Becky G Reps Mexico Everywhere She Goes, Says Its Always Her ‘Plus Mexico’ on Her Guest List
Multi-hyphenate pop sensation Becky G is ready to shed her skin. From her beginnings as a teen pop star under the mentorship of controversial producer Dr. Luke, Becky G, whose real name is Rebbeca Marie Gomez, has gone out on her own, trusting only her family and closest confidantes to help shepherd her into a new phase of her career.
Following the May 13 release of her new album “Esquemas,” which topped Billboard’s Latin Pop Album chart, Gomez spoke with Variety for her first cover story, opening up about her transition from wide-eyed teen singer to modern-day renaissance woman.
As Latin music continues to be an increasingly popular genre, where artists like Bad Bunny can reign supreme, dropping an immovable No. 1 album that has topped the chart for seven weeks straight and counting, Gomez found herself wanting to honor her Latinx roots by moving towards a more bilingual approach to songwriting.
Following a years-long stretch where Gomez felt like a spokesperson for someone else’s music, she’s managed to break free from the mold by redirecting her career and doing what she can to distance herself from the Dr. Luke formula by refusing to preoccupy herself with manufacturing radio-friendly hits for airwaves of all shapes and sizes.
Instead, she’s found a newfound sense of confidence in letting the art speak for itself. In the age of artists like Rosalía, who brought experimental pop to the mainstream with her 2022 album “Motomami,” Gomez realized there was no excuse for doing exactly what she wanted, even if the industry was still finding its footing with Latin artists.
“I think back to when it would’ve been an artist’s downfall to experiment with so many sounds on the same album, because you’d get accused of not ‘knowing’ your sound or who you are as an artist,” she told Variety, admitting, “I started to feel free when I started singing in Spanish — it’s always been one of my biggest fears.”
Now, she’s brushing shoulders with her idols, like Jennifer Lopez, with whom she has regular correspondence and even keeps a folder full of DMs the two have exchanged over the years. “I start crying every single time,” Gomez said. “She’s always been so lovely with me. The last time I saw her was at her residency in Vegas — she was like, ‘Holy shit, you grew up!’”
By embracing the full breadth of her ambition, Gomez has found that success is now chasing her instead of the other way around. At 25, she is part-owner of Angel City FC, an all-female soccer club from Los Angeles. She’s gearing up to launch her own production company and has already released two Spanish-language albums that have charted with Latin audiences throughout the diaspora.
Following a breakout role in 2017’s live-action “Power Rangers” movie, Gomez says she plans to continue acting as long as the industry doesn’t try and put her in a box the same way it did when she signed her first record deal a decade prior.
Gomez is eager to “go into the producing side because as an actress you get stuck sometimes, seeing a lot of the same roles or just feeling like there could be so much more out there for us in the Latinx community,” she said. “So if you can’t find them, if they don’t come your way, you’ve got to make them.”
The same year that “Power Rangers” was released, she got a co-sign from Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, when the two collaborated on “Mayores,” which skyrocketed to the top of the charts in multiple countries and kickstarted Gomez’s career as a legitimate Latin artist. Like just about everything Bad Bunny touches these days, the song was a bona fide hit.
Elsewhere in the interview, she discusses her music as a means to further connect with her Mexican roots. From the very beginning, the U.S.-born Gomez was labeled as a “pocha,” a Mexican from the U.S. who doesn’t speak much Spanish. There’s a duality to the word, however, where it can be used as a term of endearment or a disparaging label. That binational push-and-pull can best be described as “ni de aquí, ni de allá.” Not from here, not from there.
That hasn’t stopped Gomez from representing Mexico with her family in tow. “Everywhere I go — it’s Becky G plus Mexico on my guest list,” Gomez joked in her interview. “My tios, tias and all of my primos and all of their kids. I’ll never go without an audience because I can always count on my family.”
