Becky G on Assembling ‘Esquinas’ With Producer Edgar Barrera and New Mexican Artists: ‘As Serendipitous As It Can Get’
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This particular Friday has been a long time coming for Becky G: Her third studio album, “Esquinas,” (“Corners”), finally sees its release via Kemosabe-RCA Records after living only as a concept in her mind for the last several years.
It’s a truly intimate project. In it, the singer is overwhelmed with moments of gratitude, at other times with pride — whether that be for her dual heritage as a Mexican-American, or for her long-earned and winding ascent to the top. In rarer moments, she confronts grief and loss. Mainly, she hopes fans will hear this record and recognize it as her at her truest.
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“This is for my 200%-ers,” Becky said in a speech she gave at her album-listening event just a few weeks ago. Friends, family, industry insiders, her co-managers Ben Tischker and Marc Jordan and other members of her team gathered around the 26-year-old Inglewood, Calif. native to hear her relay the album’s ethos: “I’m not just one side of the border, I’m not just in one industry — I’m literally in the corner, at the crossroads of two flags, two languages, two cultures… ” she later repeated over a Zoom call with Variety.
Long before the release of “Esquemas” in 2022, which she describes as “a body of work that really proved my genre-lessness as an artist,” the idea for a Mexican Becky G album was a request that came from her family — her grandparents, to be specific. “It was a dream of mine for years,” she says. “When I was younger, my grandparents would always tell me, ‘Mija, I’d love to hear you with a mariachi or with a banda.’ And my grandma would always make fun of me because I would be rapping. She would tell me: ‘I hear you very angry, mija — what’s wrong?'” she laughs.
Becky wound up launching a career in pop, and then establishing herself in the fast-moving world of reggaeton before the stars would align for her to meet producer and songwriter Edgar Barrera, who has written so many hits in the past year that he is the most-nominated person at the 2023 Latin Grammys. Barrera has launched several música Mexicana singles, including “Un x100to” a collaboration between his BorderKid Records imprint signees Grupo Frontera and Bad Bunny. The song was one of the few regional hits that broke records this year by entering the top 10 in singles charts across the world, globalizing the evolving sounds coming from young, Mexican-American artists. A number of those fresh faces are featured on this record: Peso Pluma, Ivan Cornejo, Yahritza Y Su Esencia, DannyLux and Angela Aguilar, to name a few.
“There’s a new wave of artists paving the way and I’m so thankful for that because now I am experiencing this collective embrace. Not just of our traditions, but of our own very specific flairs,” Becky says.
But really, “the album’s catalyst happened two years ago when I lost my first grandparent, my abuelito Miguel,” she explains. “I think losing him and then gaining him as a guardian angel, just kind of felt like a sign… This record is as serendipitous as things can get, it’s a project that is so close to my heart. I brought up the idea then and had a lot of visuals in mind. It’s been unraveling since way back when we dropped mine and Karol [G]’s ‘Mamiii,’ I wrote that song thinking maybe this could be the connection into a different sound coming from me.”
Below, Becky shares more on winning over international audiences, taking notes from Taylor Swift for her first-ever headlining tour and supporting new artists.
You have experience in launching new sonic eras of your career. What has been the most challenging aspect of establishing yourself in this realm?
While we were recording, I kept asking myself, “How can I show up as my most true authentic self in this project?” I had to challenge myself, absolutely.
There’s a cover of “Por Un Amor” on there. We added kind of an electric guitar feel to it, it’s a very specific sound I associate with being Chicana. The idea came because I was playing one of my favorite songs ever, “Sleep Walk,” which appears in the Richie Valens movie, “La Bamba.” It has a similar slowed-down guitar. “Los Astros” also has somewhat of a Los Panchos feel. They have a song called “Piel Canela” that’s great — I was obsessed with it growing up and that same feel is definitely in there.
This record also definitely demanded a different part of my voice that I don’t think many people have heard. I don’t remember the last time I was in the studio until two, sometimes three in the morning for a project like I was with this one… I wanted everything to be perfect.
You’re covering songs with a lot of history on this record as well, songs written and sung by a lot of influential men from the genre like Antonio Aguilar.
[Aguilar’s] “Un Puño De Tierra” is my answer if someone were to ask me how I feel about life. The same people you see on your way up are the same people you see on the way down. So, treat everyone with the same love and respect and care and compassion. And when we all die, we’re not taking any of this with us…
“Cruz De Olivido” is the song that my papi (grandpa) dedicated to my grandmother when he left her in Mexico to come to the United States. And she had her sons and was left behind by the love of her life. He was courageous and brave in trying to help build a new life for them. And that time apart for them was really, really hard. I sang it for him on his 70th birthday with mariachi and I was all dressed up. It cuts deep.
Pictured above: A baby Becky G and her grandfather Miguel Gómez.
Edgar Barrera helped put this together and when we spoke with him earlier this year, he said he really supported your choice to include new voices rather than just sticking to the traditional.
I’ve always been really big on collaboration and having Edgar [Barrera] as my right hand throughout all of this felt, again, really synergetic. I basically spilled months’ worth of ideas to him — presented what I grew up listening to, what stood out to me and if you listen to the album you’ll find it’s regional-inspired but it’s really like alternative música Mexicana. There’s a lot of 200% representation in the details: how I cut certain vocals in some songs vs. others, or how I stack harmonies.
I always point to the songs I have with Danny[Lux] and Ivan Cornejo as examples, the sound is not your typical corrido or ranchera — there’s a newness to it. What Peso [Pluma] has been able to accomplish, what Gabito [Ballesteros] has done — there is a new school that is so proud of where we come from, but also knows that in order to keep going, we have to expand. And that’s something that isn’t taught in our culture.
What was it like to be in studio sessions with a revolving door of new, young artists? A position you know all too well having started your career as a teen.
It’s one of the best parts of this movement in regional music — There are so many promising young women and young men, and we just get to be ourselves and own these spaces… It’s not that it’s competitive at all, it’s welcoming and there’s a lot of love to go around for everybody.
I feel protective of them sometimes too, because I grew up in this industry. They’re a little bit younger than I am and so when I see them, I’m always checking in on them. “Are you guys good? How are you guys doing? Are you guys happy?”
Does that sort of mentorship feel full circle for you at all?
I wouldn’t as far as to call myself a mentor because I also have something to learn from them. The love, admiration and care are mutual. It’s totally the big sister in me though… it’s a hard industry. And everybody’s so young. When you have such big dreams, things can get really intimidating and it can get really lonely. You can get easily taken advantage of. I’ve grown up to be very to the point now, and I know they know that there’s nothing that they can’t come to me for.
What has been your approach to managing your first-ever tour, “Mi Casa, Tu Casa”?
I got to see Drake, I got to see Taylor Swift and Karol’s show and I took notes. Touring is a very hard thing to do, it’s hard to continue to impress your fans because the standards are just very high right now and you want to bring quality to your audience — that’s what they deserve.
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