The fact that Gomez has claimed that Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Lopez are two of her biggest influences is indicative of two of the key facts you should know about her. One, that she aims to emulate other major pop stars with Latin roots of the past decade or so; and two, that despite occasional forays into hip hop in the way that she delivers her own brand of pop, she’s by no means a conventional rapper. That’s not to say that she had an upbringing that was incompatible with typical hip hop rags-to-riches stories, though; her childhood in Los Angeles was marked with financial difficulty.
She got her break, as with so many young pop stars of the digital age, through her YouTube channel. In particular, a take on the Watch the Throne track ‘Otis’ caught the attention of revered producer Dr. Luke, who snapped her up for his Kemosabe Records label. She’s gone on to high-profile guest spots on tracks like ‘Oath’ by Cher Lloyd and ‘Problem’ by will.i.am, and released a remix of her hero Lopez’s ‘Jenny from the Block’, titled ‘Baby from the Block’. She has also toured with Katy Perry. Her debut album is entitled ‘Shower’.
Move over Selena, there’s a new Gomez in town. Though equally baby-faced, the young Becky G (real name Rebecca Marie Gomez) is far more cool, fresh and oozing with raw talent than her pop princess counterpart. Singer, rapper, dancer: Becky G has it all. First discovered through YouTube, she has since written a number of smash hits for other current, young recording artists, as well as some of her own music. The most refreshing thing about Becky G is that, unlike every other preteen pop star making their way out of the factory, she is REAL. Real talent, song-writing abilities and real drive to be the best she can be. I was lucky enough to see Becky G perform at a Katy Perry concert as the opening act. Relatively anonymous at the time, she took to the stage as if she had been born there. Prancing and dancing around the stage, she captivated the entire crowd and had us all chanting ‘singing in the shower’ as if it were already a number one hit. As well as hip-hop hit ‘Shower’, other hot hits include ‘Can’t get enough’ featuring Pitbull and ‘Play it again’. Refreshingly hip, this young rap-pop star is a definite star to be.