October 13, 2022 • 22 mins
How can music help us connect to culture—and to each other? This week, Eva is joined by singer, actress, and entrepreneur, Becky G, to break down these ideas and how they intersect. Eva and Becky connect about their shared Mexican heritage, the many ways their culture has influenced their work, and what it’s like to be a part of the “200% club” – 100% American and 100% Mexican.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, everybody, Welcome back to Connections. I'm Eva Longoria and
today we're going to talk about our connection to music
as well as our connection to our culture through music,
and I think those things are super related. I always
feel like the best way into a culture is food
and music, and you can see that in a lot
of cultural examples like K pop. Everybody's obsessed with K
(00:25):
pop and you're like, you don't even know what they're saying,
but you're like, I'm in it. I'm into it. I
love that band. And I always feel like we can
open up to new cultures through music, and today I
have the perfect person to bring these two ideas together.
So I'm so excited to welcome pop singer and actress
and overall ching Gona badass, Becky g to the show.
Becky Welcome, Hey, mama, Thank you so much. What an
(00:50):
absolute pleasure to be here sitting down hanging out with
my girl hanging out. You know, Becky and I have
a lot in common, and we overlap a lot. We're
obviously both Mexican American, we're both like proud chicanas. We
both love flaming hot Cheetos. There's a lot of connections
(01:12):
between you and I. We have so much to talk
about and I can't wait to get into it. So
please welcome back you to the show. But you tell
everybody a little bit about your background, like are you
first generation? Second generation? Yes? Okay, So growing up, I
didn't know the difference between like my grandparents, my parents,
(01:34):
and myself. To me, growing up in l A, like,
I was just Mexican. Like That's how I identified until
obviously I got a little bit older and my freemas
would come from Mexico like in the summer to like
hang out with us, and they would make fun of
me because it would ask me, you know, and I'd
be like and they'd be like, no, no it is
and I'd be like what and they're like and I'm like, uh,
(01:57):
and so I am second generation American, their generation Mexicana right,
Oh my god. I felt the same way. You know,
I'm married to a Mexican, a Mexican Mexican as my
mom says, um, guys, and I always go. When I
met my husband, I was like, oh, I'm Mexican, so
I Mexicana. And he's like, no, you're not, You're American.
(02:19):
And I was like, well, I mean it's technically I'm American,
but like right, well, and that's the thing, you know,
like growing up in places like Cali, growing up in
places like Texas, like I feel like when we're in
our youth and you grow up so strongly connected to
the culture and our traditions, whether it be the music,
(02:39):
the food, the holiday traditions, just the way we get
along with our families, you feel so connected to it
that that's why we claim it the way we do.
And I'm very proud that I do. Like I'm very
proud that since the beginning of even like my professional career,
like I've always wrapped two flags. But yeah, I mean,
I guess there is a difference. There definitely is a difference. Yeah,
(02:59):
I mean there is, and I get it. I'm so
proud of my Mexican culture, but when I go to Mexico,
they're like, you know, I'm so boa with my Spanish,
like I don't speak perfectly. They're always making fun of me,
and so I always feel like there's, you know, this
identity crisis, like we straddled the hyphen between Mexican American,
like we are both things at the same time. Do
(03:22):
you feel that way, I'm so happy to read this
up because lately I've been reflecting a lot post therapy
sessions about just how threaded throughout a lot of my
life experiences. Is that like two hundred percent like experience
that I've had, you know what I mean? Like, how
does it change my the way I exist in a room,
(03:45):
the fact that I'm not only a young woman, but
I'm a young Latina woman. You know that I can
understand and speak two languages and things like that. And
I feel like what it comes down to is almost
like you know what like code switching is like when
people talk about like how you code switch to like
assimilate to a culture, to an environment. I remember growing
(04:05):
up even hearing my parents when they would get on
like the phone, you know, the way my dad would
talk with my theals or the way my mom would
talk with my THEAZ would be very different than like
when they were making a doctor's appointment, like hi, my
name is Alajandra Gomez. And then when she was like
with her brimas, it was like spanglish and it was
like different, you know, And so I never understood that
that was like code switching, And I feel like what
(04:26):
happens for us second generation young individuals. It's a dual
code switch that we do out of survival to survive
both sides. So I've, you know, had to assimilate to
American culture to survive it, because I've experienced in my
family discrimination living in America. Been called you people go
back to where you came from, and I'm like, this
(04:46):
is where I came from. And then you go to
Mexico and you have to also assimilate to the culture
there to connect to really have people see you and
understand that you're trying your best and that this is
real for you and that it's authentic for you. I've
code switched my whole life. And I remember moving to
Hollywood and I didn't have an accent, so I would
go out for Latin roles and they were like, oh,
(05:08):
but could you do it with an accent? And I
was like, oh, I don't know how to do that.
And then I would go for Spanish roles and they say, oh,
speak Spanish, and I didn't speak Spanish, Like you grew
up speaking Spanish and you sound so beautiful when you
speak Spanish. I learned Spanish later in life, and now
I'm married to Mexican and I live in Mexico City,
so for me it's it's easier. But growing up, man,
(05:31):
that was hard. What do you feel about fellow Latinos
who criticized Latinos who don't speak Spanish. Oh, it's for me,
it's heartbreaking, because I think there's so much to being
connected to your Latino dad than just the language. I
think it's a very important part of our culture, absolutely,
But I also feel like to to lessen our children
(05:54):
because like I would want my kids, you know, one
day to be able to speak and understand both languages.
There's been a lot of times in my life where
I feel like I've been able to help a lot
of people because I can understand and speak in both
languages as best as I know how to, and so
it's been a huge blessing for me. But I also,
you know, I have so many of my cousins, some
of my siblings, my my brother Alejandro, who was diagnosed
(06:16):
with autism right before he turned two years old, who
just genuinely just can't but he understands it well and
it's very sweet. It's it's a very like endearing thing
to witness him communicate with my Auritos because they understand
each other, even though he'll speak to them in English
and they'll speak to him in Spanish. But like, it
shouldn't lessen the blood that runs through our veins. I
(06:37):
don't think it changes the history of our last names,
you know. And I think we should be encouraging our second, third,
fourth generations to really embrace the culture and feel welcome
to it, because if we started inviting them in the
ways that I wish I would have been earlier on
in my life in the industry, I think we'd be
a little bit more excited about it versus discouraged. Do
(07:00):
you know? I agree with you. That's the beauty of
being Latino and Latina is like we're so diverse and beautiful,
and we're so many colors, and we're so many accents
and dialects, and nobody can tell you if you're Mexican
enough except you, and so I agree with that. I
think we should be more welcoming and inclusive. But that's
(07:21):
why I think music is a beautiful way into a culture.
Like what what music did you grow up with? And
is that the music you create today? Girl? Everything? So
my parents, they were high school sweethearts when when they
decided to get married and have a family. And my
mom was eighteen, my dad was nineteen, so there were
(07:43):
babies having babies, and I grew up with them like
I'm I'm the firstborn. I'm the eldest of four kids.
It's me and then my brother Frankie, my brother Alex,
and my sister Stephanie, and my mom. By the time
she was my age, she already had all four of us,
so we were all back to back and I could
up with young parents who played everything, Like everything my
(08:03):
mom listened to. I listened to, like I loved watching
and Living Color because my mom loved, you know, and
Living color. So it was like nineties R and B,
nineties hip hop, and then like all Spanish music, every
genre you name it, not just regional Mexican music. It
was also like cumbias, reggaeton, and so for me, it
(08:25):
was just like I just resonated with music in general.
And I think it kind of explains why I consider
myself now like a genre list artist, like I kind
of just dabble in everything because as an artist, my
musical inspirations come from so many different places. You know,
has your Mexican American nous ever limited? You with your
(08:50):
career as far as like what you chose to saying
because I heard you saying, Actually, I've heard you sing Rancha,
I've heard you sing top, I've heard you know you've
done collapse with Lumbians and Brazilians and like you're just
you can do all. But like, do you feel like
your Mexican American nous has ever been a detriment or
probably a superpower? Yeah, you know, I think for me,
(09:14):
I feel like it's been more of a blessing than
a curse. I think the only downside to it is
that the industry that we work in sometimes isn't and
was never made with us in mind, you know, so
we have to like be put in this box and
we have to like be more what's the word digestible,
I guess for like someone who doesn't look at things
(09:37):
that can be multi layered with the attention span that
it deserves, especially today. The only downside was, like there
came a time after I was assigned artist where I
kind of felt like I had to just kind of
make myself a little bit more simple, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah,
like you can't be complex or have layers m hmm.
(09:57):
And it didn't really do what I had to offer
as an artists like justice, you know, and I think
that a lot of our youth feels that way. I
mean you even look at our our school systems and
in the way that public education, you know, for me,
at least experiencing it in l a like very one
size fits all and so um for me as an artist,
I think there came a time where, for reasons beyond
my control, I was kind of tied to his sinking
(10:18):
ship and I felt like, I'm going to conquer my
biggest fear and I'm gonna pursue Spanish music professionally. I
had always sing it at home, but I had the
fear of doing it professionally because well, I thought, like,
for sure, I'm going to have you know, messm we
excited moment and doing press and promo and I don't
want them, yes exactly, and I was like, and I don't.
(10:40):
My fear was that, either don't make fun of me
because I'm going to be one of those American artists
who claims she's Latina and needs a translator next to her,
or I'm going to try and I'm gonna die trying
because they're gonna tear me me apart, you know. But
you know what, that's such a real thing because when
I was, when I was, back back in the day,
was a big deal, Becky, back in the day, when
(11:02):
I was and I didn't and I didn't speak Spanish,
I wouldn't do Spanish interviews. I would never do a nivison.
I was like, oh my god, no, like put no,
I'm not doing because I was terrified of that, like
that I would be criticized of not being good enough.
Now I go on and I make the mistakes and
(11:23):
I'm like, I have the we excited moment all the time,
and they embrace me more for it because now I'm like,
I speak Spanish and like the percent I don't know,
I just say the word in English. You know. We're
almost twenty percent of the American population Latinos, and of
that almost of Latinos in the United States are Mexican Americans.
(11:45):
And so we're not alone, Like, We're not the only
people that are feeling this, And there are so many
brands out there now that are catering to this dichotomy
that we live, which is I think you and I
spoke about for like, is a really cool brand and
I love that, you know, puts like I am Chingona,
like not your sowing on, It's like I am Chingana
(12:06):
and they do this English and and and it's like
now a badge of pride of like I'm going to
use the words and reclaim it the way I want.
And I think it's beautiful. Yeah, I love it. I'm
I'm so happy with where we are headed. Mm hm
m hm. And also, you have this amazing beauty brand.
(12:28):
You're so aspirational not only to young Latinas but to
so many young girls everywhere. Like your content and your
brand and everything you stand for is so positive and
so beautiful. Have you felt a responsibility to like service
both markets? Oh my god. First of all, thank you
so much for what you just said, because that means
(12:49):
the absolute world to me coming from yourself, especially because
I think that one thing that I was really observant
of as a young young lady working in the industry
was looking to other Latina women that were stepping outside
of the boxes that we were constantly put in and
(13:11):
showing that we don't want to just be the Latina
face to a brand. We also should be showing that
we can be the founders the creators, the owners, that
we can have a seat at the table when it
comes to the business that's being done around our community,
because then that allows us to take all that responsibility
saying now we're going to hire more of us, We're
(13:32):
going to create more opportunity. And that's why I created
because for me, it was a way to authentically represent
what being Latina means to me in the beauty space,
but not just for me. Also, it be like an
invitation to those outside of our community to learn more
about us, that we're not all the same, that we
(13:54):
don't all identify the same, we don't all speak the same,
we all come from very different places. Even within the
Latin X culture, there are so many other cultures within that,
you know, different dialects, different accents. My boyfriend says bombia
in Spain. It's the same thing, you know, or even
(14:17):
that's what it is. Yeah, sorry, is I got to
confuse my venezuel and friends. No, but look, I mean
there's so many words for one straw, yeah, for the
same object, but we all call it something different. And
I think that that, to me is what makes us
so beautiful and so rich and with so much to
offer in the beauty space that, especially in the States,
had it really been represented well. For me, with said,
(14:40):
there's a reason why I didn't name it like Becky
G Cosmetics, because I've always said, and I've always felt,
as the founder and creator of the brand, that it's
not about me, it's about we. It's about creating a
vessel in the beauty space that will break down those
barriers and say we should be collaborating within our own
community to show people that it's not this or that
(15:01):
it's this, and that we're a package deal. All of
our palettes are done in collaboration with Latin X artists
from different countries. Our first one, of course, was from Mexico,
but we've we've collaborated with Dominican artists. We have one
with an artist from Brazil coming up. The Brazil was
really special. Actually, my friend Anita told me. I remember
we had a very deep conversation, but I remember her
(15:22):
telling me she's like, we in Brazil, like I didn't
identify with being Latino because Brazilian culture was so unique
and so strong in its own ways that wasn't represented
ever anywhere else besides Brazil. And I'm like, well, that's
crazy to me like, let's chant like you got it,
You're changing that, Like how can I help in that?
You know? So I'm excited about some of the collaborations
(15:43):
we have because I think we're all deserving of that
representation in those opportunities. I agree, But you know what,
you You're doing it so beautifully with your makeup brand
and with everything you do because you do it from
a place of authenticity. And there in lies the intersection,
which is I'm authentically mat again and I'm authentically American,
like I don't know how else to be, And so
(16:05):
I think that's why you're executing it so well. What
is the connection you want people to have with music
or the connection through your music? M M. I think
for me, like when I think of music, and I
was able to reflect on that during the pandemic, which
is like, it's not just the music that I love
about what I do, it's the connection with our people
(16:26):
and like people in general. That's why I like I
started my film and TV production company because the storytelling
that I really love, and those are the things that
I think for me, like when I create music is
to take people somewhere and to like draw those feelings
out of them. You as an entrepreneur excites me because
(16:49):
Latinas are the number one growing segment of entrepreneurs and
small businesses. We start small businesses six times a national average.
And you know, it's something I'm super proud of and
I love to support and I love that, you know,
when you do something from the heart and with purpose,
like you're not making making makeup to make money, like
(17:11):
you're like, no, my god, let's include artists. Oh my gosh,
let's empower some other businesses. I think that's when you
find success is because it has a purpose beyond this,
you know, let's make money. It's so much deeper than that.
It's so much deeper. And I think it's also like
it's part of our evolution, I think as Latina women
(17:32):
and women in general too in America. I think, you know,
for so long we had to depend on the man,
whether it be by a home, to seek alone, to
have a family, have a credit card, you have a
credit all. There's so many things that when you look
back at our histories, it's it's kind of wild. And
also like, you know, just the way that machies more
(17:56):
exists in our culture, even how toxic it's been for
our men to experience it, and then the women deal
with the result of how toxic that is for our
men to grow up and you know, a man that
doesn't cry, a man that's supposed to be living their
life a percent in ego all the time, because that's
what a real man is. I think women almost had
to start to embrace their own masculine energies to be
(18:19):
able to do these things for themselves, to be able
to be the hunter, to be able to be the
creator of opportunity. And so there's like this really amazing
shift that I'm seeing and like us letting o women
where we're recognizing, like, wow, we do so much for
everyone around us. Imagine if we put just a little
bit of that energy towards ourselves and our dreams and
(18:42):
our hopes and wishes, like we could take on the world.
And we are now like we're starting to understand that
part of our culture taught us we had to be
the caterers. We had to be the ones that were
catering to our men, to our children. I could be
all of that and more, Like why do I have
to be, you know, confined to just the specific roles. Yeah,
And I think that that for me is the most
(19:04):
exciting thing. And then you know it's interesting, Like I've
been with my boyfriend for six years and you know,
he's a professional athlete and sometimes I'm in my masculine
energy a lot, like a lot in my business. But
the way he receives that, the way he encourages that
and supports that is like also very hard to come
by because he's Latino, Like a lot of Latino men
(19:25):
sometimes though I don't know, they have to have they
have to have a grid to really like c know, yeah,
I know, my husband's the same way. I've never met
a man, much less a Mexican man that really embraced
my dreams and was like, oh my god, you should
(19:45):
go do more. You should go be more, like go
be your best, go fucking rule the world, Like not,
why do you have to work again? Why are you
in Spain for five months? Why do you have to leave?
Like somebody who supports your dreams and somebody who understands that,
you know, Hey, we're in this together. Your dreams are
my dreams, and we're going to build it. You know,
I'm gonna build it with it without you, but it'd
(20:05):
be great to build it with you. I wanted to.
I ask everybody on the show, what's a book that
they've read that they recommend, Like, oh my god, I
read this book. You've got to read this book. Oh
my god, what I'm forgetting the name of it, but
it's like how to tame your outer child. And I
(20:26):
mean as the oldest of four kids and the child
of young parents. I mean our culture on top of
that all the cultural layers that come with those experiences.
At one point in my life, very early on, when
I was nine years old, we lost our home, so
we were homeless for some time. Just like a lot
of generational trauma on top of my own personal traumas
(20:47):
that I've experienced that I think have really made me
want to seek help, and not in a way where
like our you know, our cultures taught us were like,
oh that's local, Like that's why you got to go
see a psychiatrist, Like what's wrong with you? Like, no,
seek help in the way that benefits everyone else around me,
because like a better meat allows me to be of
(21:07):
service to those that I love and care for. I
adore you. Thank you so much for coming on the
show and sharing your wisdom, your experience and your point
of view is really helpful to so many people, and
I think I think they're going to really enjoy this episode. No,
thank you so much, Thank you so much for listening.
(21:33):
I'm happy to be connected with you. Connections with Eva
Lamgoria is a production of Unbelievable entertainment in partnership with
I Hearts Michael Pura podcast Network. For more podcasts from
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or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hi, everybody, Welcome back to Connections. I'm Eva Longoria and
today we're going to talk about our connection to music
as well as our connection to our culture through music,
and I think those things are super related. I always
feel like the best way into a culture is food
and music, and you can see that in a lot
of cultural examples like K pop. Everybody's obsessed with K
(00:25):
pop and you're like, you don't even know what they're saying,
but you're like, I'm in it. I'm into it. I
love that band. And I always feel like we can
open up to new cultures through music, and today I
have the perfect person to bring these two ideas together.
So I'm so excited to welcome pop singer and actress
and overall ching Gona badass, Becky g to the show.
Becky Welcome, Hey, mama, Thank you so much. What an
(00:50):
absolute pleasure to be here sitting down hanging out with
my girl hanging out. You know, Becky and I have
a lot in common, and we overlap a lot. We're
obviously both Mexican American, we're both like proud chicanas. We
both love flaming hot Cheetos. There's a lot of connections
(01:12):
between you and I. We have so much to talk
about and I can't wait to get into it. So
please welcome back you to the show. But you tell
everybody a little bit about your background, like are you
first generation? Second generation? Yes? Okay, So growing up, I
didn't know the difference between like my grandparents, my parents,
(01:34):
and myself. To me, growing up in l A, like,
I was just Mexican. Like That's how I identified until
obviously I got a little bit older and my freemas
would come from Mexico like in the summer to like
hang out with us, and they would make fun of
me because it would ask me, you know, and I'd
be like and they'd be like, no, no it is
and I'd be like what and they're like and I'm like, uh,
(01:57):
and so I am second generation American, their generation Mexicana right,
Oh my god. I felt the same way. You know,
I'm married to a Mexican, a Mexican Mexican as my
mom says, um, guys, and I always go. When I
met my husband, I was like, oh, I'm Mexican, so
I Mexicana. And he's like, no, you're not, You're American.
(02:19):
And I was like, well, I mean it's technically I'm American,
but like right, well, and that's the thing, you know,
like growing up in places like Cali, growing up in
places like Texas, like I feel like when we're in
our youth and you grow up so strongly connected to
the culture and our traditions, whether it be the music,
(02:39):
the food, the holiday traditions, just the way we get
along with our families, you feel so connected to it
that that's why we claim it the way we do.
And I'm very proud that I do. Like I'm very
proud that since the beginning of even like my professional career,
like I've always wrapped two flags. But yeah, I mean,
I guess there is a difference. There definitely is a difference. Yeah,
(02:59):
I mean there is, and I get it. I'm so
proud of my Mexican culture, but when I go to Mexico,
they're like, you know, I'm so boa with my Spanish,
like I don't speak perfectly. They're always making fun of me,
and so I always feel like there's, you know, this
identity crisis, like we straddled the hyphen between Mexican American,
like we are both things at the same time. Do
(03:22):
you feel that way, I'm so happy to read this
up because lately I've been reflecting a lot post therapy
sessions about just how threaded throughout a lot of my
life experiences. Is that like two hundred percent like experience
that I've had, you know what I mean? Like, how
does it change my the way I exist in a room,
(03:45):
the fact that I'm not only a young woman, but
I'm a young Latina woman. You know that I can
understand and speak two languages and things like that. And
I feel like what it comes down to is almost
like you know what like code switching is like when
people talk about like how you code switch to like
assimilate to a culture, to an environment. I remember growing
(04:05):
up even hearing my parents when they would get on
like the phone, you know, the way my dad would
talk with my theals or the way my mom would
talk with my THEAZ would be very different than like
when they were making a doctor's appointment, like hi, my
name is Alajandra Gomez. And then when she was like
with her brimas, it was like spanglish and it was
like different, you know, And so I never understood that
that was like code switching, And I feel like what
(04:26):
happens for us second generation young individuals. It's a dual
code switch that we do out of survival to survive
both sides. So I've, you know, had to assimilate to
American culture to survive it, because I've experienced in my
family discrimination living in America. Been called you people go
back to where you came from, and I'm like, this
(04:46):
is where I came from. And then you go to
Mexico and you have to also assimilate to the culture
there to connect to really have people see you and
understand that you're trying your best and that this is
real for you and that it's authentic for you. I've
code switched my whole life. And I remember moving to
Hollywood and I didn't have an accent, so I would
go out for Latin roles and they were like, oh,
(05:08):
but could you do it with an accent? And I
was like, oh, I don't know how to do that.
And then I would go for Spanish roles and they say, oh,
speak Spanish, and I didn't speak Spanish, Like you grew
up speaking Spanish and you sound so beautiful when you
speak Spanish. I learned Spanish later in life, and now
I'm married to Mexican and I live in Mexico City,
so for me it's it's easier. But growing up, man,
(05:31):
that was hard. What do you feel about fellow Latinos
who criticized Latinos who don't speak Spanish. Oh, it's for me,
it's heartbreaking, because I think there's so much to being
connected to your Latino dad than just the language. I
think it's a very important part of our culture, absolutely,
But I also feel like to to lessen our children
(05:54):
because like I would want my kids, you know, one
day to be able to speak and understand both languages.
There's been a lot of times in my life where
I feel like I've been able to help a lot
of people because I can understand and speak in both
languages as best as I know how to, and so
it's been a huge blessing for me. But I also,
you know, I have so many of my cousins, some
of my siblings, my my brother Alejandro, who was diagnosed
(06:16):
with autism right before he turned two years old, who
just genuinely just can't but he understands it well and
it's very sweet. It's it's a very like endearing thing
to witness him communicate with my Auritos because they understand
each other, even though he'll speak to them in English
and they'll speak to him in Spanish. But like, it
shouldn't lessen the blood that runs through our veins. I
(06:37):
don't think it changes the history of our last names,
you know. And I think we should be encouraging our second, third,
fourth generations to really embrace the culture and feel welcome
to it, because if we started inviting them in the
ways that I wish I would have been earlier on
in my life in the industry, I think we'd be
a little bit more excited about it versus discouraged. Do
(07:00):
you know? I agree with you. That's the beauty of
being Latino and Latina is like we're so diverse and beautiful,
and we're so many colors, and we're so many accents
and dialects, and nobody can tell you if you're Mexican
enough except you, and so I agree with that. I
think we should be more welcoming and inclusive. But that's
(07:21):
why I think music is a beautiful way into a culture.
Like what what music did you grow up with? And
is that the music you create today? Girl? Everything? So
my parents, they were high school sweethearts when when they
decided to get married and have a family. And my
mom was eighteen, my dad was nineteen, so there were
(07:43):
babies having babies, and I grew up with them like
I'm I'm the firstborn. I'm the eldest of four kids.
It's me and then my brother Frankie, my brother Alex,
and my sister Stephanie, and my mom. By the time
she was my age, she already had all four of us,
so we were all back to back and I could
up with young parents who played everything, Like everything my
(08:03):
mom listened to. I listened to, like I loved watching
and Living Color because my mom loved, you know, and
Living color. So it was like nineties R and B,
nineties hip hop, and then like all Spanish music, every
genre you name it, not just regional Mexican music. It
was also like cumbias, reggaeton, and so for me, it
(08:25):
was just like I just resonated with music in general.
And I think it kind of explains why I consider
myself now like a genre list artist, like I kind
of just dabble in everything because as an artist, my
musical inspirations come from so many different places. You know,
has your Mexican American nous ever limited? You with your
(08:50):
career as far as like what you chose to saying
because I heard you saying, Actually, I've heard you sing Rancha,
I've heard you sing top, I've heard you know you've
done collapse with Lumbians and Brazilians and like you're just
you can do all. But like, do you feel like
your Mexican American nous has ever been a detriment or
probably a superpower? Yeah, you know, I think for me,
(09:14):
I feel like it's been more of a blessing than
a curse. I think the only downside to it is
that the industry that we work in sometimes isn't and
was never made with us in mind, you know, so
we have to like be put in this box and
we have to like be more what's the word digestible,
I guess for like someone who doesn't look at things
(09:37):
that can be multi layered with the attention span that
it deserves, especially today. The only downside was, like there
came a time after I was assigned artist where I
kind of felt like I had to just kind of
make myself a little bit more simple, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah,
like you can't be complex or have layers m hmm.
(09:57):
And it didn't really do what I had to offer
as an artists like justice, you know, and I think
that a lot of our youth feels that way. I
mean you even look at our our school systems and
in the way that public education, you know, for me,
at least experiencing it in l a like very one
size fits all and so um for me as an artist,
I think there came a time where, for reasons beyond
my control, I was kind of tied to his sinking
(10:18):
ship and I felt like, I'm going to conquer my
biggest fear and I'm gonna pursue Spanish music professionally. I
had always sing it at home, but I had the
fear of doing it professionally because well, I thought, like,
for sure, I'm going to have you know, messm we
excited moment and doing press and promo and I don't
want them, yes exactly, and I was like, and I don't.
(10:40):
My fear was that, either don't make fun of me
because I'm going to be one of those American artists
who claims she's Latina and needs a translator next to her,
or I'm going to try and I'm gonna die trying
because they're gonna tear me me apart, you know. But
you know what, that's such a real thing because when
I was, when I was, back back in the day,
was a big deal, Becky, back in the day, when
(11:02):
I was and I didn't and I didn't speak Spanish,
I wouldn't do Spanish interviews. I would never do a nivison.
I was like, oh my god, no, like put no,
I'm not doing because I was terrified of that, like
that I would be criticized of not being good enough.
Now I go on and I make the mistakes and
(11:23):
I'm like, I have the we excited moment all the time,
and they embrace me more for it because now I'm like,
I speak Spanish and like the percent I don't know,
I just say the word in English. You know. We're
almost twenty percent of the American population Latinos, and of
that almost of Latinos in the United States are Mexican Americans.
(11:45):
And so we're not alone, Like, We're not the only
people that are feeling this, And there are so many
brands out there now that are catering to this dichotomy
that we live, which is I think you and I
spoke about for like, is a really cool brand and
I love that, you know, puts like I am Chingona,
like not your sowing on, It's like I am Chingana
(12:06):
and they do this English and and and it's like
now a badge of pride of like I'm going to
use the words and reclaim it the way I want.
And I think it's beautiful. Yeah, I love it. I'm
I'm so happy with where we are headed. Mm hm
m hm. And also, you have this amazing beauty brand.
(12:28):
You're so aspirational not only to young Latinas but to
so many young girls everywhere. Like your content and your
brand and everything you stand for is so positive and
so beautiful. Have you felt a responsibility to like service
both markets? Oh my god. First of all, thank you
so much for what you just said, because that means
(12:49):
the absolute world to me coming from yourself, especially because
I think that one thing that I was really observant
of as a young young lady working in the industry
was looking to other Latina women that were stepping outside
of the boxes that we were constantly put in and
(13:11):
showing that we don't want to just be the Latina
face to a brand. We also should be showing that
we can be the founders the creators, the owners, that
we can have a seat at the table when it
comes to the business that's being done around our community,
because then that allows us to take all that responsibility
saying now we're going to hire more of us, We're
(13:32):
going to create more opportunity. And that's why I created
because for me, it was a way to authentically represent
what being Latina means to me in the beauty space,
but not just for me. Also, it be like an
invitation to those outside of our community to learn more
about us, that we're not all the same, that we
(13:54):
don't all identify the same, we don't all speak the same,
we all come from very different places. Even within the
Latin X culture, there are so many other cultures within that,
you know, different dialects, different accents. My boyfriend says bombia
in Spain. It's the same thing, you know, or even
(14:17):
that's what it is. Yeah, sorry, is I got to
confuse my venezuel and friends. No, but look, I mean
there's so many words for one straw, yeah, for the
same object, but we all call it something different. And
I think that that, to me is what makes us
so beautiful and so rich and with so much to
offer in the beauty space that, especially in the States,
had it really been represented well. For me, with said,
(14:40):
there's a reason why I didn't name it like Becky
G Cosmetics, because I've always said, and I've always felt,
as the founder and creator of the brand, that it's
not about me, it's about we. It's about creating a
vessel in the beauty space that will break down those
barriers and say we should be collaborating within our own
community to show people that it's not this or that
(15:01):
it's this, and that we're a package deal. All of
our palettes are done in collaboration with Latin X artists
from different countries. Our first one, of course, was from Mexico,
but we've we've collaborated with Dominican artists. We have one
with an artist from Brazil coming up. The Brazil was
really special. Actually, my friend Anita told me. I remember
we had a very deep conversation, but I remember her
(15:22):
telling me she's like, we in Brazil, like I didn't
identify with being Latino because Brazilian culture was so unique
and so strong in its own ways that wasn't represented
ever anywhere else besides Brazil. And I'm like, well, that's
crazy to me like, let's chant like you got it,
You're changing that, Like how can I help in that?
You know? So I'm excited about some of the collaborations
(15:43):
we have because I think we're all deserving of that
representation in those opportunities. I agree, But you know what,
you You're doing it so beautifully with your makeup brand
and with everything you do because you do it from
a place of authenticity. And there in lies the intersection,
which is I'm authentically mat again and I'm authentically American,
like I don't know how else to be, And so
(16:05):
I think that's why you're executing it so well. What
is the connection you want people to have with music
or the connection through your music? M M. I think
for me, like when I think of music, and I
was able to reflect on that during the pandemic, which
is like, it's not just the music that I love
about what I do, it's the connection with our people
(16:26):
and like people in general. That's why I like I
started my film and TV production company because the storytelling
that I really love, and those are the things that
I think for me, like when I create music is
to take people somewhere and to like draw those feelings
out of them. You as an entrepreneur excites me because
(16:49):
Latinas are the number one growing segment of entrepreneurs and
small businesses. We start small businesses six times a national average.
And you know, it's something I'm super proud of and
I love to support and I love that, you know,
when you do something from the heart and with purpose,
like you're not making making makeup to make money, like
(17:11):
you're like, no, my god, let's include artists. Oh my gosh,
let's empower some other businesses. I think that's when you
find success is because it has a purpose beyond this,
you know, let's make money. It's so much deeper than that.
It's so much deeper. And I think it's also like
it's part of our evolution, I think as Latina women
(17:32):
and women in general too in America. I think, you know,
for so long we had to depend on the man,
whether it be by a home, to seek alone, to
have a family, have a credit card, you have a
credit all. There's so many things that when you look
back at our histories, it's it's kind of wild. And
also like, you know, just the way that machies more
(17:56):
exists in our culture, even how toxic it's been for
our men to experience it, and then the women deal
with the result of how toxic that is for our
men to grow up and you know, a man that
doesn't cry, a man that's supposed to be living their
life a percent in ego all the time, because that's
what a real man is. I think women almost had
to start to embrace their own masculine energies to be
(18:19):
able to do these things for themselves, to be able
to be the hunter, to be able to be the
creator of opportunity. And so there's like this really amazing
shift that I'm seeing and like us letting o women
where we're recognizing, like, wow, we do so much for
everyone around us. Imagine if we put just a little
bit of that energy towards ourselves and our dreams and
(18:42):
our hopes and wishes, like we could take on the world.
And we are now like we're starting to understand that
part of our culture taught us we had to be
the caterers. We had to be the ones that were
catering to our men, to our children. I could be
all of that and more, Like why do I have
to be, you know, confined to just the specific roles. Yeah,
And I think that that for me is the most
(19:04):
exciting thing. And then you know it's interesting, Like I've
been with my boyfriend for six years and you know,
he's a professional athlete and sometimes I'm in my masculine
energy a lot, like a lot in my business. But
the way he receives that, the way he encourages that
and supports that is like also very hard to come
by because he's Latino, Like a lot of Latino men
(19:25):
sometimes though I don't know, they have to have they
have to have a grid to really like c know, yeah,
I know, my husband's the same way. I've never met
a man, much less a Mexican man that really embraced
my dreams and was like, oh my god, you should
(19:45):
go do more. You should go be more, like go
be your best, go fucking rule the world, Like not,
why do you have to work again? Why are you
in Spain for five months? Why do you have to leave?
Like somebody who supports your dreams and somebody who understands that,
you know, Hey, we're in this together. Your dreams are
my dreams, and we're going to build it. You know,
I'm gonna build it with it without you, but it'd
(20:05):
be great to build it with you. I wanted to.
I ask everybody on the show, what's a book that
they've read that they recommend, Like, oh my god, I
read this book. You've got to read this book. Oh
my god, what I'm forgetting the name of it, but
it's like how to tame your outer child. And I
(20:26):
mean as the oldest of four kids and the child
of young parents. I mean our culture on top of
that all the cultural layers that come with those experiences.
At one point in my life, very early on, when
I was nine years old, we lost our home, so
we were homeless for some time. Just like a lot
of generational trauma on top of my own personal traumas
(20:47):
that I've experienced that I think have really made me
want to seek help, and not in a way where
like our you know, our cultures taught us were like,
oh that's local, Like that's why you got to go
see a psychiatrist, Like what's wrong with you? Like, no,
seek help in the way that benefits everyone else around me,
because like a better meat allows me to be of
(21:07):
service to those that I love and care for. I
adore you. Thank you so much for coming on the
show and sharing your wisdom, your experience and your point
of view is really helpful to so many people, and
I think I think they're going to really enjoy this episode. No,
thank you so much, Thank you so much for listening.
(21:33):
I'm happy to be connected with you. Connections with Eva
Lamgoria is a production of Unbelievable entertainment in partnership with
I Hearts Michael Pura podcast Network. For more podcasts from
my Heart, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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