"Don't Go Yet" is a song by American singer and songwriter

Camila Cabello Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao (; ; born March 3, 1997) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the Pop music, pop girl group Fifth Harmony, one of the List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl gro ...

from her third studio album '' Familia'' (2022). It was released on July 23, 2021, as the lead single from the album by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

. The song was serviced to US

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

and rhythmic radio formats on July 27, 2021. "Don't Go Yet" was written by Cabello, Scott Harris, Eric Frederic and

Mike Sabath Mike Sabath is an American record producer, songwriter, and musician. He has worked with Shawn Mendes, Lizzo, Meghan Trainor, Raye, Liam Payne, Little Mix, the Jonas Bros., and Selena Gomez, among other artists. Early life and education Sabath ...

, and produced by the latter two. It is a Latin influenced,

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

Latin pop Latin pop () is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. It originates with List of countries where Spanish is an official language, Spanish-speaking ...

and

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

love song A love song is a song about love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. Love songs can be found in a variety of different music genres. They can come in various formats, from sad and emotion ...

, with a scratchy

flamenco guitar A flamenco guitar is a guitar similar to a classical guitar, but with lower action, thinner tops and less internal bracing. It usually has nylon strings, like the classical guitar, but it generally possesses a livelier, grittier sound compared ...

, luscious

ad-libs In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The roughly synonymous phrase ('in acc ...

and "handclapping overlapping as" beats. Lyrically, the song tells a story about being together with someone and never wanting to be apart from them. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

, directed by Philippa Price and Pilar Zeta, was released alongside the song launch. The track received its debut performance on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...

''. " Upon its release, "Don't Go Yet" received positive reviews from critics. It reached the top-ten in six additional countries, as well as the top-twenty in a further seven.

Background

Cabello first teased the song on July 14, using her

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account by sharing a close-up of her face along with the caption, "listos?" which translates from Spanish to English as "Ready?". On July 16, 2021, Camila announced via her social media accounts that "Don't Go Yet" would be released on July 23. Alongside the announcement, she also revealed the song's cover artwork. The singer is seen wearing a large earring and black outfit teamed with long black gloves. The following week, Cabello continued giving teasers from the "Don't Go Yet" music video. According to Cabello, both the song and music video were influenced by "Cuban-Mexican family parties from her childhood, where 'everybody eats dinner, and then after you put on a little cheap

disco ball A disco ball (also known as a mirror ball or glitter ball) is a roughly sphere, spherical object that reflects light directed at it in many directions, producing a complex display. Its surface consists of hundreds or thousands of facets, nearl ...

with lights and suddenly the living room is the dance floor'".

Composition

"Don't Go Yet" was written by Cabello, Scott Harris,

and Eric Frederic, and produced by the latter two. The song has been described as a

and

with a mix of Spanish lyrics. The Latin influenced production consists of strings,

maraca A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

s, and "

handclapping A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), ...

overlapping as" beats. Opening with "urgent", "scratchy"

and "luscious"

from Camila, the song plunges into swift, thumping beats. Eschewing

synths A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis an ...

and

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''vo''ice and en''coder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder wa ...

s, Camila's voice is "soulful" over real instruments, from textured maracas to soaring horns. The track also features live

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

by Cuban drummer

Pedrito Martinez Pedrito Martinez is a Cuban percussionist, drummer, singer, dancer, bandleader, songwriter, composer, and educator. He was born and raised in Havana, Cuba. He is a Cuban Conguero performing classic Cuban Rumbas, Afro-Cuban folkloric and religio ...

. The song is about the singer being together with someone and never wanting to be apart from them. The singer tells her man to shrug off his ideas of an early night and stay with her, but then explodes, as its titular phrase becomes the rallying cry of an effusive, sashaying choir. In terms of

musical notation Musical notation is any system used to visually represent music. Systems of notation generally represent the elements of a piece of music that are considered important for its performance in the context of a given musical tradition. The proce ...

, the song is composed in the key of

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: Cha ...

, with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 110 beats per minute, and runs for two minutes and 44 seconds. Christine Hahn of ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' noted that "the arrangements, especially in the choir" are reminiscent of the great Cuban orchestras of the '50s, in which a brass explosion marked the beginning of the choir and a complex percussion "made it clear that the songs were tropical."

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from music critics. Describing the song as "fun" and "exuberant", ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' Lindsay Zoladz wrote "Cabello leans harder than ever into her Latin-pop roots here, but also noted that there's a "sassy rasp" to her vocals that "reminds of

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCl ...

." Writing for ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

'', Meredith B. Kile‍ named the song as "a Cuban percussion-infused, dance floor-ready single." Anamaria Sayre of

NPR Music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

considered that the song "meshes sounds and instrumentation not only from her own Cuban heritage but

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

at large: From

rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...

rhythms to

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

claves and everything in between," and the singer "once again positions herself as ." Writing for ''

The Daily Aztec ''The Daily Aztec'' is a not-for-profit, independent student newspaper serving San Diego State University (SDSU) and the surrounding College Area in San Diego, California. It was established in 1913. It is named for the Aztecs identity of the un ...

'', Trinity Bland opined that the song is a Cuban Miami music milestone, because "Cabello is carrying that torch (taking Latin pop to an international mainstream level) with the song and it can be easy to compare her to a young Gloria in this colorful single as she authentically presents her Cuban culture to fans, reaching a global audience and having fun while doing so." Furthermore, Bland also compared the song to Gloria Estefan's multiple remarkable hits, "her chant-worthy chorus reminiscent of the iconic 'O ey, o ey' from '

Rhythm Is Gonna Get You "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" is a song written by Enrique "Kiki" Garcia and Gloria Estefan, and released by Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine in 1987 as the lead single from their tenth studio album, '' Let It Loose'' (1987) (reissued internat ...

' or the emphasis on dancing like in the remarkably acclaimed '

Conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

'." ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'' named "Don't Go Yet" 32nd on their list of the 55 Best New Songs of 2021.

Year-end lists

Accolades

Commercial performance

In the United States, "Don't Go Yet" debuted and peaked at Number 42 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 spending 9 weeks on the chart. It debuted and peaked at Number 28 on the ''Billboard'' Global 200. The track started at Number 30 on the

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

chart, based on three days of airplay and would go on to peak at Number 17. The song debuted at Number eleven on the US Digital Song Sales Chart. The song debuted at Number 50 on the US ''Rolling Stone'' Top 100, marking one of the biggest debut of the week on the chart. In Canada, the song entered the

Hot AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...

chart at number 41 based on three days of radio tracking. It ascended to Number 27 the following week. The song peaked at Number 25 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

. In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at Number 37 on the UK Singles Chart, marking Cabello's 12th UK Top 40 hit. In Australia "Don't Go Yet" peaked at Number 43 on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

. In Spain, the song was certified Platinum in November 2021 and reached a new peak of Number 48 on

Productores de Música de España Productores de Música de España (; shortened as Promusicae) is the national organisation responsible for the music charts of Spain. it is a trade association that represents more than 90% of the Spanish recorded music industry. It is the Inter ...

Top 100 songs chart, before peaking at Number 36 on November 11. In Italy, the song was certified Platinum in December 2021 and reached its peak of 51 on

Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) or the Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when ...

. "Don't Go Yet" has received further certifications of Gold in France and Switzerland. On March 20, 2022, Don't Go Yet reached 250 million streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

, 8 months after release.

Music video

The music video for "Don't Go Yet", directed by Philippa Price and Pilar Zeta, premiered on July 23, 2021. Prior the music video's premiere, the singer shared stills on her social media. Two days prior the song's release, the intro of the music video was shared on Cabello's social media which, according to her, featured "some

Easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are Egg decorating, decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter ...

Synopsis

The music video opens as the singer takes a ride in a classic convertible as she switches stations on the radio. Cabello also mentioned on her

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account that her grandfather's voice is playing on the radio station in the beginning. The footage then morphs into a stop-motion scene of a toy car carmaking its way up a dirt road accompanied by green hills and palm trees to a grand coral pink house, where Cabello rings the door bell. Inside, a vibrant party with friends and family is taking place. She joins the festivities as she sings and dances to the song. The singer is then shown dressed in a black dress with blue and red eye makeup, while dancing on the table. Next scene feature Camila holding on to a man's leg as she wasn't ready for him to leave. Through the video Camila switches outfits and shows different looks with bright make-up. The music video shows "the type of carefree, close-quarters family gathering, featuring many of Cabello's actual family members, including her father, sister, and cousin".

Live performances

On July 23, 2021, Cabello performed "Don't Go Yet" for the first time on ''

''. For the performance, Cabello was joined onstage by a group of dancers, dressed in '80s costumes. The performance received criticism from people offended by her performing with a

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

dancer whose skin appeared much darker in his stage makeup. In response to the criticism, Cabello said that the intention was for the dancer to look like a character with a bad fake tan. The same day, she sang the song in a bar in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. On September 7, 2021, Cabello performed the song on

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, hi ...

in the

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cott ...

, accompanied with Cheche Alara playing the accordion. On September 12, Cabello went on to perform it at the

2021 MTV Video Music Awards The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards were held on September 12, 2021, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City. This marked the first time in eight years that the venue hosted the show. The show was hosted by hip-hop rapper and singer Doja ...

in a

Carmen Miranda Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha (9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955), known professionally as Carmen Miranda (), was a Portuguese-born Brazilian singer, dancer, and actress. Nicknamed "The Brazilian Bombshell", she was known for her signature ...

inspired costume, with a Brazilian music inspired dance break produced and arranged by Cheche Alara. On September 23, Cabello performed it at the 2021 ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards, with a new high energy music production and arrangement by Cheche Alara. On October 15, 2021, Cabello performed the song at NPR's Tiny Desk for Hispanic Heritage Month with an 'El Tiny' takeover of the concert series performed at home. On May 28, 2022, Cabello performed the song in the

2022 UEFA Champions League Final The 2022 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, the 67th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 30th season since it was renamed from the European Champion ...

Track listings

Digital download /

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

# "Don't Go Yet" 2:45 Digital download / streaming –

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music and DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. They were founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after three years in 2011. He was the ...

remix # "Don't Go Yet" (Major Lazer Remix) 2:51 Digital download / streaming – Major Lazer Dub version # "Don't Go Yet" (Major Lazer Dub) 6:04

Credits and personnel

– lead vocals, writing * Scott Harris – writing, guitar *Eric Frederic – writing *

– writing, production, programming, vocals *

Ricky Reed Eric Burton Frederic (born January 15, 1982), known professionally as Ricky Reed, is an American record producer, singer, songwriter, and the founder of Nice Life Recording Company. In 2005, he formed the musical project Wallpaper., which las ...

– writing, production, bass, programming * Pilar Zeta – creative direction *

– congas, percussion, vocals *Carlos Henriquez – acoustic bass, vocals *Mike Ciro – guitar, vocals *Yeissonn Villamar – piano, vocals *Manuel Marquez – percussion, timbales, vocals * John Ellis – saxophone, vocals * Marshall Gilkes – trombone, vocals *Mike Rodriguez – trumpet, vocals *Emerson Mancini – mastering *Gianluca Girard – assistant engineer *Nicky Young – assistant engineer *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...

– mixing *Bart Schoudel – recording *Steve Xia – recording

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2021 singles 2021 songs Camila Cabello songs Epic Records singles Songs written by Camila Cabello Songs written by Mike Sabath Songs written by Scott Harris (songwriter) Songs written by Ricky Reed