Bilingual reggaeton artist and actress from Inglewood, Calif. Rebbeca Marie Gomez, otherwise known as Becky G, just released her new album called "ESQUINAS" on Sept. 28.
"ESQUINAS" is her third studio album following its pop-like predecessors “ESQUEMAS” and “MALA SANTA.”
"ESQUINAS" has been a passion project for Becky G for the last 3 years, and is a lot more intimate than her previous albums.
This album completely exceeded my expectations in every possible way and every song left me speechless.
The album is very much a display of how far Becky G has come since her days as “Becky from the Block,” a remake of Jennifer Lopez’s “Jenny from the Block.”
Becky G’s previous albums “ESQUEMAS” and “MALA SANTA” were both very successful and gained her widespread popularity.
Though her previous albums have some of my favorite songs such as “BAILÉ CON MI EX (I DANCED WITH MY EX)” and Gomez’s collaboration with Colombian reggaeton artist Karol G for the song “MAMIII,” "ESQUINAS" is so different from them, in a good way.
"ESQUINAS" shows her versatility in emotion and tone in her music with the album defying labels of genre.
I have felt she could construct great rhythms and lyrics to make a successful reggaeton song, but this is a new side of Becky G’s music.
It’s sadder but it's a new dimension of her as an artist to appreciate.
This album is so intimate as Becky G brings in so many aspects of her personal life to the songs, something we don’t often see from her.
In my takeaway of the album, there are 3 recurring themes.
The first has to do with Becky G’s recent break up with her fiance, Argentinian-American soccer player Sebastian Lletget, who she had been with for 7 years.
The songs, like “2NDO CHANCE” and “CRIES IN SPANISH,” where she is clearly hinting at the cheating rumors about Lletget are so passionate, emotive and probably very relatable for someone who has been in that situation.
Her songs, such as “BIEN CANIJO (Very Weak),” and “LOS ASTROS (The Stars)” sound like tugging of heart strings. She goes back and forth between still loving and missing the person, and saying the relationship is not the same anymore and that the infidelity was wrong.
This seems to confirm that Lletget was indeed unfaithful to her.
“2NDO CHANCE” is Becky G’s song with Mexican singer-songwriter Ivan Cornejo. In the song she sings, in Spanish, “I don’t know whether to say I love you or I hate you or I want to see you.”
These lyrics are the sort of tug of war between mind and heart that Becky G is trying to depict. To me it sounds like the confusion of feeling hurt, but still loving the person who hurt you.
As the song goes on, she sings about her struggle between forgiveness and allowing second chances, and feeling wronged and guarded.
Becky G’s song “BIEN CANIJO,” also carries the same emotion.
The song talks about how she and Lletget see each other differently and even kissing each other does not feel the same, “I want to be happy but I don't know if I’m happy with you. It's time for me to go with my heart broken.”
“LOS ASTROS (The Stars)” is a bachata style song, Becky G sings about a type of love written in the stars.
“It’s you, the one who can take my clothes off without touching me, the one who kisses my mouth without actually kissing me, it's clearly you.”
Then of course, she has a fun upbeat revenge song, “CUIDADITO (Be Careful),” with singer Chiquis, the daughter of iconic singer Jenni Rivera.
The song is my favorite because it is a tribute to Jenni Rivera and it sounded like a Norteño, a regional Mexican style of music.
Becky G and Chiquis sing a whole list about what to do if one gets cheated on.
“I'm not a jealous girl, but if that happens I’ll become one, I'll pop your tires, you'll sleep outside, and that same night I’ll call my mother-in-law to tell her to collect the filth that she gave birth to, I’ll key your car, break your windows and call all my friends to help me.”
I’m not saying any of these things she sang are nice but I get where she’s coming from.
The fact that she can make a catchy song out of such an eccentric message, it sounds so beautifully unhinged.
The second theme of the album is Becky G honoring her Chicana identity and roots through song covers and references.
She covers “Un Puño De Tierra” originally by Antonio Aguilar and "Por Un Amor” by Vicente Fernandez, who both were Mexican mariachi singers who have since passed away.
In the song “LOS ASTROS,” she made a reference to the popular Spanish song “Piel Canela” by Eydie Gomez and Los Panchos by singing a verse “Tu y tu…y solamente tu.”
The album has collaborations with many different Latino artists such as Ivan Cornejo, Peso Pluma, Yahritza Y Su Esencia, Chiquis Rivera, Dannylux, Leandro and Ángela Aguilar.
The third theme of the album is an homage to her grandfather Miguel Gomez who passed away. The song is called “QUERIDO ABUELO.”
My favorite part is when Gomez sings, in Spanish, “What I told you about as a little girl is now reality and I know watching from above you’re proud of me, I want you to know it’s an honor to represent your blood.”
Most of the song itself is about how Becky G misses her grandfather and how home is not the same without him.
At the end of the song she included an audio recording of her grandmother and grandfather where her grandfather tells her to never forget that she comes from humble, kind people.
I think that is what this album was really about, she gave us a magnifying glass looking into her life.
Her transparency made me love her even more than I already did and I truly believe this album is only going to strengthen her career and herself going forward.
I don’t think anyone could have done a better job at evoking this much emotion in different ways all in one album.
