walking upstream…
Becky G
Rebbeca Marie Gomez grew up in Inglewood, California, in a working-class Mexican-American family, and started posting YouTube covers as a preteen before signing with Dr. Luke's Kemosabe Records around 2011. She broke through in English-language pop with 2014's 'Shower,' then pivoted decisively toward Spanish-language music, scoring reggaeton and Latin-pop hits like 'Mayores' and 'Sin Pijama' before returning to her family's regional-Mexican roots on the mariachi- and corrido-steeped album 'Esquinas.' Her career has tracked the mainstreaming of bilingual Latina pop, moving between Anglo pop, urbano, and musica mexicana.
the sound in question
2017
MayoresBecky G
walk the tributaries ↓
Jenni Rivera2000s · Banda / Regional Mexican / Corrido
Becky G has spoken often about growing up on Jenni Rivera's albums, her mother's favorite, and has framed her regional-Mexican album 'Esquinas' as an homage to that upbringing, drawing on the corridos, boleros, and mariachi she associates with family gatherings. Rivera's model of the unapologetic, emotionally direct Mexican-American woman singing over traditional arrangements runs straight through Becky G's Spanish-language balladry.
listen: upstream & heresource: Billboard ↗
2009
La Gran SenoraJenni Rivera
2023
Por El ContrarioBecky G
listen forCue Rivera's banda-backed 'La Gran Senora' next to Becky G's mariachi lament 'Por El Contrario' — hear the same posture of a wronged woman answering back with dignity, the vocal leaning into the ache rather than smoothing it over.
Daddy Yankee2000s · Reggaeton / Latin hip hop
Becky G's biggest Spanish-language hits sit squarely in the reggaeton and urbano lane that Daddy Yankee did more than anyone to push into the global mainstream, and she has discussed embracing reggaeton as a Mexican-American artist entering a genre with Puerto Rican and Panamanian roots. The dembow rhythm, call-and-response hooks, and club-ready swagger of tracks like 'Mayores' and 'Sin Pijama' descend from the template 'Gasolina' set.
listen: upstream & here
2004
GasolinaDaddy Yankee
2018
Sin PijamaBecky G
listen forDrop 'Gasolina' and then 'Sin Pijama' — the same insistent dembow bounce and shouted, singalong hook, with Becky G and Natti Natasha flipping the come-on into a woman's-eye-view flex.
Selena Quintanilla1990s · Tejano / Cumbia / Latin pop
Becky G has repeatedly named Selena as a foundational influence, crediting her, along with Jennifer Lopez and Jenni Rivera, with the lesson that a U.S.-born artist could sing in Spanish and still claim her Latina identity. Like Selena, Becky G built a bilingual career that pairs an English-language pop crossover with Spanish-language material rooted in Mexican-American culture.
listen: upstream & here
1995
Dreaming of YouSelena Quintanilla
2014
ShowerBecky G
listen forPlay Selena's English-language crossover single 'Dreaming of You' right before Becky G's 'Shower' — both are a young Latina's glossy, radio-aimed bid for the Anglo-pop mainstream, sung in bright, unguarded English over airy, romantic production.