Sigal Ratner-Arias
NEW YORK (AP) – Becky G finds every bit of her represented in the songs of her new album, Esquemas. “I can feel the parts of me that feel empowered. I can feel the parts of me that feel strong. I can feel the parts of me that feel vulnerable,” the Latin star said.
The 14-track Esquemas, and can be translated as outlines, includes the hit Mamiii with Karol G, as well as the previously released singles No Mienten, Fulanito with El Alfa, Bailé Con Mi Ex and Ram Pam Pam, with Natti Natasha.
It opens with the uplifting Buen Día and invites to dance and move with a mix of rhythms like pop, reggaeton, cumbia and hip-hop, in titles like Tajín, Guapa, and the murky banger Kill Bill.
Its lyrics promote female empowerment, self-confidence and self-love. “That definitely was the intention,” said the Mexican-American singer in an interview.
Becky G, whose real name is Rebbeca Marie Gomez, also spoke about Dolores, a touching song inspired by her abuelita (grandmother), and how important it’s been for her to honour her immigrant grandparents by staying true to her roots and singing in Spanish.
AP: You open the album with the uplifting “Buen Día” (“Good Day”), where you sing that you woke up wanting to eat the world and that you weren’t born to lose. Tell us a bit about that song.
BECKY G: Buen Día is intentionally put as song No 1 on my album because that is even a reminder to myself on my bad days that it’s never too late to have a good day, and that a day above ground it’s a success in itself, and that life is beautiful! That’s what I love about Buen Día. When I go on tour and I’m tired and I may be having a bad day, I’m gonna sing that song and be like, “Listen to yourself, Rebbeca!”
AP: You have a song called “Dolores” in which you tenderly try to console and uplift a woman that’s crying. Who is Dolores?
BECKY G: Dolores is a song that I literally would dedicate to my younger self, to my grandmothers, to my mom, to my baby sister, to any woman in my life that has ever felt unseen or misunderstood. Dolores is literally if you ripped out pages from my diary, and I think that’s what’s so special about Esquemas, that in every song I can hear myself. Dolores is one of those vulnerable songs. I was specifically inspired by my grandma, who’s not named Dolores, by the way, her real name is Guadalupe but my tíos (uncles) jokingly call her Dolores (pains) because Ay Guadalupe, todo te duele (Oh Guadalupe, everything hurts you). I think that song is really special.
AP: You are fully bilingual, and although you sing mostly in Spanish, you have also recorded music in English. Where do you feel more comfortable?
BECKY G: You know, I feel comfortable in Spanglish. I can do interviews in Spanish and English, and I’ll always end up speaking Spanglish anyways. That’s just part of who I am and how I grew up. My grandparents only speak Spanish, so I learnt Spanish at the same time that I learned English. But I think I actually feel more confident expressing myself through music in Spanish. I found myself as a young woman in my sound and my music in Spanish, and I think you can really hear that, because I was so young when I got signed – I was 14, and I’m 25 today.
I only started in English in music because that’s just how it happened, but I’ve always been proud to be Latina, Chicana, Mexican-American. So it gives me a lot of pride to be able to sing music completely in Spanish because I AM Latina.