South of the Border (Ed Sheeran song)

"South of the Border" is a song by English singer Ed Sheeran featuring American singer Camila Cabello and American rapper Cardi B. It was released on 12 July 2019 through Asylum and Atlantic Records, along with "Antisocial", as the sixth and seventh singles respectively from Sheeran's fourth studio album, No.6 Collaborations Project (2019).^[3]

"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 (2019-07-12)
Recorded	June 2019
Studio	Rokstone Studios (London)[1] Henson Recording Studios (Los Angeles, CA)[1] Glenwood Recording Studios (Burbank, CA)[1] Promised Land Music Studios (London)[1]
Genre	Latin pop[2] hip hop R&B pop rap
Length	3:24
Label	Asylum Atlantic
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
"Blow" / "Best Part of Me" (2019) "Antisocial" / "South of the Border" (2019) "Take Me Back to London" (2019)
Camila Cabello singles chronology
"Señorita" (2019) "South of the Border" (2019) "Shameless" / "Liar" (2019)
Cardi B singles chronology
"Press" (2019) "South of the Border" (2019) "Yes" (2019)
Music video
"South of the Border" on YouTube

The song was written by the artists alongside Pardison Fontaine, Steve Mac, and Fred Again, with the latter two producing it with Sheeran.^[4] It reached the top ten in eight countries and is certified Gold or higher in eleven countries.

Background

"South of the Border" was initially released as the second track of Ed Sheeran's compilation album No. 6 Collaborations Project. In September 2019, Sheeran's manager, Stuart Camp, replied to a fan's tweet on Twitter, suggesting that it would be his next single. A few days later, Sheeran posted a picture of the exchange on an Instagram story.^[5] On 28 September, Cabello posted a poster for the music video.^[6]

Composition

Musically, "South of the Border" is a three-minute and twenty-four-second long Latin pop song.^[2] 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 G₅.^[7]

Music video

On 12 July 2019, the lyric video for "South of the Border" was released on Sheeran's YouTube channel. The official music video for the song was released on 4 October, also on Sheeran's YouTube channel. In the music video, Sheeran plays Teddy Fingers, Cabello plays Mariposa, and Cardi B appears as herself alongside model Alexis Ren as Scarlet Jones and actor Paul Karmiryan as Agent X. As of May 2024, it has received over 250 million views.^[8]

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at No. 40 on the 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 to download and stream with 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 rose to a new peak of No. 49, 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.^[1]

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

• Ed Sheeran – vocals, songwriter, producer, guitar
• Camila Cabello – featured vocals, songwriter
• Cardi B – featured vocals, songwriter
• Fred Gibson – songwriter, producer, bass, drums, keyboards
• Steve Mac – songwriter, producer, keyboards, synthesizer
• Pardison Fontaine – songwriter
• Evan LaRay – engineer
• John Hanes – engineer
• Simone Torres – engineer
• Stuart Hawkes – mastering
• Serban Ghenea – mixing
• Chris Laws – programming

Track listing

Digital download

No.	Title	Length
1.	"South of the Border" (featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B)	3:24

Digital download – Cheat Codes remix^[13]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"South of the Border" (featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B) (Cheat Codes remix)	3:15

Digital download – Sam Feldt remix^[14]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"South of the Border" (featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B) (Sam Feldt remix)	2:53

Digital download – Acoustic^[15]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"South of the Border" (featuring Camila Cabello) (acoustic)	3:14

Charts

Original version Weekly charts Chart (2019–2020) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[16] 12 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[17] 38 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[18] 36 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[19] 22 Brazil (Top 100 Brasil)[20] 98 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[21] 14 Canada AC (Billboard)[22] 39 Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[23] 8 Canada Hot AC (Billboard)[24] 15 CIS Airplay (TopHit)[25] 141 Croatia (HRT)[26] 6 Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[27] 7 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[28] 10 Denmark (Tracklisten)[29] 18 Estonia (Eesti Ekspress)[30] 13 Euro Digital Songs (Billboard)[31] 12 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[32] 7 France (SNEP)[33] 75 Germany (GfK)[34] 33 Greece (IFPI Greece)[35] 16 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[36] 7 Hungary (Single Top 40)[37] 21 Hungary (Stream Top 40)[38] 11 Iceland (Tónlistinn)[39] 23 Ireland (IRMA)[40] 6 Israel (Media Forest)[41] 4 Italy (FIMI)[42] 52 Latvia (LAIPA)[43] 12 Lithuania (AGATA)[44] 23 Mexico (Billboard Ingles Airplay)[45] 11 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[46] 9 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[47] 14 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[48] 14 Norway (VG-lista)[49] 13 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[50] 22 Portugal (AFP)[51] 33 Romania (Airplay 100)[52] 13 San Marino (SMRRTV Top 50)[53] 19 Scotland (OCC)[54] 11 Singapore (RIAS)[55] 9 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[56] 3 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[57] 8 Slovenia (SloTop50)[58] 13 Spain (PROMUSICAE)[59] 61 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[60] 14 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[61] 19 UK Singles (OCC)[9] 4 US Billboard Hot 100[62] 49 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[63] 28 US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[64] 13 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[65] 3 US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[66] 22 US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[67] 16 US Rolling Stone Top 100[68] 14 Venezuela Anglo (Record Report)[69] 27 Venezuela Pop (Record Report)[70] 45

Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position Australia (ARIA)[71] 54 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[72] 87 Ireland (IRMA)[73] 50 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[74] 69 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[75] 99 UK Singles (OCC)[76] 55 Chart (2020) Position Australia (ARIA)[77] 90 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[78] 42 Romania (Airplay 100)[79] 42 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[80] 86 UK Singles (OCC)[81] 77 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[82] 43 Cheat Codes remix Chart (2019) Peak position New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[83] 20

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[84]	4× Platinum	280,000‡
Austria (IFPI Austria)[85]	Platinum	30,000‡
Belgium (BRMA)[86]	Gold	20,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[87]	Platinum	40,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[88]	6× Platinum	480,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[89]	Platinum	90,000‡
France (SNEP)[90]	Platinum	200,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[91]	Gold	200,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[92]	Platinum	70,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[93]	3× Platinum	90,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[94]	2× Platinum	100,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[95]	Platinum	10,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[96]	Platinum	60,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[97]	2× Platinum	1,200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[98]	Gold	500,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Version	Label	Ref.
Various	12 July 2019	Digital download streaming	Original	Atlantic Asylum
Australia		Contemporary hit radio			[99]
Various	27 September 2019	Digital download streaming	Cheat Codes remix		[13]
United Kingdom	4 October 2019	Contemporary hit radio	Original		[100]
Various	11 October 2019	Digital download streaming	Sam Feldt remix		[14]
Italy	18 October 2019	Contemporary hit radio	Original	Warner	[101]
			Cheat Codes remix
			Sam Feldt remix
Various	29 November 2019	Digital download streaming	Acoustic	Atlantic Asylum	[15]
Italy		Contemporary hit radio	Acoustic	Warner	[102]
			No rap version
United States	3 December 2019		Original	Atlantic	[103]