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Hi. >> Hi. >> Good to see you.
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>> I'm so happy to be here.
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>> Yeah, always good to see you Becky, you know.
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It's I look forward to our conversations and um I really look forward to the music you're making any given moment because it's always very honest. >> Thank you.
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>> finds out where you are and there's a lot of groove in this, there's a lot of tempo, but there's also a lot of heart and soul.
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I feel like there's a lot of everything that makes you you on this record. >> Thank you. Thank you so much.
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Is it That's definitely the experience in making it as well.
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I feel like this is an album where I was very unapologetic in my 200%ness.
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Um and that's kind of been the theme for me that's just evolved since Esquemas.
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It's like once I reached such depth in my art going down down down to my roots and doing some very much needed healing.
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Um I feel like I made so much room for like fun and discovery and exploration and um kind of remembered who the I was. You know?
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>> Well, that's doing the work.
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Then we've talked a little bit about this, we've touched on this throughout our conversations.
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It's all nice timeline of life, right?
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Albums bring us together, we talk about music, we see each other, we chat about where you're at and you're right, the last time you were really in a place where you decided it was time to address some things. >> Yeah.
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>> And you chose the music that really nurtured that that story.
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You know, cuz I've I've heard people try to do that on the dance floor and sometimes it works, but I feel like for you you brought different energy to that experience. >> For sure.
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>> Connected the family side of it all and all. >> Yeah. No, definitely.
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It was a I don't know, I think it was it was just necessary.
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And sometimes it can be tricky balancing the passion project of it all when there's a business that is, you know, also unfolding at the same time.
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Growing up in this, um I think I I was such a chronic people pleaser, you know?
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And then after just kind of learning those things about myself and I guess unlearning them to kind of learn new things was kind of like, oh, you mean I don't have to I don't have to do everybody says?
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And I remember when it was time to do Música Mexicana, it was actually I don't want to say any names, but it was definitely like, oh, that sounds like a passion project.
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That doesn't sound like the right direction.
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>> You just said passion project before and I was like, who thinks >> it that?
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I know, but that's that's definitely the vibes it was giving, right?
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And for there's this theme in my life where when I trust my gut, somehow, some way, those things end up aligning later on anyways.
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So Música Mexicana then blows up.
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I don't get off on like the I told you so of it. Like I really don't. No, no, no, I don't.
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Like just seeing it unfold is enough for me. It's so fulfilling.
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>> Which in a way is an I told you So, in a nice way.
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>> It absolutely is, but it's such a waste of breath trying to tell people when I'm like, no, it's always been here. I've always been it.
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So, like, it's about time.
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And that's funny cuz the album cover of Bella had a needle to me, me looking back to the camera is kind of like, it's about time.
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Like, it's about time you arrived.
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Where have you been, you know?
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And I just feel like I've always been these parts of myself.
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They've always been there.
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And that's why this album is a homecoming in a sense to myself and remembering who I am.
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This artist who, you know, is a bit of a Swiss Army knife.
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I don't do just one genre.
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And I love to genre bend and I love to genre mix and I love to sing in Spanglish.
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And if you understand, great.
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And if you don't, enjoy the music cuz that's what music is, you know?
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>> That's never more a clear example of you arriving as at at Becky G Incorporated today.
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>> [laughter] >> That is a real like red line through the people-pleasing era because it's like no more no more trying to justify or put context around why this one sounds like this or this one has this tempo or this one's this or this one's >> Yeah. And don't get me wrong.
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Like I love the the the nerdy, geeky, let me explain to you how we got to this point and how we did, you know, for the creative process.
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Like it was so much fun and it was multi-layered and getting to share that part is something that I do really enjoy.
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But just at like face value without having to explain anything, I think you ask me today like what is Becky G's sound? This this is this is it.
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And it makes me really excited to share with the world.
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>> Before we play catch up and talk about that nerdy process cuz that's why we're here to get into how this got made.
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I'm so super into that as you know.
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Um let's just put this to bed once and for all.
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Let's go back to that kid who has this dream and this vision and wants to do this and now with the benefit of real perspective and real kind of identity and and real knowledge of of what you don't want to be, why did you turn into that in the first place?
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If nothing else, this will help others who feel pushed into the yes era how to more effectively get into the no era. >> Yeah.
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It's a it's a journey that no one can can walk for you.
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You have to walk it yourself.
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And I would say that the shift for me was accepting and embracing the fact that Becky G came to be to save Rebecca.
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You know, I was 9 years old.
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I needed somewhere to escape.
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You know, I needed to hide from the world and create a world of my own in a sense where I didn't feel misunderstood, where the worries and the weights of the world didn't necessarily exist.
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And all I could do really was create and use my imagination. I'm a kid.
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And at the same time, I'm a hustler, too.
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So, if I can if I can make some bread while doing it and help my family, why not, you know?
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And so, I think deep down inside it did come from an empowered place, >> Yeah.
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>> but still naive, of course, and still, you know, immature and and and had a lot of life to learn still.
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>> Well, you didn't ask for the origin of it, but you still responded. >> did. >> to it. >> Yeah, of course.
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Well, I think, you know, there's an amazing quote that is um it's not our fault what happens to us in our in our youth, but it is our responsibility to heal it. >> Mhm.
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>> And I think that there's a lot of grown kids walking around today, um not being very adult about life decisions and about, you know, their dreams even, you know, a lot of "Why is this happening to me?"
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mentality, you know, victim mentality, instead of like, "No, I can overcome this."
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And there's a a shift in mentality that happened for me, for sure, going a lot deeper and taking some pretty tough looks in the mirror and accepting that this is actually a never-ending journey. >> Yep.
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>> And so, you know, >> It's no arrival. >> There's no arrival.
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There's an arrival to this space that I'm in right now, the same way I had arrived to the space that I was in prior to and before that, you know, so >> the present.
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That's that's like accepting what the moment means to you, but to your point, you can't hold on to that. >> No. >> It's done.
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>> No, but but this is this album for me, it's a and the double B isn't just Bad Bunny and Becky G, but it's the double B in Rebecca.
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And it's B Rebecca and B Becky G and there's no collaborations on this album because this is my greatest collaboration yet, it's between Rebecca and Becky G finally creating harmoniously together from a place of being so unapologetic, but still vulnerable, from a place of being the patrona, but still in her soft girl chula energy, you know, and not feeling like I need to choose.
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>> Yeah, and also just knowing I mean, I'm sure you've always felt this various moments in your career, but to be able to put it all on the record and say I'm enough. >> Oh, yeah.
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>> Like I like what I do is enough to carry this body of work. I've got the skillset.
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I know what I'm I know what I'm doing.
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I don't I don't need to trade audiences here. I'm good.
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>> Yeah, and I think that enoughness um is also something that can't necessarily be given to to you by a person or by a position or like a status that we think we're chasing.
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I think our generation my generation in particular I think it's very interesting to see how like hustle culture has has shifted.
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Um you know, there's there's that feeling of nobody wants to work these days, but then also like why are we drilling ourselves to the ground and why why are we celebrating the idea that we're we've gone x amount of hours without sleep and you know, and so we're we I feel like my generation we're in this push and pull of like okay, well, this feels good.
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And like what a privilege to get to a place where you're like, oh, it's about how it feels.
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>> Let's think about that for a second, right?
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Like we like we're we're different generations, but with increasing intensity we've we've seen um life present tools that with things can't happen by chance or can't happen quickly.
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Whereas in my time growing up and to a lesser extent, but still in your time growing up it was like no one's going to hand it to you and there's very small chance it's just going to show up for you because of the flow of things. >> Right.
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>> And so I think that that I think now it's like, well, how do you apply a work ethic in a world where people can get things >> That's why I would say it's it's a journey that only you can walk cuz you got to figure out what's right for you.
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And that's why naming the album but I have been data was really important to me because you know, the blessed deck of cards is the literal translation.
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Um and I feel like you know, there's there's things like overnight success that people throw around, you know, beginners luck.
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And it's like, oh yeah, cuz this is lucky.
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>> Plant, I think is the term they kick around. >> plant, we love those.
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And and so the idea of like luck, I'm like, are we lucky or is this something that's earned?
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Because the other inspiration that came from But I Have This Idea was it's not about the cards you were dealt cuz we can't control those, but how we play them. That's up to us.
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>> What is your relationship like with fate, with things that you can't see?
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Because you you work very hard, so and and you you built business around yourself, you have infrastructure that you are now responsible for, you've done a great job of of shoring up your environment around the things and the people that you love. >> Yeah.
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>> Like congratulations, that's the dream.
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But outside of that framework is all of these intangibles, the magic, not the math.
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So what's your relationship like with magic if as such a hard worker and someone who had to hustle your way through your circumstances?
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>> Yeah, I think that's when preparation meets opportunity, right?
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It's like we all can we all have the same access to platforms and things like that, but we are all technically running a different race still, emotionally, spiritually, you know, and so when I look at my journey in particular and I think about my experience, I think the way I show up today is what is this teaching me?
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Even when things aren't presenting themselves in the way that I thought that they would get here or if I didn't the journey wasn't how, you know, I thought it would be, I'm like, what is this teaching me?
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And how can I make myself available to that?
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Um, and and I think that everything at the end of the day is an opportunity for growth.
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And so I I think that's just the way I look at it.
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It's like, oh, I got shitty cards.
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All right, well, life's trying to teach me something right now.
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What do how are we going to play these cards?
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You know, and and and working with that I think is um super important because it does it's a it's an opportunity for expansion.
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And that as an artist, I think is also super important to me to put on the record.
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Everybody talks about eras, and eras are fun.
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But especially with how quickly we consume music and people expect you to change this and change that and then, you know, just like this and just like that.
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It's like instead of looking at it like an era or like the comeback era, I'm like, one, I never left. I've always been here.
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And two, um it's an evolution.
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You know, like that's that's the journey.
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It's it's about evolution.
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This is an expansion of me and my artistry.
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So when I go into a new sound or if I'm trying, you know, new clothes or new whatever, does it's not to say that that that era prior is done.
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No, I carry every single version of that with me until until the day I die.
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You know, and it's a beautiful thing as an artist and a beautiful platform to have to be able to lean into.
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But I think that we have to use it, not let it use us. You know? >> Facts.
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>> And and that goes for for everything.
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That's that that, you know, before technology was a thing, right?
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Before cell phones was a thing, we weren't seeking approval necessarily of of the entire internet, but maybe you were in your middle school.
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You know, and and that's and in your high school.
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You know, in in within your own four walls in your household, from your parents, from your siblings.
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Like naturally, there is a part of us that does that, that seeks that, right?
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But then it's like putting gasoline on this fire that already existed.
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That's could get out of control, you know?
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And so it's no one's fault on the internet if they don't like my music. I music is taste.
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But if you have decided something about my character without ever having a conversation with me, going based off of a 20-second clip that was used for clickbait, um was not the entire conversation or, you know, a song that I've evolved from even that you used to like versus what's coming out now.
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Well, that's not for me to wear.
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That's actually more revealing about the person who has a thought about me than it is about me. >> evil genius.
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That's why the whole thing is evil genius.
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Because if you think about it, when are we most susceptible and when are we most at like at our our receptors most open to it to adopting the information around us >> Yeah.
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>> is when we're faced with trauma for the first time or we feel rejection or abandonment or fear or doubt or being unaccepted all these sort of things.
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And a lot of this stuff is built to jack into that feeling because it's super addictive and we don't know how to shake it, right?
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So, that's why it's actually an industry built around trauma. >> Yeah.
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But, hey man, we got to use it. >> Oh, yeah.
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I'm not I'm not rejecting it outright.
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I'm just realizing that for the first time. [laughter] >> Yeah.
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>> It's kind of trauma business >> Yeah. >> in a lot of ways. >> Absolutely.
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>> off of our own insecurities at all times.
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>> Secrets don't make friends, right? But, confessions do. >> Yeah.
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>> [laughter] >> And confessions is is I'm confessing something here that I'm being honest. >> Yeah. Yeah.
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>> I'm being vulnerable when I'm confessing something, right?
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I think that's what artists do all the time.
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We're being vulnerable all the time.
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>> 100% >> And that's why those quality of of connections that we make with like real fans, those those are the ones I hold on dearly to cuz I wouldn't have a career today if it weren't for the fans who have literally followed me throughout
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those various different evolutions of me and self-discovery and sometimes messing up and missing the mark, sometimes not being the version of me that they wanted me to be and being the version of me that I needed to be in that moment, you know? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah.
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>> Um, I I think that it's it's Yeah, the word is trauma, but I think that even though it's not pretty, it's still beautiful.
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>> That's why I always look forward to speaking with you cuz you've been like that since the first time we spoke.
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You would use always show up and bring your true honest self to the table.
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So, my question today is how do you best protect yourself whilst also remaining vulnerable and truthful?
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What How do you keep what's important to you to you and do you feel like you've developed good tools to be able to do that? >> Yeah. >> Yeah.
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>> I don't think that I was necessarily set up for success in that growing up in this industry so young, let alone having you know, very young parents who knew nothing about this industry. >> Yeah.
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>> Um again, already a co- pre-existing fire that then gas gets kind of put onto and and can ignite some pretty deep >> Yeah.
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>> Um but >> under under the guise of a great thing.
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She's so talented and we're going to have a great time >> We want the best for you.
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We had this vision for you and it's like, but does do those visions align?
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And also, um yeah, I think that just in general arriving to this place now, I think it's the word boundaries was like >> Wow.
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>> You know, and it's so it's such a simple word, but I think knowing that like nothing is forever. >> Mhm.
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>> Quite literally nothing. >> Mhm.
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>> Like we're not forever.
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Um and so the idea that like boundaries are almost like an accordion. You know what I mean?
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Like they can open and be really wide, they can close and be lots smaller and compact. Um and they change.
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They change and and you change and so they change with you. >> Mhm.
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>> And I feel like um my boundaries are what protect me today.
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Um they don't necessarily create invisible walls anymore.
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I think that subconsciously we can think that we're creating a boundary, but like sometimes they're like it's like masked as a good thing even though it's actually what's getting in the way, you know, of you like fulfilling your process.
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And I've seen this like not just for me and my own journey, but people that I love, you know, very dearly.
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>> Well, you can tell it rings true to me what you're saying.
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>> Yeah, and and I think that it wasn't until I realized that like I was like oh like I'm an artist and like I don't need to have boundaries cuz I'm supposed to be an open book.
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I'm supposed to be self-sacrificing and giving all the time and give [clears throat] give give give give give, right?
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Until you realize like you can't pour from an empty cup and you kind of need to like live life a little in order to write about it and you you need to have experiences and so having those boundaries I think for me today has actually just made me a better artist. Yeah.
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>> show up for work ready and you're ready to get you're ready to get you're listening to yourself to the point where you understand it's time to create rather than I should create. >> Yeah.
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And sometimes I got to be honest like my best friend sometimes tells me like don't be the artist that never writes, you know?
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Like sometimes you're like I'm just waiting to get inspired.
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I'm just waiting to get inspired and it's like sometimes you got to build that momentum.
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And it's funny there's a few songs on here actually on this album that I can very clearly remember the very like deep conversations that took place because we weren't necessarily in a songwriting mood that day.
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>> Okay, let's talk about one. What's one? >> Oh my god. Okay, Patrona is one.
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I'm telling you we got on a deep tangent about cuz it's the last song on the record so it has to be.
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>> No, but it but it wasn't written that way. >> Right. >> You know what I mean?
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Like I didn't get to the track listing of the album until I had all these dope ass songs.
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There's a lot that didn't even make it, you know?
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And there and there I am still pushing.
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I'm like we should do >> Can you do a project called dope ass songs that didn't actually make it? Just call it that.
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>> Honestly yeah, I would but you know there's not enough promo budget for that.
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Yeah, music videos are expensive.
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We got to you know that's a whole thing.
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>> I'm afraid [clears throat] Becky, just put it out and come talk to us any time you want.
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>> exclusive Apple Music music videos.
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Um anyways >> Yeah, that song.
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>> Um it Patrona we were I want to say there it was it was a small group and um I think >> don't want to say.
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Say what you don't want to I can tell you thinking this through and figuring out what you want to do. >> am.
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Okay, so it was the second session for everybody in that room.
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Uh second session meaning like they had they were maybe working at a at another writing camp or something and we're going to go work with another group after and so there was like there was multiple tabs open for everyone that day.
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And um and specifically deputy um he was very much in his zone and when he locks in he locks in but sometimes if you're not like locked in with him then he kind of goes into his own world.
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And so I remember just kind of being like I think we need like a a conversation that's going to kind of just like reset the room and like I just kind of want to get to like know everybody on a deeper level, you know, like instead of just like oh we got to write a song today.
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Um we randomly get into this conversation about the roles that we play in our families' lives and >> Mhm.
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>> a lot of us do take on a very like provider type role for our families and have since very young and since the early successes of our careers and we're talking about the weights of that and unpacking it and one of the things that I remember um in my various phases of healing through this was like and that's not a bad thing.
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Like in my mind I was like damn this is a heavy thing.
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And and that did you know bring up feelings that didn't feel so pretty in that time.
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But then I I realized like this this is this is part of my superpower.
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This is part of like my hustle.
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This is also where my passion and my drive comes from.
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And so um specifically with the ladies in the room we were talking about like patrona >> Mhm.
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>> energy, you know, and and you know I remember throwing out like big daddy's my persona.
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Like I kind of thought it was fire and I was like, "Look, I want to be Big Daddy in the boardroom.
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I want to be Big Daddy on stage.
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Like I don't want that to go away.
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I want to embrace that I could be that."
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Which just made me not in my relationships, you know, with my family and my my romantic relationships.
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Like I I want to be able to embrace the parts of me that show up in that way, but also know that that's a cape I can take off at the end of the day if I really needed to and that there's people there.
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And so it was like so crazy cuz here we are like "Patrona, do what the I want to."
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And it was like this like very like energy and I love tapping into Big Daddy and creating this space for her, Big Daddy B, to just be a beast and be you know, think about with the live show and like when I perform it, it's so fun.
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Um, but that came from a conversation about talking about the not-so-nice parts of being a Big Daddy, you know?
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And and I thought that that was so funny and when there was this idea of like the journey's not always what you thought it was going to be and sometimes you got to be open to what the journey's trying to teach you instead of like, "Oh, this isn't the path that I thought I was going to take."
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It's like sometimes you got to follow the blue butterfly.
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Like you could be walking and be like, "Oh my god, I've never seen a blue butterfly like that."
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And you just end up stumbling upon, you know, a waterfall that you would have never known existed.
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>> You got to be present to do that.
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>> you just got to be present to do it and willing you got to be willing to go there. >> first. >> Yeah.
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>> And the thing about being the provider as you say and and getting your hustle moving and saying yes a lot and figuring out how far you can go before you feel like it's far enough to feel safe. >> Yeah.
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>> Which is really what that early phase of your career is about, right?
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Like can I keep the lights on for all?
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Then you get to stop, take a look around and like, "Oh, there's a butterfly over there."
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And then you see what's going, but >> And that to me like performing Patrona, um, it was my first time performing it in Toronto cuz I'm on tour with with Karol right now on her on her second stadium tour.
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>> Oh, >> And and I'm I'm a special guest opener and I'm performing, you know, this new music that no one's heard before and it was such a blue butterfly moment for me cuz I felt like a new artist all over again and I was excited to share this new music with, you know, an audience that didn't necessarily come to see you.
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They came to see, you know, the headlining act and you're just like >> though.
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>> It's It's like It's blue butterfly. Like it really is.
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I was like, wow, this is a waterfall that I did not think that I was going to stumble upon.
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Like I I have new music that I'm so excited to share that like here we are and I'm doing it and no one knows it, but it feels so good.
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>> step out on stage and and as Big Daddy B as you rightly put it [laughter] and and hear that boom out of speakers that big. >> Yeah.
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>> In a stadium that large. >> Yeah.
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>> It's like that is the appropriate setting to introduce that era. >> Yeah. >> You know. >> Yeah. No, it did.
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It felt That's That's why I would definitely say that that was a blue butterfly moment for me.
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>> We talked about your last album being healing and the importance of that clearing the way and clearing space for you to be able to replace it with parts of your life and the parts of yourself that you want to hold on to and you and you don't want to search for reasons to let go of.
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That's what doing the work is all about.
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But it sounds to me like this album's been very healing as well. >> 100%.
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Well, I also think that like it's just so funny how the internet works, right?
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Because >> Is it >> Yeah, it is. It's really funny. It can be hilarious. >> Sometimes.
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>> Cuz someone can stumble upon something from especially me growing up on it.
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My life is chronological on the internet.
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You can look up Becky G at this age, you know, and like what what Where are they now type thing, you know, and >> Same.
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You should Google Zayn Lowe. It's quite a search. >> don't say that. That's crazy. Okay.
24:54
>> Shout-out to my former selves.
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>> It could be funny because people can see an interview of you from 5 years ago and you could be saying, "Oh, my my favorite ice cream is, you know, chocolate ice cream." >> Mhm.
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>> And like today, I'll tell you like I don't really like ice cream like that >> Yeah, but we want to hold you accountable to your taste. >> And it's like, "Oh."
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And then and then the and then, you know, and obviously figuratively I'm using ice cream, but it could be something else, you know, and it's like, "Oh, she's changed. She switches up.
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She doesn't like chocolate ice cream anymore."
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And it's like, "Well, yeah, cuz, you know, we evolve and we we change.
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We're supposed to change, you know?"
25:26
And so I think that that for me, being an artist and putting feelings into songs, I think that, you know, like heartbreak songs feel good even when I'm happy. I love heartbreak songs.
25:38
So you mean to tell me that even if I am happy, I'm not allowed to sing heartbreak songs?
25:44
>> The problem is is you put a heartbreak song on. >> way around, right?
25:46
You think heartbreak doesn't exist? >> Yeah. >> If someone is happy?
25:49
No, it very much happens.
25:52
It's a part of being able to experience joy is having been able to experience great sadness and, you know, defeat and all these other complex emotions.
26:01
And so I feel like in this album, it's funny cuz I was like, "Damn, even when we're crying, we're crying in the club." Like 2:00 a. m. has such a yearn to it.
26:10
And and there's such a ugliness to the jealousy in the song that exists that I feel like someone like myself who isn't necessarily a jealous type >> Mhm. >> is like, "Ooh."
26:20
Like to claim that part of of yourself, it just feels good.
26:23
And then it and a song that feels like you're levitating.
26:26
It's just like I really didn't bound myself to anything.
26:32
I just let myself go there.
26:34
>> Yeah, and that's why I love Jam and Lewis so much and those kind of producers back in the day because they used to put heartbreak on the dance floor every single time.
26:39
They'd make the snares so loud that you'd be like, "Man, I don't even think I can turn this up."
26:44
The snares were like war breaking out, but the songs are just breaking your heart left, right, and center.
26:49
>> And that's why ABBA is the opposite of that.
26:52
Epa to me, Epa is a joyful song.
26:56
Epa is I'm we're going to dance in the rain.
27:00
Like I don't want to see one person sitting down.
27:01
We're all going to dance the night away.
27:03
We're going to we're going to be together.
27:07
That opening, you know, statement that we make at the beginning of the song and the music and how it progresses and even the visual when you watch the music video.
27:15
That song didn't come from a place of joy.
27:17
It came from a need for joy for my community.
27:24
Because I feel like Latino joy is so important to us right now and it should always be important to us, but I think now more than ever I realized that we deserve safe spaces.
27:34
We deserve to listen to happy songs even when the world around us isn't reflecting that because it's important.
27:42
And so, you know, kind of a an opposite example of a 2:00 a. m.
27:46
where, you know, it's it's it sounds pretty, but again it's like a pretty it's not so pretty to be like, "Oh, you're all mine. You're all mine. You're all mine."
27:55
Like some would even call that tóxica.
27:59
But yeah, we got we all got a little tóxica tóxica side to us, you know, the same way we've got this like you know, communal side to us and this need for connection is always going to be there regardless of where you land on the spectrum.
28:12
And so I feel like yeah, like I said, I didn't really bound myself to a specific memory or specific point in time for the theme of the album.
28:21
It was just exploration of different different parts and different parts that even coexisted in the same in the same storyline or in the same experience and and understanding that like that kind of black and white mentality doesn't necessarily set up an artist for success because then you're saying we can only be this when in reality we are everything all at once. Yeah.
28:52
>> You know, you touched on something before with Empire where you talked about um you were really to me speaking to the importance of music to help tell stories and remind people of their worth and remind people that the community is worth is is is strong and is beautiful. >> Thank you.
29:06
>> Um and you know, you've never shied away from speaking on those terms for showing the pride you have. >> Mhm.
29:14
>> Um but the world is conspiring in many ways and many different environments in particular right now uh in America, we know this cuz we're living here and seeing it to to to to say otherwise. >> Mhm.
29:28
>> And I just think it must be such a strange contradiction to be in a place where you on one side your music and what you stand for in your community is being celebrated and is the most successful >> Mhm. >> math >> Mhm.
29:40
>> in the music business. >> Mhm.
29:41
>> And the flip side is that the people who were charged with the responsibility of taking care of us and guiding us through the matrix of society are sending a different message. >> 100%.
29:53
>> And how conflicting and how confusing that paradox must feel for you as an empath. >> Yeah, of course.
29:58
I think that for me I I know that it can get tricky for people in my position and it is something that should be handled with care and with caution. >> Yep. >> But also curiosity. >> Mhm.
30:12
>> And I feel like um curiosity leads us to conversations that maybe we would have never had, you know?
30:22
And I think that for my community there's a lot of taboos even within our own selves.
30:26
But then, you know, you put it in context to our history and what we're experiencing right now in this moment I think that that caution and that care and that curiosity can all coexist.
30:37
But um we also just need to be willing to try.
30:44
You know, it as intimidating as it can be, my advice to young Latino creators right now, producers, songwriters, singers, um you know, keep creating.
30:56
And you can create from a conscious place.
30:57
Like EP was created from a conscious place and that song does like there's there was something so beautiful that took place in the studio that night and what it came to be and how people relate to it and then performing it live and how excited people get. >> Yeah.
31:15
>> And it's just it's very powerful. We deserve it.
31:17
We've always been deserving of it.
31:19
And I think that we've always been referred to as some type of statistic.
31:23
We're always referred to in context of a number.
31:26
You know, such a loyal consuming fan base.
31:28
Um the most loyal consumers when it comes to products and blah blah blah blah blah and all these things and also when it comes down to, you know, putting tallies on you how many people are getting detained right now.
31:44
>> And it's like these are human beings.
31:44
We are human beings, all of us.
31:46
You know, and so I think that for me, when we can come from a place of emotion, you know, it feeling like the heart actually can't be wrong.
31:59
The heart can't be wrong and if your heart tells you, you know, what's happening in society right now isn't right and you feel called upon to to create joy in that moment, it's because that that's needed.
32:10
>> You know, and and I felt that way about EP and I I feel that way about a lot of the things that I do.
32:15
Um and it and it sometimes doesn't have to be that deep. You know?
32:17
Sometimes we we don't as I I have also learned this as a Pisces.
32:24
Sometimes it just doesn't have to be that deep.
32:27
And then you realize it is.
32:29
>> It's all that >> It it will always be. You know? It's always that deep.
32:34
>> Let's get back to the fun part of making this really vibrant body of music.
32:36
This just like it it's it is the dream Becky G album for Becky G fans. >> Thank you.
32:45
>> Because it's like it's peak you in every way. >> Is it? I love that. I love that.
32:49
That's a great way to put it. >> Is it not?
32:53
>> No, I guess I didn't think about it that way.
32:54
You know, but yeah, we've got we've got >> of every single part of you on the same >> My rapping's very very present on this album.
33:02
Um you know, we've got my my reggaetonera like comes out on it.
33:04
We've got that yearn and that cry. >> You come out flying.
33:07
5:5 is like what the are we listening to?
33:12
It's like it's like it's garage.
33:12
It's like it's the beat is garage. Straight garage.
33:15
It's like it's beat garage.
33:15
It's like >> Yeah, it's got that little shuffle to it. Yeah.
33:21
>> Man, strong and then straight into like, you know, control.
33:23
Pretty I mean the first five six five or six don't stop.
33:27
Uh Chula I feel is the first time that you actually go, "Okay, we're now going to move into a different room in this club complex." >> Yeah.
33:37
>> And that's going to be our little That's the doorway into the next thing, right?
33:41
Does that Is that >> It it absolutely is. Yeah, for sure.
33:42
I think that uh when I'm thinking about like a track list, sometimes it's tough because you're like, "Do you want a sonic journey or do you want a lyrical journey that gives story?" >> Mhm.
33:56
>> Cuz sometimes, like I said, these these songs aren't necessarily made with like the album name in mind.
34:00
Like some some artists approach it that way.
34:02
And then [snorts] there's music Who was like, "I sent dope ass songs."
34:05
They >> There's songs that didn't even make it on the album. >> crazy. Oh, man.
34:08
There's something there that might break some hearts, but maybe they'll see a lot of day one day. >> Yeah.
34:13
>> Um but yeah, I think that for me when I hear Chula coming in, when it comes in on the album, it really is kind of like, "Okay, big daddy B energy.
34:21
Boom, we knock down the door. Here it is."
34:23
And then, you know, you have songs like Control as song number two and it's it's very like and ando makinando ando.
34:33
Like all these things that I'm doing, like control, control.
34:34
Todo bajo control menos yo.
34:36
Like everything's under control except for me. You know what I mean? And I kind of love that.
34:42
And and then you get to Chula and it is finally like, "Okay, >> I've got my emotions a little bit more in check."
34:48
>> We're we're I've I've met everyone in this room now. >> Yeah, yeah. >> You know?
34:52
I I I I've shake I've shook hands with everybody.
34:55
There's some in here that have already known me for a really long time. >> Mhm.
34:59
>> I I can I can take Big Daddy B cape off and we can be in our soft girl Chula energy now.
35:04
And I think that there's such a preciousness to Chula that is just like the same kind of euphoria that I feel when I hear 2:00 a. m.
35:13
is the same way I feel about Chula.
35:13
And they're they sonically couldn't be any more different, but still feel so the same because they're threaded with me, you know? >> Yeah.
35:24
>> And uh and Chula's just like, I mean, someone said it the other day, they're like, "There's just something about it melodically they don't even they don't even speak Spanish."
35:31
And there was something about it melodically the how even just how short and sweet it is, you know?
35:38
I just I want to hear it again.
35:40
And we did, we played it again.
35:42
And it that made me so happy, you know?
35:44
Cuz there is something precious about it that just makes you want it makes you feel embraced, you know?
35:49
>> Yeah, I I think it's a really special bit of music that feels like it presented itself to you.
35:51
It doesn't feel like it's being overthought.
35:53
A lot of the music has >> Fastest song we wrote on the album, too. >> It lands.
35:56
It's like it's "Hi, I'm yours.
35:59
You can have if you want me, I'm yours.
36:02
Now you could you just got to you just got to write me and you know, but I'm giving you the feeling. Here I am. There it is." >> Exactly. >> That's magic, man.
36:07
And I mean, you this is your whole life really revolves around the idea of creating magic, conjuring up creative thoughts, feelings, bringing them to life.
36:17
But then there is the Big Daddy side of you which is like, as I've said before and I and I and I always want to bring this up because you you continue to be successful in this space and it continues to inspire people um that you know you run your own shop you know really I mean you have great people around you great team around you >> Thank you.
36:35
>> a great collaborator but you obviously enjoy the idea and this speaks to your youth of we're past the word control that's a that's a dominating word but um having some stock in your own journey in your own in your own results >> Yeah.
36:52
>> This is this is it's not like a I just do this but you guys help me out with this but I feel like your fingerprints are on all of it. >> Thank you.
36:58
Yeah, I do take a lot of pride in that for sure.
37:00
I think that there's definitely been phases in my career where it's been so overwhelming that there is a world in which I've wanted to hide under a rock and not look at anything.
37:08
Like I just don't want to be seen don't want to be heard don't want to be go off the radar. You know.
37:14
And and that's like that's on like professional pressures personal pressures just needing space >> all life all at the same time >> at the same time but I think that ultimately I have always known deep down inside intuitively that if there is one person on my team who wants it more than me I'm I shouldn't be doing this. >> Mhm. >> You know what I mean?
37:34
Like there are times yes where maybe I'm feeling insecure or uncertain about something and I need I need my team to ground me in in in the facts of it all right which is that this was not given to me. This is not luck.
37:48
to me. This is not luck. Like even this album to me is just such an accumulation of all my life experiences and relationships with the people that I love creatives fans you know and then on top of that like my reps like dead ass just my reps of of having
38:10
done this for a long time and I like some of these vocals are my proudest vocals I re-recorded so many songs I stacked so many songs intentionally like I I really do I I love it so much and I think that I feel really lucky and blessed in that sense to say that um I still love it as much as I do today. Cuz I I don't think that that is
38:32
Cuz I I don't think that that is necessarily something that is true >> It's not a given.
38:36
For a lot of artists, you know. >> weigh you down.
38:39
And especially when you started at a young age and you start for reasons that aren't entirely about the art.
38:44
you've really thoughtfully talked about this earlier on in this conversation and before about the motivation behind doing this.
38:49
Yes, you loved it, but also it served other purposes.
38:53
>> Yeah, there there is a really good difference between have to and want to. >> Big difference. >> Mhm.
38:59
Yeah, and some don't get me wrong.
39:01
We still all, you know, have responsibilities at the end of the day.
39:05
We all still have, you know, things that we we we have to show up for.
39:10
Um but it's different when it comes from a place of of want to.
39:12
Those things that I have to do and I really want to do them because I know that on the other side there is a better version of me or there is something really meaningful that is that is in in fruition that is being made to be a part of that.
39:25
Like that to me is a life worth living, you know.
39:29
So really aligning myself with things that feel not just like a have to, but like a genuine want to.
39:35
>> Yeah, you want to era. >> Yeah.
39:36
Yeah, it's it's just as important as like the word no to me.
39:42
>> How's this tour with Karol?
39:42
I mean, I can imagine you two having the best time. >> Oh my god.
39:45
I just How cool is it that you get to like travel the world and do things with friends?
39:50
Like in that closely since Coachella, I would say um you know, leading up to that and and getting to kind of experience as as a peer and a colleague, you know, professionally, but then also just like as a as a woman, like on a friendship level see her, you know, really step into I mean, a heavy crown to wear.
40:10
First ever Latina headliner. >> Yep.
40:14
>> You know, for one of the biggest festivals.
40:18
Um and do it so beautifully and with a smile on her face.
40:21
Like genuine genuine excitement and care towards every single aspect of of what what she put together and to be invited into that space is extremely inspiring.
40:33
And um I'm the oldest of my siblings and she's the baby of of her siblings and so I've noticed lately there's definitely this beautiful exchange in in our energy and dynamic that just feels like yeah, it's just really nice to have somebody who's willing to be like, here, take my hand, let me show you.
40:52
I'm like, OH MY GOD, THIS IS SO COOL. You know what I mean?
40:54
Like, oh, it's it's it's yeah, it's so refreshing. It's so refreshing.
40:59
>> It's a bit of a together environment that and and and I and again, I I don't want to generalize cuz everybody is an individual in their own right, but I think I'm safe in saying or at least there's some there's some basis in saying um that you know, in a naturally competitive industry >> Mhm.
41:16
>> um that you and your peers in the last decade have shown that you can all be successful individually >> Yes.
41:23
>> and support each other. >> Mhm.
41:25
>> It's really inspiring. >> Thank you.
41:27
>> You know, and that hasn't always been the case.
41:28
I mean Becky in the 90s it was all for me and none for you.
41:34
>> [laughter] >> Let me tell you. >> Yeah.
41:35
Yeah, but I I also think that um these are systems that weren't necessarily made with us in mind.
41:45
You know, so >> Speak on that.
41:48
>> Yeah, it's not personal.
41:49
>> No, it's a psychology. It's a psychology.
41:52
>> you know, and I think once you really recognize and see that your greatest competition is the person in the mirror.
42:01
Like if I don't feel like I could I don't know, come here in the world today. Today.
42:08
Like compared to young Becky, like the fact that I feel that same fire, that same hustle, that same passion, if not times a thousand, >> Mhm.
42:20
>> for me feels like I'm doing something right for myself. >> Mhm.
42:23
>> And it's never in context or in comparison to someone else.
42:28
And I think that that that's important because society already does that.
42:33
It would be so cruel to do that to myself.
42:36
>> no, this is a safe space, actually. >> Yeah. No, it is.
42:38
And then that's why when you realize that there are other, you know, creatives out there um that are also going through similar experiences, and ones that like not everybody can necessarily relate to, you know?
42:51
Um those friendships that like kind of birth from from those seeds that that are planted from vulnerable conversations, it's um oh man, you realize it it's a lonely road, but you're not actually alone.
43:07
>> You're not actually alone. >> Yeah.
43:09
>> beautiful realization.
43:09
>> Yeah, it's a beautiful realization, and then you realize like, damn, it's actually proof that it's possible.
43:16
>> Cuz it must have felt lonely at times. >> Yeah.
43:18
Well, when someone else's success means that your light is dimmer, that's something you got to work on. You know what I mean?
43:24
Versus when someone else's success is actually, again, proof that it's possible, >> Mhm.
43:34
>> it actually should fuel you more, you know?
43:36
Like, it should it should be inspiring. >> Yeah.
43:39
>> And I think that so often as artists we think that things are ours.
43:43
Unfortunately, a lot of artists have been taken advantage of, like, me not owning the rights to my own voice. >> Mhm. >> That's real. >> I know. >> You know? That's real.
43:52
That's real not just for me, for a lot of artists. >> I know.
43:55
>> And the idea that, you know, there are things that will live on forever that will never see truly return to us is is also crazy.
44:02
So, this need for ownership I think doesn't always come from this place of needing the me in it, but just the dignity and the respect that an artist deserves at the end of the day.
44:16
But then also I think an artist fully stepping into their power and purpose is realizing from just a zoom out lens, nothing is ever truly ours, we're just the vessel.
44:29
And what a blessing it is to be the vessel.
44:31
It won't be like that forever because there's a lot of amazing people not just artists in front of cameras that are talking about it, but also I think like, you know, amazing teams behind those artists that are also, you know, the the protectors of of that that purpose.
44:50
>> by example, which is what you do and other people do, which is like a being unafraid to address it and talk about it in the in the moment and also lead and then apply and lead by example and be like, you know, it may be a small decision today, but it may have a ripple effect that could lead to a much bigger change in the future.
45:06
>> I think it's just, you know, we all see the elephant in the room, right? >> Yeah, we do. >> Yeah.
45:10
I think change and the actions behind it it looks different for everyone. You know what I mean?
45:17
But the resist the resistance around it, you know, it it looks different for everyone.
45:23
>> I'm having such a >> in it is this album.
45:26
>> I'm really enjoying this conversation.
45:26
I I you know, you're somebody who clearly has gotten to a point in your life where you really appreciate the effort and work it takes to see things in a way that allows you to experience and access harmony. >> Mhm.
45:41
>> And to not reject that experience, but to embrace it and but to know that it's not always available to you.
45:46
>> Yeah, that's very true.
45:46
I appreciate that uh observation I guess because it I had a tendency of of being too much of a positive patty and and just I I out of and it don't don't get me wrong, I'd rather be a positive patty than a negative Nancy all the time. You know what I mean?
46:03
Like there's a there's a distinct difference in the room when you have a negative Nancy versus a positive Patty. >> Sure.
46:09
>> But sometimes that positivity can still feel like it's not addressing what's really taking place, you know?
46:14
And so I think now getting to a place where I'm like, I don't know everything. >> Mhm. >> Right? >> Mhm.
46:22
>> And viewing life from that lens of what is this teaching me?
46:26
It has allowed me to be more present in, you know, celebrating the wins that I've worked really hard for even when they're small.
46:32
And so recognizing the things that could be better.
46:34
And and those things kind of coexist at the same time.
46:38
And and leaving room for all of it.
46:38
And not just for myself, but even again, my my counterparts, the people that I love, other creatives, other family members.
46:45
And it almost allows me to experience more like love in my life.
46:50
And I think that that is as an artist also keeps our cup fueled. Like it keeps it full.
46:55
Or not always at full to the top, but yeah, it keeps it it keeps it filled.
47:00
And I think that that's that's important for us.
47:04
>> There's actually some very interesting parallels between you and Selena. Both started young.
47:07
Both had to figure out how to sort of carry things probably ahead of schedule and and and, you know, show up for work and do all this stuff to get to a place where it becomes something of joy.
47:16
And there's a want versus a have to that comes into this.
47:20
It must be nice to be able to show up to work with somebody that you see a little bit of yourself in even though you come from very different kind of pathways. >> Yeah.
47:30
>> And and have Benny bring it together and have a moment where it's like, this is cool.
47:34
Like where we both stand in our lives now? This is cool.
47:37
>> Oh, it's more than cool. It's it's beautiful. >> Yeah.
47:41
>> I I I was texting with Benny the other day and I just, you know, continue to reiterate it to him how really thankful I am to have been invited to to be on his album.
47:54
One just as two people who have known each other for so many years.
47:56
He's seen me through various different seasons in my artistry and has always just like been this person who I very very early on I remember meeting this character, this personality that I would never forget, you know?
48:10
And and >> Have you met my friend Becky? Have you met Bet Becky? Becky's great. Bet I'm sorry I farted. >> "Oh, sorry I farted."
48:21
>> [laughter] >> Exactly.
48:23
>> Um you know, and then he'd be like, "Uh let's go swimming."
48:26
Instead of writing a song and you're like, "Okay, cool."
48:30
Um or let's go watch a movie, you know, and you're like, "Oh, I thought we were going to be in the studio today."
48:33
And and I just love that he's always um down for the adventure.
48:38
And and then and then yeah, and then you know, you throw in the the plus plus bonus cherry on top, you have the both which I learned, the both Marie Gomez together, two Chicanas, two Chicana cultures that are very different.
48:55
You know, you got the Tex-Mex side of it, you got the Chicana LA side of it. >> Yeah.
49:01
>> Um coming on to, you know, a cumbia rhythm >> is so it was it was so sick.
49:05
So sick to be a part of and such a fun day on set. >> Yeah, bet. >> doing my own stunts.
49:15
Um I was going to say by choice, but not not according to Benny.
49:18
Everybody's got to do their own stunts, I'm just kidding. Um of course safely.
49:21
But but yeah, it was such a fun day.
49:24
>> That's tripping people out that much. >> Tripping, man.
49:26
I remember seeing it in person.
49:27
It's I mean it's it's real.
49:27
It's it pours, every little hair and freckle and you know, it it wild.
49:34
>> having an allergic reaction. >> Wild. Wild.
49:38
And he And he couldn't see anything.
49:40
>> Yeah, no >> Couldn't see anything and I'm like that I I also would not want to see a skateboard flying over me.
49:45
It's probably better that I don't see it.
49:47
But anyways, um but yeah, it was such a good time and even like the the the day we were in the studio and we were we were we wrote a bunch of different things to be honest.
49:57
Um, this was one that stuck.
49:57
I remember like a week later I was still singing the song and I remember calling my manager one of my managers Ben and being like we got to make sure that we like we finish this song.
50:08
Like this song has to it has to we got to do something. This was last year.
50:15
And and yeah, I'm so happy man.
50:16
I'm so happy that it came together the way it did and we had we just have so much fun.
50:21
>> That's what it's all about.
50:21
I mean when I press play on this record and I always go into everything with an open mind especially with someone like you who shapeshifts so effortlessly. >> Thank you.
50:29
>> like all right, you know, where are we going where are we going to find you right now?
50:31
And uh and I was just like wow man, you know, you're covering all the ground over the course of this record. >> such a little person.
50:42
Covering a lot of ground.
50:42
This is one of those bodies of work that like it could it's going to it's out and any of the songs could go and I'd be so happy.