It’s late June in Barcelona and the day is boiling hot. Yet thousands of people keep pouring through the entry point of SHARE festival, excited to see local pop and rap stars, plus one special guest from the US. The day marks the official start of Becky G’s first-ever Spanish tour.

“Most of the time that I’ve been here, it has been for promo, doing talk shows and radio shows and stuff like that. So this is completely different. I’m solely focused on performing,” the 22-year-old California native says, sitting on a pop-up backstage inside a swanky mansion-like building. An hour later she will come on stage in a hot pink bodysuit, assisted by a whole team of dancers and blasting one banger after another, including her stomping collaboration with David Guetta and Sean Paul, “Mad Love,” and recent duet with Maluma, “La Respuesta.”

Becky G’s career path has been anything but ordinary. In 2011, she was discovered as a teenager rapper by (now considered problematic) mega-producer Dr. Luke via her covers on YouTube, where she eventually turned “Jenny From the Block” into “Becky From the Block.” As a rising pop star, she released a string of slick singles, including her 2014 hit, “Shower” (which is nowhere to be heard in her current set list, FYI). She also appeared in several movies and TV shows, including big screen revival of Power Rangers and the hip-hop soap opera Empire.

But it seems like she finally found her true calling circa 2017 as a sultry yet playful Latin pop chanteuse known for equally suggestive and catchy songs, such as “Mayores” (2017), “Sin Pijama” (2018) and “Booty” (2018). Such demands to give her “something bigger” and a promise to sleep pajama-less quickly turned Becky G into one of the most prominent forces on the current Latin/Spanish music landscape.

Steamy videos for these hits required Becky to reveal much more than her singing chops, so does she feel the pressure to look a certain way? “Lots of French fries, pizza… just kidding,” the singer offers, smiling. “To be honest, it’s so funny, ‘cause a lot of the other women in my family are much more curvy and voluptuous. And I’m a petite, just a miniature, tiny-tiny girl. I just try to stay lean so that everything looks proportionate."

She’s much more concerned about her mental health and explains that she relies on various apps to stay grounded with her hectic pop star lifestyle. “I have an app for sleep meditation. It has sound waves that send neuro waves to the brain and signals it like, ‘Okay, it’s time to come down now.’ I have another app that is a speak-through meditation: it guides you through meditation. But it’s still hard. I think you’re constantly trying to find a balance when you do what I do. You never really find the right answer. You just try to find what works for you in the moment. So I’m always open. If you have any tips, hit me up!”

Given her experience in the film industry, her young age and naturally bubbly personality, it’s only logical to assume that she must be on every producer’s list for future live-action Disney movies. Does she dream of becoming a Disney princess one day? “We need a Latina princess, hello! It would be awesome. Growing up I loved Mulan, because she was not just a princess, she was a warrior. And I loved that, I was obsessed with her. Also, princesses Jasmine and Pocahontas.”

For now, though, she’s focused on her music: “Last year I released... I forget how many songs that I was a part of. Like 15 or 16. And this year, in just 6 months we’re gonna beat that. I have a lot more coming up.”

Surprisingly, the artist has yet to release an album. So it’s easy to understand her frustration when we touch upon this tricky subject. “I was gonna say a bad word, because I feel very strong about this. Yes, we need album! We can agree that the way people consume music is very different now and you can release singles. But you know what, I’ve been signed since I was 14 and haven’t released one album yet. Collectively with all the songs that I’ve ever released, I could’ve released already three of them. I think this year will be the year that we change that.”

Why now though? “I’m so focused on music and pushing myself and people around me to allow myself to do what I always wanted to do as an artist. I feel like I keep getting closer and closer to being the artist that I always wanted to become. I feel more confident than ever and it will hopefully result in meaningful, beautiful and exciting projects.”

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