"South of the Border" is a song by English singer-songwriter

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

featuring Cuban-American singer

Camila Cabello Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao (; ; born March 3, 1997) is a Cuban-born American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which became one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. While in ...

and Dominican-American rapper

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

. It was released on 12 July 2019 through Asylum and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

, along with " Antisocial", as the sixth and seventh singles respectively from Sheeran's compilation album, '' No.6 Collaborations Project'' (2019). The song was written by the artists alongside Pardison Fontaine,

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern British ...

, and

Fred Again Fred John Philip Gibson, (born 19 July 1993) known professionally as Fred Again (stylised as Fred again..) or simply Fred (stylised as FRED), is a British record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and DJ. Early life and educa ...

, with the latter two producing it with Sheeran. 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. A few days later Sheeran posted a picture of his manager replied on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can be ...

story. On 28 September, Cabello posted a poster for the music video.

Composition

Musically, "South of the Border" is a three minutes and twenty-four seconds

Latin pop Latin pop (in Spanish and in Portuguese: Pop latino) 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. Originating in Spanish-speaking musicians, Lati ...

song. In terms of

music notation Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, "South of the Border" was composed using common time in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed for t ...

, with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 98

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

. Sheeran, Cabello and Cardi B's vocals range from the low note F3 to the high note of G5.

Music video

On July 12, 2019, the

lyric video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "South of the Border" was released on Sheeran's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most vis ...

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 Alexis René Glabach (born November 23, 1996), known professionally as Alexis Ren, is an American social media personality, actress, entrepreneur, environmental and mental health activist, and model. Early life On November 23, 1996, Ren was bo ...

as Scarlet Jones and actor Paul Karmiryan as Agent X. As of April 2020, it has received over 100 million views.

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at No. 40 on

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top ...

. 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". 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. It received 10.2 million streams in the first week it was available to streaming services, according to ''Rolling Stone''. 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 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

chart. It also reached No. 16 on the Billboard Digital Song Sales chart. On 9 December 2019, the song was certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

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''. Publishing * Published by

Limited and

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...

(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 Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment company, headquartered in London, founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2005 through So ...

admin. by Sony ATV, Washpoppin Inc/Sony ATV Tunes LLC (

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

appears courtesy of

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical mu ...

, a division of

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

appears courtesy of KSR /

Atlantic Recording Corporation Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

Recording * Mixed at Mixstar Studios,

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

* Recorded at Rokstone Studios,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

; Henson Studios,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California; Glenwood Recording Studios,

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, who ...

; and Promised Land Music Studios, London Personnel *

– vocals, songwriter, producer, guitar *

– featured vocals, songwriter *

– featured vocals, songwriter * Fred Gibson – songwriter, producer, bass, drums, keyboards *

– songwriter, producer, keyboards, synthesizer * Pardison Fontaine – songwriter * Evan LaRay – engineer * John Hanes – engineer * Simone Torres – engineer * Stuart Hawkes – mastering *

Serban Ghenea Șerban Ghenea (born October 13, 1969) is a Grammy award-winning Romanian-Canadian audio engineer and mixer. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1969. In 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. He later attende ...

– mixing * Chris Laws – programming

Track listing

Charts

Original version

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cheat Codes remix

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2019 singles 2019 songs 2010s Atlantic Records singles Ed Sheeran songs Camila Cabello songs Cardi B songs Song recordings produced by Ed Sheeran Songs written by Cardi B Songs written by Camila Cabello Songs written by Ed Sheeran Songs written by Fred Again Songs written by Pardison Fontaine Songs written by Steve Mac