Camila Cabello says leaving Fifth Harmony has helped her to "come alive".
Camila Cabello
The 20-year-old singer walked away from the chart-topping girl group in December 2016 and having just released her debut solo album, Camila has revealed her motivation behind the decision.
She said: "I had been writing songs since I was 16, and at first I wanted to write for other people. [But] I had these songs that were so personal ... and I couldn't imagine me giving it to somebody and somebody else singing them because it was too close to me.
"I went a long time writing songs thinking that, 'Nobody will ever hear this for another 10 years because I'll still be in the group.' ... I made the decision to go out on my own and start expressing myself and my vision, because that's what made me come alive."
Camila said she's now in a "great place", because she's taken complete ownership of her public appearance.
Asked about her image as a solo singer, she explained to NPR: "I'm all for girls wearing what they want to wear. I think it's great for girls [who] want to express their sexuality and if they want to wear booty shorts or eyelashes or whatever to feel great, then that's amazing.
"The only thing wrong is when somebody is pushing you to do it before it's your time and before you're comfortable - or if that's not really you. I think both of those are OK; whether you want to go for that or you're not comfortable with that.
"I'm just really being myself. I am in a great place where I have all of the control and I don't do anything that I'm not super stoked about doing, you know?
"There's nothing wrong with that, it's just me. If some day, that is me and I want to do that, then that'll be great too, but I just dress how I want. I express myself however I want."
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