Becky G Wasn’t Afraid to Make This Album — Or Stand Up For Latinos: ‘We Deserve Joy’

A s someone who has been in the music business for almost two decades, Becky G likes to joke that she’s like a cat with nine lives in this industry. “It’s been a long journey, right? I got signed when I was 14… and I feel I’m, like, on my sixth life now as an artist,” she says. Since her breakthrough “Shower” in 2014, Becky has built a rock-solid career of hits in both English and Spanish, experimenting with everything from pop to música Mexicana. But now, at 29, she’s coming into her own more than ever.

That’s where her fifth album, Baraja Bendita, comes in: It’s a wildly eclectic, high-powered burst of songs in Spanglish that bounce from club bangers to merengue to bachata. For Becky, it represents exactly where she is right now. She explains that she’s been on a healing journey since her remarkably emotive album Esquinas, an project that dove into Mexican traditions and had her excavate her family history for inspiration. The follow-up, Encuentros, went just as deep, allowing her to explore her roots and identity.

But her new LP, out Aug. 14 and her first on RCA Records, ties together all the sides we’ve seen of Becky. There’s the feisty, quick-witted rapper from “Shower,” the take-no-prisoners baddie from Mala Santa, and the proud Mexican American daughter on her recent albums. Baraja Bendita is also music she made with zero compromises. “For a long time, I have expressed my pride for who I am and where I come from and the history of my last name and the blood that runs through my veins. But it’s another thing just to actually do it and own it,” she tells Rolling Stone.

With songs like “EPA” and “Mi Gran Amor,” a crushing duet with Carlos Santana that looks at the realities of ICE raids under Trump, this work also catches Becky at a time when she’s been profoundly invested in uplifting and representing her community. She’s worked with organizations like the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, and even wrote about the strength of immigrant workers for Rolling Stone’s American Icons package earlier this year. In a wide-ranging conversation at the Rolling Stone Studio, Becky went into even more detail on how she made this album from an empowered place, her commitment to show up authentically, her responsibility for her community in turbulent times, and her work with fellow artists like Karol G and Selena Gomez.

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Your album Baraja Bendita is coming out this week, and it’s such a mix of the Becky G and Rebecca that we’ve known — a lot of different eras, a lot of different sounds. It also marks a new chapter. It’s your first album on RCA Records. I want to hear how it started.
I do feel like there’s a homecoming in a sense. It actually started with Esquinas, and there was a turning point in my artistry, or a crossroads that I met, and I made a decision to be the most vulnerable I had ever been in my music. It was almost like I hit a hidden artery or a vein, and it just bled such rawness and connection to my roots that the idea of ever not singing from that place just didn’t feel right. And so this album was a return to pop sounds, but still genre-bending and having these disruptive productions mixing into familiar sounds people have heard from me before in the past, but from that deeper place of having done more self-discovery and exploration. It just feels so right. It feels like a cycle that’s being completed with Baraja Bendita.

A lot of the themes involve autonomy and taking your future in your own hands.  Talk to me about how that connects to the title, which refers to a deck of cards.
In the simplest way for me, most of your life you hear “you can’t control the cards you were dealt.” And that’s very true. There’s a lot of things outside of our control. But you can control how you play them, and I think I’ve played a hell of a hand throughout various phases of my career, whether it was through personal or professional challenges and obstacles. Taking agency over your life is something that, as a young woman growing up in this industry, just in the world, in today’s society, learning the power of your voice looks different for everyone, and to go through that in front of the world isn’t easy. But it’s one of my greatest blessings, and it’s given me an opportunity to really lean into my purpose. You know how they say in this industry you gotta play the game? I feel this album was really my invitation for my fans and for others, my peers in the industry, to come and learn my game now. And that’s really fun. It’s a very empowered place to create from.

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Talk to me about the idea of a set of cards, and that image.
It’s more figurative than it is so literal. As artists, the idea of play is so important and in a hustle culture like the one we live in today, it’s so easy to lose sight of that, that we’re actually supposed to have fun and we’re supposed to mess around and find out, you know? I feel like this album was a process of me actually doing that. I think Esquinas and Encuentros served a really a big purpose in my healing journey. I was able to make peace and let go of a lot of things to then make room for other things, like curiosity, exploration, and discovery. So it was two years of playing and trying different sounds, cutting different songs and throwing around crazy ideas.

We went into the studio with no compass, as far as which direction we would go in. Would it be English? Would it be in Spanish? Turns out to be Spanglish. For “Patrona,” we had the deepest, most philosophical, emotional conversation. You listen to the song and if you were there, it totally checks out. But then you’re like, “Oh, that’s actually really funny because you were talking about waterfalls and butterflies!” So instead of being so focused on the result of something, I was really allowing myself to be determined in the journey of getting there.

One song also encompasses that idea is “5’5,” where it’s this crazy club energy. It’s I think a little different than what we’ve heard before and also weaves in and out of English and Spanish.
And it’s track number one for a reason. I love that that calls out to you because I think for me, it’s one thing to tell people, it’s another thing to show them. For a long time, I have expressed my pride for who I am and where I come from and the history of my last name and the blood that runs through my veins. But it’s another thing just to actually do it and own it. And I feel like in this music, you can really feel that and “5’5” is the song that kicks off the album. It’s like, “I can do it in English and in Spanish.” This is me, this is Spanglish. And it’s self-explanatory, and it’s fun.

I do want to ask about switching back and forth. It’s so refreshing to see you, because that’s how we talk if we come from a bicultural background. You just switch. And sometimes I don’t even think about it. How are you thinking when you were actually writing the songs and the lyrics about that?
That’s the part I wasn’t thinking about. That is me really stepping into that ownership of my artistry and just being myself without having to feel like I need to explain it to anyone. Because I feel like we’re still in a time in the industry where I’ll still get asked, “So who’s going to be the Spanish feature on the song?” Like it’s not enough Spanish. And I’m just like, “Hmm, that’s interesting. Hola, soy yo. I’m the Spanish feature. I can do both. Thank you, reminder.” For me, I just did it. And that that’s also what brings me a lot of pride, because after, when I’m sharing this music, I think people can feel my excitement for it and the joy that I experience. After completing this body of work, I have friends who don’t speak any Spanish and didn’t even clock the fact that it was going in and out of. They understood it. And to feel that embrace on both sides now is just such a beautiful feeling. I feel really blessed to be an artist today and to have gone through the things that I’ve gone through in the past and to still be challenged on some of those things and to keep pushing forward this path for a lot of us 200 percenters, where you and I can have this conversation right now and then you’ll probably, as you said, get off this interview and call your dad and it’ll be a conversation in Spanish. And that just is what it is, the same way it was for me growing up. It’s really beautiful. It embodies something really important to me.

Even in the sounds and the production — I love that there’s a freedom with genre. “5’5” is a crazy club banger, but then you have a merengue on here. You have a bachata moment on “Mal Tiempo.”
It’s funny, as soon as you were saying that I was thinking of “Mal Tiempo” because for me, you see the production team behind it and how the song started as one thing and the final result. The different versions of it that we had to get to for it to really feel like “This is both sides of me coming together” was a process, but it was so worth it. That is the thing that is so important for us artists, to really lean into our essence and our identity. Trends are fun, but they come and go. What doesn’t come and go is something that you can be proud of in 20 years.

I was just talking to a friend about the video for “EPA.” It’s so cinematic. It’s so reflective of Chicano imagery and Mexican culture. Tell me about putting that video together, because again, it feels like part of stepping into that authenticity and embracing everything that you grew up with.
I’m so happy you bring it up, because I feel if you look at the album, it’s all me. I was really presented with an opportunity here to work on my greatest collaboration yet, which is Becky G with Rebbeca. I’ve had the opportunity to do so many collaborations throughout my career, ones that have taught me so much and have brought incredible friendships. But this album has really strengthened the relationship of me with myself. And I think that when I hear “EPA,” I think of that studio session, another really deep conversation taking place there. There was an urgency in the beat that I was hearing. It almost sounded like sirens. It felt like a calling. And I was just reflecting on how important Latino joy is and how we need to see that. That’s part of our resistance. I feel like the visual came from that place and that intention. It’s something that brings me a lot of pride to know that my art and my advocacy can meet in a space that has a lot of significance for me, but may also resonate with my community. Shout out to Olivia [De Camps], our director, who is down for all my crazy ideas and who also pushed me. I was like, “What do you mean I’m gonna be in a parking lot doing yoga poses, singing?” She goes, “Trust me, I think it’s gonna be so sick.” And I was, like, “OK, cool. What if I brought a sledgehammer and we did a little something, because hot Latinas melt ice.” And she was like, “I love it.” When the ice breaks, you feel the explosion of this joy and this freedom. And literally, the lyrics in “EPA” are like, “Vamos a bailar nuestras lluvias.” We are the people who dance in the rain. There’s no such thing as raining on our parade. That song means so much to me, and to see it also means so much to my fans, that’s really all I could ask as an artist.

What was it like having Valentina in the video?
I just feel like it was so iconic. I remember being on set, one of our final set-ups, and she was in the corner, fanning herself. She’s practicing the speech. And I remembered we had closed the set and I was like, “Don’t worry, you’re gonna kill it. It’s gonna be fine.” But we’re also like, “Now we’re pressed for time!” because it’s the end of the day and anybody who shot a music video knows you have your dream shot list and then you start little by little cutting things and then you’re like, “Are we gonna make it? Are we going to make it?” And I was like, “This has to be perfect. This is her moment. This is how we open the music video.” And oh, my gosh, she absolutely killed it. The dress, the dress had me gagged. I was so obsessed.

You also recently had this Selena Gomez moment with Benny Blanco with your song “Te Olvido (La LA).” Tell me everything about the song.
It’s just everything. I was trippin’. The Gomez girls, finally! She’s the sweetest. And I’ve known Benny for so long now, which is crazy. I remember the day we went into the studio, again, no intention set, just kind of like, “Let’s create and let’s see what happens.” And I feel like it was a few weeks after, the song was so stuck in my head. I literally would wake up like,”La, la, la la la, la, la, la, la la.” And I’d walk around my house, and then I’d text my manager Ben, then I hit Benny, and be like, “OK, so what are we gonna do with this song? What’s gonna happen with the song?” And it just continued to unfold. I remember hearing Sel’s verse on it, and hearing our voices together was so surreal. And then we shot our music video. And it was so wild, because I shot the “EPA” music video around the same time. Literally it was like a three-day span where we had shot the “EPA” music video and then we also did our music video. Everybody’s like, “Damn, Becky’s really out here. What’s going on? Like we wanna know the tea.” And I was like, “I can’t say anything!”

You also just recently announced you’re going to pop in on a couple Karol G shows at the TropiTour. You guys have such a great relationship. How are you feeling supporting Karol on this mega tour, and also just having been her friend for so long?
I feel so proud and it’s so cool to get to do what we do, but it’s even better to get to do it with other people who really understand what goes into it and who also have an appreciation and a gratitude towards it that I think is sometimes hard to relate to. I look up to her in a lot of ways. I’m the big sister in my family and she’s the baby sister in her family. There’s this really beautiful dynamic as we’ve grown up together, where I’ve gotten to learn so much from her and she’s just been so giving, and really open about being like, “Let me show you the ropes, girl.” This last Coachella was really, really cool to see her in her process of building that first ever Latina headlining show. That’s a heavy crown to wear, and she absolutely killed it. Like the Benny and Selena song, I just couldn’t wait to share that with our fans too, because I think they can definitely feel that there’s a genuine appreciation for one another and a deep care and love.

You came out during that set where you looked at the camera and you said, “Que viva Mexico, que viva Colombia, a todos los inmigrantes los queremos mucho.” (“Long live Mexico, long live Colombia, and to all the immigrants, we love you so much.”) Did you know you were gonna have that shout-out to the immigrant community from the beginning, or was it just in the moment?
It wasn’t part of my plan. I think it’s just a reflection of who I am and how I show up in these places, in spaces. It was definitely one of those things where for me, as somebody who has gone to Coachella now a few times, who has the key to the city and has gotten to meet the people, the real Coachella, and know that this isn’t just a festival. A lot of the people who work the festival and who are cleaning up after every single night are nuestra gente Latina. I felt like, “What better moment than right now?” Like, here we are. And also for Karol too, she’s an immigrant. This is an extension of my love for the community and our love for our community. So it just was a beautiful moment that kind of happened, to be honest.

You recently worked on a piece with us for our American Icons issue, which was an issue celebrating different parts of America and looking back at 250 years of the country. And you spoke about the immigrant workforce. The headline is “Immigrants are the Bedrock of our Nation.” Tell me about wanting to give that a spotlight.
There’s so many Latino artists and icons that came before me that very beautifully have continued to build this bridge for so many of us to proudly stand on their shoulders and continue to push forward. None of this would exist without the ones who came before us, that first generation that had the courage to leave everything behind. And I think that’s sometimes the misconception that people have about immigrants is that it’s always bad where they come from. Like my grandparents, they came from nothing in Jalisco, Mexico, and traded that to come here. But they also loved their pueblitos and they had a great life. So it wasn’t that there was a worse or a better, it was this opportunity that they wanted to lean into to give more to the future generations. That’s something that I don’t take lightly at all. And I very proudly stand on the shoulders of my four grandparents who all had the courage to do that for themselves and for their children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren. I actually just did a song with Carlos Santana, and it’s called “Mi Gran Amor.” It was very urgent for us to be able to pull some of that storytelling into our artistry and be able to highlight what’s going on right now. We talk a lot about discrimination, we talk about colorism and racism, but we don’t talk enough about privilege. And I think to be someone who has a position where I can help others who can’t speak up right now, for me there’s no other way.

The Santana song is so powerful. It’s obviously reflecting a lot of harsh images that we’re seeing, and pain in our community. I know that you’ve done so much activism and boots-on-the-ground work. What has it been like for you to absorb it?
For everyone, you gotta take it a day at a time. For me, when I think about my purpose as an artist, I do wanna encourage a lot of artists out there: There is a way to continue creating from a conscious place, a place that is from deep care. And sometimes it is important to create safe spaces where people can disconnect and where people find just a brief moment to themselves, to not feel like they’re carrying the weight of the world. We deserve that, too. We deserve joy and we deserve those safe spaces. So my encouragement to young Latino artists out there is to keep creating and don’t be afraid of creating. That’s a privilege that we have right now that we really have to lean into to get to you. It is a dark and scary time for a lot of our community right now.

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Singing that song, and I remember speaking about it with Edgar Barrera, who is also an executive producer on the song. We did Esquinas together and he’s seen me and he knows how passionate I am and he himself has experienced a lot of things as well as a border-town kid. I wanted to make sure that it was really clear that I am singing this just as a vessel to share these stories because I’ll never actually fully truly be able to understand what the weight of these words carry. I have an idea and I have family members who have been directly impacted by what’s going on, even right now. So I think it was important, you know, as someone in a position of privilege to be able to say, “”Let’s get this out there.”

What do you see as the responsibility of artists to talk about these issues?
I can only really speak for myself because I don’t want to speak on behalf of all artists. I think it is something that can be an intimidating space, and by no means do I have all the answers. I’m constantly having to kind of educate myself. And it is a lot of staying connected. What I’ve just tried to do is continue to stay in touch with my community locally. And we forget sometimes that it does start as simple as within our four walls. It starts with the conversations we have with our family members. It starts the conversations we have with the people we work with. Like in Venezuela…. So many of my creative counterparts have family in Venezuela, so how can we continue to create space for that and expand our advocacy? I think it has to really mean something to you and also you have to feel comfortable with that. I think that that’s really, really important, and there have been times where I have definitely maybe not educated myself properly. Or maybe I didn’t have the right information, but being willing, it’s such a great starting point. I think we’re in a time where we can’t afford to stay silent, especially for someone like myself who was born here. I have rights and I have privileges that a lot of my creative counterparts do not have. Being able to lean into that, for me, that is a part of the responsibility that I proudly step into.