Becky G isn’t done with música mexicana yet. After embracing the art of storytelling in corridos with her last LP ESQUINAS, the Mexican-American star is ready to release her sophomore regional Mexican album titled ENCUENTROS, due on Oct. 10. In a recent conversation with Remezcla, ahead of her música mexicana event with PATRÓN Cristalino, Becky shared her take on the “Latina enough” discourse and details about her highly-anticipated album.
Becky G is known to be proud of both her Mexican and American roots. Born in Inglewood, CA, to Mexican-American parents by way of Jalisco-born grandparents, she’s always repping her cultures whenever possible. But there are downsides and misunderstandings about the 200 percent community, which she’s often vocal about being a part of.
“For me, it’s the concept that we have to give up half of ourselves to be accepted on the other side, whatever that is,” the Latina star tells us over Zoom. “And that’s why the whole concept of ESQUINAS came to be, because I am both sides of the streets that raised me. I shouldn’t have to give up a part of myself to be accepted on either side. I am who I am.”
She goes on to explain that she embraces her cultural duality. “Back then, that used to be something that used to be thrown in our face to not… To remind us that we weren’t enough. And now, I talk about pocha power. Like, hey, at least I can think in two languages. I think that’s pretty cool. And at least I can understand two languages, and I can love in two languages, and I can speak in two languages, I can eat in two languages, and I can drink tequila in two languages.”
Patrón Tequila has always been part of Becky’s world. “The fact that my family on both sides, my dad’s and my mom’s, is from Jalisco. Obviamente soy muy tequilera,” she notes. “I always joke about how Patrón tastes like my first heartbreak. And so I feel like since I can remember, they’ve been a part of my ether, my world.” Last week (Sept. 12), Becky headlined the launch of Patrón Cristalino, the brand’s latest additive-free tequila, alongside emerging música mexicana artists Gabito Ballesteros and Tito Double P in the historic grounds of La Placita Olvera of Los Angeles, CA. Having roots in Jalisco, she says that it feels “very full circle” to be part of the tequila’s launch in her hometown.
Like many other 200 percenter artists, Becky G has been in the middle of the ongoing discourse of who is Latine or not – heck, she’s even penned a public response. “It’s funny because if you ask any Latino [about] the pride that we have, it’s so important to pass it down generationally. But then it’s like once it starts getting to those generations that don’t necessarily speak it, or don’t maybe necessarily practice the culture every single day or the traditions every single day, all of a sudden, it’s not theirs anymore,” she says about the Latina enough discourse.
“I feel like that’s where we’re cutting ourselves short,” Becky adds. “One of my least favorite phrases or quotes is, ‘El enemigo de un mexicano es otro mexicano.’ And the fact that that’s what we’re still dealing with sometimes today makes me so sad because how else are we supposed to invite others to learn about our culture and celebrate our culture?”
[The concept that we have to give up half of ourselves to be accepted on the other side] used to be something that used to be thrown in our face … to remind us that we weren’t enough. And now, I talk about pocha power. Like, hey, at least I can think in two languages… At least I can understand two languages, and I can love in two languages, and I can speak in two languages, I can eat in two languages, and I can drink tequila in two languages.
Although she may not be your version of a cookie-cutter Latina, she still represents her culture on her terms: through music and storytelling. With her second música mexicana release, she hopes to continue celebrating her roots with regional Mexican, a genre she calls having a “soul connection” with. Growing up, she would listen to artists like Jenni Rivera during the nights her tíos would barbecue. Consequently, making songs in the same genre makes her feel more linked to those childhood experiences that she will never relive.
“You’re going back to these places where you know you’re never going to live them again,” she says. “Like being a little girl again. I’m never going to be a little girl in my dad’s arms again. I’m never going to have all four of my grandparents living and present in my life.” She also explains that there was a “journey of grief” when making ESQUINAS, so ENCUENTROS reflects the parts of herself she discovered when making the former LP.
ENCUENTROS will follow ESQUINAS’ journey – under a more intense emotional lens. As a self-proclaimed “therapy girly,” she explains that the album embodies her core emotions and the notion of realizing that nothing is forever. “There’s such an impermanence to all of it. And so I feel like the things that I found in myself was this empowering experience to really have my anger, to really have my joy, to really have my sadness, to really have my fears, to really have my hope. And every single emotion really comes through throughout the entire album,” she says.
