sara Bivens, must’ve tacked the word “TikTok” onto their vision boards when brainstorming for ‘HE KNOWS.’ The beat kicks in from the second she sashays down to the underground club. But it doesn’t come from drums like the production. Instead, it’s a sultry tap of hands onto exposed legs. Influencers are eating it up under their neon lights, and rightfully so! It’s giving someone on the night scene prowling after a failed relationship, looking for their next meal. It doesn’t matter if it’s a short fling or someone’s finger to slide a ring onto. It’s all the same confidence!

When comparing this confident two-step to ‘Crying in the Club,’ it’s like night and day. The former has this grungy, textile-like siren call harmonizing with ‘I LUV IT’s desperado. Meanwhile, the latter thrives on a ball-like rhythm, waltzing with disappearance. She’s dancing alone here, not with her pack of girl friends, a possible romantic crush, or tumbling on the floor with a rivalry. Rather, she chooses to be by herself. This makes it more potent, as we know that with this dance style, there should be someone flowing with her. There are many more body rolls, hair flips, and hand stretches—a sharp contrast to the apparent street style-inspired routine. 

Romance To Miami ‘Señorita’ Chic: Fashion

Lizzie McGuire called and wants her Y2K side-fringed lower bun hairstyle back. With Camila’s natural dark locks captivating the middle hair part, tufts of blonde hair fall loose on one side of her face. The other side has her hair tucked behind her ear where spikes are coming out from that twisted bun. All that’s missing is some chopsticks! Then, we’ve truly copied and pasted an early 2000s style. It never matters, though, as she has to shake it loose for the dance battle. This brings us to her overall outfit! We probably wouldn’t have caught her in a diamante choker paired with a knotted cutout with a metallic blue triangle bralette cutting through and a matching skirt in the earlier Romance era. But it brilliantly captures the sun-kissed Miami heat, a big inspiration for C,XOXO. 

‘Crying in the Club’ not only sees her natural locks returning, but it also feels more regal. The simple black ballgown brushes the floor with puffy, layered mesh. The color signifies the death of the relationship she now feels a ghost to. Even when she’s dance-crying in the club, she’s only showing a slither of her stomach. There’s far less skin than in ‘HE KNOWS.’ The movement of the top and skirt combo is delicate compared to that of the skintight clothing.

Shades In Vibrant Beats: Lighting

Besides the blonde extensions clutched in Lil Nas X’s hands as he fights with Camila on glistening white tiles, ‘HE KNOWS’ has a distinct color scheme. It never seems to stray from a blue tint for long. From the sequins in Camila’s outfit to the shade coloring in the block-letter font that details the credits, it’s there! It’s no coincidence, right? When Googling what it symbolizes, stability keeps coming up. Then, have a look at the lyrics, particularly one: “He’s wrapped around my pinky finger.” Camila seemingly understands that she’s the one who has the upper hand in this situation. She’s flirtatious and chill, knowing he perhaps wants her more than she wants him, unlike ‘Crying in the Club,’ where she’s dealing with feelings of unrequited love. 

‘Crying in the Club’ poses that technicolor, dipping into violent reds, purples, and blues! Starting with black and white, she’s essentially colorless. Her life becomes zapped from those feelings of pure bliss. She thought she could only ever get around him. Yet the more we’re in the club scene, and the more she dances away her heartache, the more the color latches on. Sure, there are still flickers of grayscale in between, but those latches of color are the hope. The same hope that she’s fully gripped and grounded herself in during ‘HE KNOWS.’

Final Call

How could anyone be ‘Crying in the Club’ when their partner in dance floor crime is Lil Nas X? From flicking contraceptives out over a gay bar balcony, racking up those streaming numbers to the iconic dialogue we now have memorized (“He’s bald???”), ‘HE KNOWS’ there’s no other man we need to converse with that night! And now Camila knows it, too. But if we ever need a gentler reminder, we can hit replay on their music video. Then tweet us @thehoneypop raving (eh) all about your favorite scene. Go ahead! We’re waiting before our Uber takes us to the next club. We’re so excited to see how our now spicy blonde can continue incorporating the setting into her work.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CAMILLA CABELLO:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LIL NAS X:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE