Becky G has the keys to success – drive, determination, and passion.
At the age of nine, Becky had a moment of realization amidst a rough patch that her family was facing, as they were forced to sell their home and relocated to her grandparents’ garage. She wanted to find a way to relieve the financial stress of her parents, pursuing small entertainment gigs including voice-overs and commercials.
It was not only passion that was there, but also talent. Her cover of Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “Otis” captured the attention of Dr. Luke, known for his work with Katy Perry and Ke$ha to name a few, who immediately signed Becky to his label Kemosabe Records. He has referred to the singer / songwriter / rapper / model / actor as the total package – and he may be onto something.
I had the opportunity to chat with Becky G just ahead of the first stop of her first headlining tour in Canada for Family’s Big Ticket Summer Concert tour in Abbotsford yesterday.
asapmusicblog.ca: What was the first song in your memory that inspired you to pursue music?
Becky G: I wouldn’t say that there was a song in particular – it was more just music in general. I grew up in a really, really big family so there were family barbeques every weekend and it was just like a big party and we would play all kinds of music – everything from Spanish music, to everything in English, old-school hip-hop, new-school hip-hop, pop music. All of us in my family are really big fans of music and I just kind of took that passion to another level, I guess you can say!
A: You’re playing Abbotsford tonight to kick off and headline Family’s Big Ticket Summer Concert tour. What are you looking forward to most for this tour?
Becky G: Honestly, just meeting new fans! Also, it’s a whole new show for me – I’m performing lots of new music, and new choreography. It’s just going to really fun and really, really exciting.
A: What stands out about you is your maturity and your honesty. Those two traits really stood out in your remake of Jennifer Lopez’s song – when you remade it into ‘Becky From The Block’. How important is it for you to translate your personal experiences into your music?
Becky G: It’s so important to me, because I feel like that’s what music is about – it’s about connecting with people. I think the best way to connect to a person is by learning their story, and I think with ‘Becky From The Block’ you can definitely get a vibe of who I am, what I do, what I love, and what I’ve gone through in my life and I think that’s really nice. I think when you can connect to an artist on another level, that’s something special and I feel like because I do that, me and my fans have a really special connection.
A: You are a Covergirl spokesperson, more recently with their #GirlsCan campaign. What is it like to be a role model for others, especially for your fans that look up to you?
Becky G: It’s pretty crazy, honestly, to be able to say: “I’m an easy, breezy, beautiful Covergirl”. It’s crazy because growing up, you see all the commercials, you watch America’s Next Top Model, and you see everybody saying that and now I get to be part of a list of powerful women who stand for female empowerment and being beautiful and confident. It’s an honour – it’s really, really cool.
A: In previous interviews, you’ve talked about storytelling and creating a visual when you’re writing your music. Like you mentioned earlier, you are performing new songs and new choreography. How do those elements of storytelling and visuals translate into your live performance?
Becky G: It’s a combination of things. With this tour, I guess I have a lot of fun, just because we have so many more props, we have different structures and different costumes now – we kind of just vamped everything up. I think having a new set-up inspired me and my dancers with a new energy and a new vibe, so it sets the tone for the tour. Like I said, this tour is going to be lots and lots and lots of energy, and all about moments – I’m all about capturing moments.
If a song is super chill and super vibey and I’m rapping, the choreography is going to be inspired by that and going to be a little more hip-hop led. With “Shower”, it’s a little bit more fun, so the choreography is more simple. It really just depends, it depends on the vibe of the music and then everything else just follows after that with whatever style the outfit’s going to be and so on.
A: If you could narrow down a single message that you would want your music to convey, what might that be?
Becky G: The most important thing is to be yourself. Through my music, I think you can tell that I’m being myself. If you listen to the songs that I started making covers of, and then you listen to the songs I started making after I got signed, and then you listen to songs that I’m singing about now – you can hear my stories, you can hear stories of other people that I’m close to, and that I’m growing up. I’m living my life and just sharing that with everybody. I’m not trying to be something that I’m not, I’m actually doing the complete opposite – I’m trying hard to stay true to myself so my fans get to know me more.
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For more information on Becky G and her upcoming tour dates, head over to: http://iambeckyg.com.
