Becky G is doing big things: at 18 years old, the “Shower” singer, rapper, songwriter and actress is an international star. She has been a COVERGIRL spokeswoman since 2013, alongside Pink, Katy Perry and Ellen DeGeneres, and is involved in the brand’s #GirlsCan movement to empower women. She’s also a level-headed, inspiring and straight-up cool girl who we were lucky enough to interview—here’s what Becky had to say about the key to her success, her upcoming role on Empire, the #GirlsCan campaign and more!
Her Campus: The #GirlsCan movement is amazing and super necessary. Why is it so important to you personally?
Becky G: It’s really important to me for many reasons. I grew up having a dream and I wanted to go for that, you know? And I just feel like with this #GirlsCan video, it really shares my story and shares how I got to where I am today and how, like I said myself, I’m just getting started. But I’m all about female empowerment and also acknowledging the fact that we are capable of doing anything we want to do.
HC: And you definitely show that with everything you’ve done! What do you think is one of the most powerful messages that the #GirlsCan campaign sends to young women?
BG: That it doesn’t matter where you come from and what it is that you want to do; you’re capable of doing it. Then the most important thing really is to believe in yourself and to not listen to what statistics say or what other people might say.
HC: And it seems like you always believed in yourself.
BG: Oh definitely! I mean, part of it has to do with the people I’ve surrounded myself with. It’s all about family. My family definitely gives me strength, because obviously, especially with the career choice that I went with, it’s not easy. It’s only human to have moments of, “Am I really gonna do this? Can I do this?” And I think a part of that is surrounding yourself with really incredible people who reassure you that you’re capable of doing anything.
HC: Absolutely! You talked about your family, but do any friends or producers or anyone come to mind?
BG: Yeah, of course, I mean there’s many people. There’s the Dr. Luke camp—Dr. Luke himself has really taken the time to take me under his wing and teach me things, and the same with the Jam. They’re the people that I was working with when I was 13 years old and they really helped me develop myself as a songwriter, as an artist and as a rapper. They’re part of the reason why I got signed, you know, I made the covers that got me signed with them.
HC: On a more personal level, what limitations have you faced and overcome as a woman and a Latina?
BG: Nobody’s road is gonna be blissful; I think it’s all trial and error, again with what I chose to pursue in my life. It’s hard, it definitely is, it’s really time consuming and it’s physically and emotionally and mentally draining in every way possible. I think the thing that I struggle with most—I don’t know if it’s because I’m becoming an adult—is that there’s not enough time in the world to get everything done, you know what I mean? I think I’ve struggled the most with balancing everything.
HC: What’s your advice to girls who doubt their potential?
BG: Be patient with yourself. That’s one thing that I’ve learned. Especially because you’re figuring out who you are, what you want to do with your life, and that can be a lot. And like I said, life is trial and error; you have to go through things and learn from them and kind of take inspiration from that and apply them to other things.
HC: I think that’s amazing advice. On a completely different note, as a COVERGIRL, what are some of your go-to beauty products?
BG: I’m all about the eyes. I love, love, love eyeliner and big lashes right now. I’m really into the Clump Crusher mascara, it’s always been one of my ultimate favorites. And then what I use every single day is the Ink It! Eyeliner and the Exact eyeliner.
HC: Do you have any life-changing beauty tricks you want to share?
BG: When it comes to makeup, I think the most important thing is to take chances. Practice at home. Practice makes perfect! I’m always doing my makeup at home even when I’m not doing anything. If there’s a new style or something, I always give it a shot, just to see if it works for me. And also, when it comes to hair, my fans always ask me, “What do you for your hair? You have so much hair and it’s so pretty!” It actually has nothing to do with any product or anything; it just has to do with the temperature water that I shower in. I usually take really, really, really hot showers, but before I get out of the shower, I rinse in really cold water and that’s so good for your hair because it kind of locks it in for the frizz, so there’s no frizz and it makes it shinier.
HC: Oh, that’s amazing. Thank you, that is life-changing! This is completely unrelated, but you just landed a role on Empire, so congrats! Is there anything you want to say about that?
BG: It’s exciting! It’s so crazy for me. I’ve been going back and forth filming in Chicago and it’s been nothing but an amazing experience. I mean the entire cast was so welcoming, so polite and just fun to be around. And for me, it was my first real acting experience and working with people like Terrence [Howard, who plays Lucious] and Taraji [Henson, who plays Cookie], it was just like, “Wow, I can’t believe this is really happening!”
HC: So what project are you most excited about right now, since you’re doing so many things?
BG: I’m going on tour, at least to Canada on Wednesday, and I’m so excited! It’s going to be really, really fun. It’s my very first headlining tour, so that’s going to be very exciting and I’m looking forward to it, it’s going to be great!
Want more from Becky? Check out her #GirlsCan story below!