South of the Border (Ed Sheeran song)

"South of the Border"
Single by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B
from the album No.6 Collaborations Project
Language	English Spanish
Released	12 July 2019
Recorded	June 2019
Genre	Latin pop[1] hip hop R&B
Length	3:24
Label	Atlantic Asylum
Songwriter(s)	Ed Sheeran Camila Cabello Belcalis Almanzar Fred Gibson Jordan Thorpe Steve Mac
Producer(s)	Ed Sheeran Fred Gibson Steve Mac
Ed Sheeran singles chronology
"Antisocial" (2019) "South of the Border" (2019) "Take Me Back to London" (2019)
Camila Cabello singles chronology
"Señorita" (2019) "South of the Border" (2019) "Liar" / "Shameless" (2019)
Cardi B singles chronology
"Press" (2019) "South of the Border" (2019) "Yes" (2019)
Music video
"South of the Border" on YouTube

"South of the Border" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran featuring Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello and Dominican-American rapper Cardi B. It was released as the seventh single from Sheeran's fourth studio album, No.6 Collaborations Project (2019).^[2] The song was written by Sheeran, Cabello, Cardi B, Steve Mac, Fred Gibson and Jordan Thorpe, and produced by Sheeran, Mac and Gibson.^[3] It reached the top ten in eight countries and is certified Gold or higher in eleven countries.

Background[]

Sheeran's manager replied to fan's tweet that it would be his next single.^[4] A few days later Sheeran posted a picture of his manager replied on Instagram story.^[5] On 28 September, Cabello posted a poster for the music video.^[6]

Composition[]

Musically, "South of the Border" is a three minutes and twenty-four seconds Latin pop song.^[1] In terms of music notation, "South of the Border" was composed using ⁴
₄ common time in the key of D minor, with a tempo of 98 beats per minute. Sheeran, Cabello and Cardi B's vocals range from the low note F3 to the high note of D5, giving the song one octave and five notes of range.^[7]

Music video[]

On July 12, 2019, the lyric video for "South of the Border" was released on Sheeran's YouTube channel, while a music video for the song was released on October 4, also on Sheeran's YouTube channel. In the video, Sheeran plays Teddy Fingers, Cabello plays Mariposa, and Cardi B appears as herself alongside actress Alexis Ren as Scarlet Jones and actor Paul Karmiryan as Agent X.^[8] As of April 2020, it has received over 100 million views.^{[citation needed]}

Commercial performance[]

In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at No. 40 on UK Singles Chart. It later climbed the chart and reached its peak at No. 4 on the chart issue dated 25 October 2019, becoming Sheeran's twenty sixth top 10, Cabello's fourth and Cardi B's fourth. It's also Cardi B's second highest-charting song in the UK, after her number one single "WAP".^[9] On 10 January 2020, the song was certified platinum by BPI for surpassing sales of 600,000 units in the United Kingdom.

In the United States, the song debuted at No. 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 14 on Rolling Stone Top 100 when it became available for download and stream on the release of the album in the United States.^[10] It received 10.2 million streams in the first week it was available to streaming services, according to Rolling Stone.^[11] Following its release as a single, the track re-entered the Hot 100 at No. 100. It has since risen to a new peak of No. 49 there, while reaching a high position of No. 16 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart. It also reached No. 16 on the Billboard Digital Song Sales chart.^[12] On 9 December 2019, the song was certified gold by the RIAA for surpassing sales of 500,000 units in the United States.

The song also debuted in the top 15 on official charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovakia and Sweden.

Credits and personnel[]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of No.6 Collaborations Project.^[13]

Publishing

• Published by Ed Sheeran Limited and Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited, Rokstone Music Limited administered under exclusive license to Universal Music Publishing Limited, Promised Land Music Ltd. / Universal Music Publishing Ltd., Milamoon Songs BMI published by Syco admin. by Sony ATV, Washpoppin Inc/Sony ATV Tunes LLC (ASCAP) and Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI). Used by permission. All rights reserved.
• Camila Cabello appears courtesy of Syco / Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
• Cardi B appears courtesy of KSR / Atlantic Recording Corporation

Recording

• Mixed at Mixstar Studios, Virginia Beach, Virginia
• Recorded at Rokstone Studios, London; Henson Studios, Los Angeles, California; Glenwood Recording Studios, Burbank, California; and Promised Land Music Studios, London

Personnel

Track listing[]

Charts[]

Certifications[]

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[83]	Platinum	70,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[84]	Gold	15,000
Belgium (BEA)[85]	Gold	20,000
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[86]	Platinum	40,000
Canada (Music Canada)[87]	2× Platinum	160,000
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[88]	Gold	45,000
France (SNEP)[89]	Gold	100,000
Germany (BVMI)[90]	Gold	200,000
Italy (FIMI)[91]	Platinum	70,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[92]	Platinum	30,000
Poland (ZPAV)[93]	Gold	10,000
Portugal (AFP)[94]	Gold	5,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[95]	Platinum	600,000
United States (RIAA)[96]	Gold	500,000
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history[]

References[]