Becky G on the Importance of Voting in the Upcoming Election (Exclusive)
Becky G has refocused her energy from Latin superstar to helping the community amid the coronavirus pandemic and racial injustices happening all across the nation. Since quarantine, the 23-year-old triple threat has dedicated her platform to causes and topics that are close to her heart. She's also urging people to use their voice and head to the polls in November.
"Get out and vote! Get out and vote! I know that it's a very scary time but one of the biggest things that we can do right now is to exercise that right that we do have to go and vote," Becky tells ET’s Deidre Behar. "I know sometimes it feels like the system is made for more people to fail than it has to succeed, but this is the one thing we got right now where we can really all come together. So really prepare yourself for what that ballot is going to look like, so that you're making the best decisions that you possibly can make, for not just yourself but for your loved ones and for others in your community."
"The idea of helping the whole world sometimes is a little overwhelming," she notes, encouraging all to "plant that seed." "That seed we're planting is going to come with voting. I'll be out there, my family is going to be out there and it's important," she says.
Becoming an advocate for equality came easy to Becky, who realized that there were more important issues to talk about than her music at this time.
"It's a very, very hard thing as an artist when everything you're used to is based around you. It's me, me, me, me, me, and then all of a sudden it's like, 'OK, don't talk about you. Let's talk about more important things,'" she relays. "And that for me was just such an easy transition because I'm such a little, like, empath baby. Sometimes too much for my own good where I'm literally like, siento que me voy a ahogar. I feel like I'm going to drown and all of my emotions become a lot to handle."
Aside from voting in the upcoming election, other issues that are Becky's "focus at the moment," include the Black Lives Matter movement and the killing of Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier who authorities believe was murdered in April inside a Fort Hood, Texas, armory by another enlisted soldier.
"I don't want people in these times…to see me as Becky G 'the artist,' doing these things because she has to or to look good or save face," she expresses. "No, I'm just a human being who wants to be good to others because that's how we should all be acting right now in these times."
While she's beautifully stepped into her role as an outspoken activist, she also recently took to Instagram to shine a light on the importance of therapy and mental health.
"One of the biggest things I've learned is that in order to help others, you've got to be able to help yourself first," the "Green Light Go" singer shares. "I went through a long period of my life where I was pouring from an empty cup, and I would [get angrier] with myself or more frustrated with myself. When you finally, officially, get diagnosed with depression, when you finally understand, 'OK, having a panic attack once every week is just not healthy, I got to do something about this.' I think it takes a lot of courage to break generational cycles of what is that taboo-ness around mental health."
"Growing up as a Mexican American, those Mexican roots are coming through and you're just like, 'Aw, you're sad? Here's some tequila. Aw, you're sad? Sleep it off. You're sad? You'll get over it, eat some food.' And it's like, I'm doing all of that and I'm not feeling any better actually," she admits. "I needed the proper tools, the proper coping mechanisms to get through what it is that I'm experiencing -- and that for me was therapy."
Amidst it all, Becky is still finding time for her passion projects, like her new eyewear collaboration with Dime Options, which is available now.
"This Dime x Becky G eyewear collab is literally the first one I've ever done," she says. "So I'm excited about that because I feel like it is a huge part of my style, my self-expression as an artist and it was such a fun process to create it even from a distance, really."
For more on Becky G, watch below.
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