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Face to Face with Becky G

"Qué pasa, mi gente? It's your girl, Becky G. Kpop is becoming mainstream worldwide, and the talents of young Korean men and women are taking the world by storm. One of the most talented Kpop idols I know, Astra is here today not only to talk about being a singer but also being a woman in the industry with a complicated life," Becky said.

[upbeat music]

A video montage of Astra plays as Becky does a voiceover on Astra's character and career.

"Welcome!" Becky said.

"Hey!" I said.

"How are you, pretty girl? I haven't seen you in like forever," Becky said.

"I'm so good. It's good to see you; it's been like three years since we've seen each other face to face," I said.

"Them FaceTime calls ain't cutting it anymore; I missed your hugs; you give the best hugs," Becky said.

I smiled.

"You just love it," I said.

"I do, but I have to let it be known that I have been a fan of yours since you sang back up for Raven Symone, and you were so young with this powerful voice. Ever since then, I've been following your career, and I'm glad to see you finally getting the acknowledgment that you deserve and congratulations on your six Grammys nominations," Becky said.

"Thank you, babe; I'm honestly happy with how everything is going for me, and I know we talk about this all the time, but the journey, the grind was worth it, and here we are!" I said.

"Where did your love for music come from?" Becky asked me.

"My grandpa," I answered.

"Okay," Becky said.

"Yeah, he played so many genres of music around me growing up that I just fell in love, then he would take me to concerts with him; like I was Mary J Blidge's concerts singing my little heart out while people would stare at me like 'who let this child in here?' Grandpa is the source of my love of music," I explained to Becky.

"I can see that your grandpa is the liveliest person I know, and he's always down to have a good time," Becky said.

"That's where I get it from; I think when I'm in performing on stage, I channel my grandpa because he has that energy," I said.

"A lot of people don't know about your mixed background; how is that possible?" Becky asked.

"My market is in South Korea, so I had to emphasize the importance of me being Korean to sell my music but as I got older I realized that I was hurting myself and my heritage by not saying hey I'm Cape Verdean, and Korean," I answered.

"And you're Cape Verdean on your maternal side," Becky said.

"Yes, I know people may not know where Cape Verde is on the map or its history but Cape Verde is an island group off the African coast with a history of slavery. Many people on that island have both European and African ancestors, like my grandmother; she has African and Portuguese ancestry and considers herself a mixed person. She raised me with the knowledge of being Cape Verdean and Korean," I said.

"Wow, so you just had to put that part of you on a shelf to appeal to your audience," Becky said.

"Yup, but as I grow as an artist, I met beautiful people in the industry who were having or had the same identity crisis, and they helped me understand and appreciate my mixed roots, and because of that, I'm happy with my career now because I'm being myself and not hiding half of me anymore," I said.

"That's beautiful," Becky said.