November 3, 2021 • 28 mins
Latin Music superstars Becky G and Anitta come to the table to discuss their rise to fame from humble origins, combatting gender stereotypes with their music, their struggles and successes in the industry, and their visions for the future in music and business.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
B Benito's me and Gloria Stefan. Here you are listening
to Red Table Talk via Stephans Podcast, all your favorite
episodes from our Facebook watch show in audio. I'm not
a role model, I'm a real model. Superstars Anita and
Becky G. Do you want to say I love to
have sex? And I'm gonna say I love to have sex?
(00:21):
Are leaving it all on the table. People are like
judging me. Oh my god. This is grow how they're
changing the game. I tried upset women free. I don't
want to just be the Latina face that checks a box.
I want a moment in history. Let's talk about it. Today.
(00:41):
We gotta dance down. Yes and today it's gotta be
like like you always have always. Today is all about
the grow power. Here at the Red Table, real life
friends Becky G and Anita are here to get real
about the transformative power of sist your hood. Yes in
(01:02):
the Sun comes into Savanna comes in with billions of
streams and millions of followers. Becky G and Anita rule
the Latin music charts. I'm a boss. You're gonna do
what I say With their provocative videos, I just had
to leave a not a lover soon as it couldn't
(01:24):
handle my persona and empowering anthems. These ladies are redefining
the male dominated Latin urban music landscapes. Well the lady,
(01:47):
you know, I loved that I came with her. We
were already gossiping on the how did you girls become friends?
Because I know that it's rare in the music industry particularly,
I feel like it was. I feel like now more
than ever, like I see everyone hanging out with everyone
and I love that, but very few people can I
(02:08):
consider a friend, like I have a picture of her
boobs in my phone, like I was getting my boobs
done and I was like, back, you gotta get to
this doctor. And I was like the amant of times
you just told me just I mean, come to Brazil
with me. You could stay at my house and the
perfect person. And she was like, what about if people
(02:31):
talk about it? After her, I was like, I feel
like everyone knows me the way I am that if
I did something, they would like say something about it.
And she's like, well screw that. She's like, you're doing
for you and I was like, you know what, you
got a good point and those care what they say.
It I know your baby. You are like, I don't
care what you're saying. This is what makes me beautiful.
(02:53):
I was very honest because I wanted to provoke women
to feel like that's okay. When I did the blastic surgeries,
I went to the TV with my my bands on
my face and people are like, why do you have
the things? And then the house who was like, what's
going on? I'm like, oh, I just had plastic surgery.
I can't move that much. It's gonna be blood everywhere.
And then people are like judging me, like on television,
(03:15):
like oh my god, this is girl. But Brazil was
a second country that does so I got depressed in
that moment. But then when I started to see like
all the girls starting to do the things that I
was like killed for doing, I was like, do you
want to say whatever? I want to say? Oh, it's
(03:36):
everyone's always going to have something to say. Learning to
ignore the haters inspired Anita to become a champion for
body positivity, empowering women of all shapes and sizes. In
her Girl from Real video look like Big curls in
the energy and love from by of that. Why is
(04:00):
it important to celebrate women their curves. I like to
feel like women are represented for the audience to feel like,
oh yeah, I'm there, I am that woman for me.
That says a lot about Brazilian rio, because if you
ever go to Brazil, you feel like the women they
understand that their beauty is their vibe. They have a
(04:24):
different differently, they are very different that they just act
like very empowered and uh, I feel like this is
the Brazilian vibe. You know, you shouldn't have to conform
to beauty standards. My mom is curvalicious, and so is
my baby sister. And my mom was supposed to give
half of her as to me and then the other
(04:44):
half to my sister, and it says she gave it
all to my sister. And I spent my whole life
wishing I was more curvalicious, that I had more love
to give and whatever, and I have my own insecurities
because of it. We're very critical of ourselves all the time,
and many million different ways we need to lower solves.
Everything goes through waves, and right now, big butts is
(05:05):
a very good trend. When I was younger, they didn't
want exactly. It was like you had to squeeze your
button down and tighten it after the expectations. You know,
I'm just gonna do whatever I want. You both do that.
You you are open in your songs, you know, talking
about sex. Do you think it hurts the way that
people perceive women. I think the bigger general message there
(05:27):
is when I choose to go there is when it
should be respected for all women, When we choose to
go there is when it should be respected. I might
feel super sexy in the in the music video, but
I'm also super sexy with my hair and a jongo
and you know, and I also can be in a suit.
Do you guys think that there are still pressures in
the industry that are pushing women to be sexual. It's
(05:51):
different when a woman, I think is going there because
they feel they have to, because Lord knows. There's been
times where I know a lot of young women who
come into the industry and think they have to be
something that they're not because someone's telling them that they
have to show more, that they have to do this,
that they should talk like this. You know, the music
video is not sexy enough, and I'm like, but I'm sexy.
I'm the sexy why you know what I mean? It's
(06:13):
an essence, it's an or, it's an energy thing. It's
so it's about how you want to talk. And if
you want to say I love to have sex, and
I'm gonna say I love to have sex. I think
it's freedom versus do whatever we want. If I have
sex with twenty guys and they are all friends, and
if if I had sex with the whole industry, which
which probably I had, I don't have. Also, it's no
one's business to know what happens, and we shouldn't be
(06:36):
just like publicizing every single thing about our lives when
some things are meant for us to go through on
our own for our own personal growth, you know, to
protect our own hearts. Growing up, my life changed on
the internet. So you're under a microscope from the very beginning.
And I went from like you know, littlet any that
like this little you know, perfect role model, to like
(06:57):
a young woman in front of everyone's eyes, and very quickly,
everyone has a lot to say about what you say,
how you say, what you look and how you wear it,
and who you're dating and this and that, and it's
just like it's a lot, and it was a lot
of pressure. You become very famous and you get thrust
in the position of oh, now, it is your responsibility
to be the example for every girl and every woman
(07:21):
just and the hard part is we're human. There's room
for error. We are not robots. Like That's why I
say I'm not a role model. I'm a real model.
I wonder what I see that I'm a real person.
I have my own obstacles that I have to overcome.
When Becky g was a young girl, her parents lost
their home and the family moved into her grandparents converted garage.
(07:42):
My parents were very young when they had me there, eighteen,
and so by the time my mom was my age,
she had all four kids, and so she was kind
of like Becky is in her own world. Somebody helped
me with her because I've got three other kids to
take care of, you know. And it wasn't until I
was nine and I was like, you know, what can
I do. I can't go get a job back in
groceries at the grocer I can't get a night to
(08:04):
five in an office, like, I gotta do something to
get us out of here. I want the real Coco Puffs,
not the knockoff brand from the grocery store, Like I
want the real things, but you know that came with
you with this amazing package that you are, because most
nine year olds so thankful for not going to be
thinking about helping their family out. That's why I call
(08:25):
it a midlife crisis because it was at the time.
Was that a conversation that you heard from your parents?
Was it just you know, the house and moving into
your grandparents house. I think it was just annoying. It's
a very interesting age because I feel like I was
old enough to understand what was happening with two young
to actually do something about it. Anita also comes from
humble beginnings. She spent most of her childhood in a
(08:48):
favela or slum in Rio de Janeto, Brazil. We're running
water at home was not always guaranteed. You both have
worked so hard. So do you guys feel that you
have missed out in your childhood? No, because I didn't
have opportunities. But my mom always faked things for us
(09:10):
to look like always good. Sometimes we needed to shower
in the streets, some things like that, and oh my God,
to die, We're going to shower in the street and
we're like, exactly in the garage. My parents did that.
It was like a sleepover every night, and we would
(09:31):
build like tents with the binkets, and it was this
indoor outdoor experience. You have to make the best of
your circumstances in your youth, especially because sometimes I was like,
can we showering the street again? For me? Like I
was the redwinner for my family and still am. You
are literally living the American dream of you, American dream
of support. I'm so blessed in so many ways, but
(09:54):
if you ask me, I still don't feel like I'm secure.
It's interesting where that fear comes from, because it's not things.
It's not a car, it's not a big house, it's
not anything you just want to be taken care of.
And sometimes you have to be the one to provide
that for yourself. And I've been blessed enough to be
in a position to do that, not just for myself,
but for my mom, for my dad, for my siblings.
But it's a lot of people, and so when you
(10:16):
have a day, which we all do, I am constantly
being reminded, like if I don't show up and if
I don't knock get out the park. It's it's not
just me. And sometimes we get my siblings education on
the line. It's the roof over my head. My mom
and my brother they had food at home because of
(10:37):
my work. But sometimes they were like quit, we don't
want and they knew I loved it to protect and
sometimes they were like, we don't want you live in
this life. My mom was like, I can go clean houses.
I don't care by that's it. The entertainment industry is brutal,
but a lot of it for you guys was we
need to do it for our families, for our future.
(10:59):
It's a form of survival. When I was young, I
was so lucky to take my family on the road
with me because if not, I wouldn't have done it.
And I was on the road with my kids, so
she was little. Get off this stage and they're up
till three in the morning because you know, the adrenaline
after a show. I could go to see till three
or four in the morning and they want to play.
(11:19):
And so it's you know, it's not for a woman.
And your song you talk about breaking those female stereotypes.
(11:41):
What are those stereotypes that you want to break? I mean,
you're an amazing example of it yourself. You know that
you can pursue your dreams and not have to sacrifice
them to be a great mother or to be a
great partner to someone. God bless my grandmother's Like I
love them so much and I learned so much from them,
But at the same time time they were so little
(12:02):
exposed to anything else other than the kitchen, other than
you know, and whatever I want, what I want, it's great,
it's amazing, but not for a man like I can
blanch out my you know, clothes for a meeting for myself.
The thing is, us girls feel like we need to
behave some way to be successful, and I don't want
(12:24):
to behave anyway. I feel like the society needs to
relate the woman to a man to feel like, oh, yeah,
she's successful because he has this guy. What about being like,
oh yeah, I respect this woman. Should know man, this
is the male dominated industry. I'm a drummer, and for
me it's always like, oh the girl drummer, Oh the
girl band. Why can't it just be a band? Right?
(12:45):
And also it shouldn't be like I don't want to
win like best female category. I want to win best artists,
Like I don't you know what I mean. I don't
want to be just determined as like the best because
I'm female. I just want to be a legitimate artist
who backs up in fully, loves what she does and
puts out there into the world. I really don't believe
in general roles, like in my partnership with my boyfriend,
(13:07):
like has nothing to do with the fact that he's
the man and I'm the woman. And that's why it works.
There's a lot of things where I carry a lot
more masculine energy than he does and he balances me
out with that feminine energy and then the other way
around in other aspects of our relationship. And so I
think men are a huge part of the conversation. I
think it's how we raise our sons. I think it's
how we like bring them into the conversation to see
(13:29):
us as who we are as people. You know, your
dad is like that. Emilio is so incredibly supportive and
open minded. But that's where we have to raise our
sons and spread the message in our art to be empowered.
We've really worked together on everything, and there's a lot
of things that he doesn't care about, like finances and
(13:51):
things that's my bag. He gets very bored with. That
is a d D he's very creative in other ways,
but we balance and he's always about supporting, loving, and empowering.
Relationships are hard work and when you have a very
demanding job, both of us meet and said, but he's
a professional athlete, I'm an artist. So we're like ships
in the nights sometimes. So I feel like communication is
(14:13):
a really big understanding that we're two individual people coming
together versus like I Need you is so so crucial,
and that's a good relationship. It's just a lot of balance,
secure enough to allow the other person to grow succeeding,
Like he's also for me to just to be with
(14:34):
just one person for years and years, like not getting bored.
I don't get bored, you know what I mean. It's
like a lot of like forever, there's always a friend
and the bridal party who puts the same forever side,
like she's gonna be that friend. That's like, that's it.
Are you sure? You know? I literally went through all
types of humans because everything is my type. It's just
(14:55):
like people with a good vibe but good energy. In
two thousand eighteen, I Need That revealed she's bisexual on
her Netflix series by I Need That instantly becoming an
lgbt Q plus icon to her millions of fans, would
you ever think, Okay, I want to be with one person. Yeah.
Do you think it's gonna be a guy or a woman.
(15:18):
I think it's gonna be a guy because I have
sex with girls. I go out with girls. I have.
I had a kind of an open relationship with girls,
but then it doesn't work. So women are complicated with
the guys that work better having relationships. But right now,
if one guy can get me like chill and settle,
I would be like guy, yeah, yo, I wouldn't find
(15:41):
because you don't find this one, I can stop or like,
I don't get bored. The thing is I always get
bol fair, but there's little time for boredom when you're
the biggest star in Brazil. I need that shot to fame.
As a teenager, she and Becky were each discovered on
YouTube at a time when we didn't really see a
lot of female artists come together, especially in Latin music.
(16:02):
There was like these invisible walls, especially between female artists.
It was always like this unspoken thing where there was
only one seat at the table. It's always been the same.
There's competition between women. I remember a party that I
was in New York and there was a lot of
the top top women and they wouldn't talk to each other,
and the only one they would talk to was me. Yes,
I grew up seeing people like Christina Aguilera, people like
(16:26):
Britney Spears, and I always used to thing to myself,
what if they went on tour together? What if they
did albums together? They had a record breaking numbers alone,
imagine if they came together. I just know that it
would have done so much for me as a little
girl to see two empowered young women come together and
work together. So Betty decided to create that moment for herself.
She was inspired by a track she co wrote but
(16:47):
had not yet recorded, Sia. I always believe in the song.
I was like, Yo, this is so cool, this is
like full like like I love this. How cool would
it be if we got like another female on the song. Well,
you know, we'll see. I got the run around for
a very very long time, and I remember I just
reached out to not be myself and I was just like, yo,
like I want to send you a song, I want
(17:09):
to see what you think about it, and cool exchange numbers.
I heard the song, and I remember someone on my
team being like, well, if you think it's such a hit,
why would you want to share it? Like no, no, no, no, no, Like,
if you think it's going to be such a hit,
why would you want to share it? And I said,
because hit songs happen every day, and I don't want
to hit song. I want a moment in history. Why
(17:29):
do we have to separate? Why does it have to
be my hit? So it was like one of those
things where it's like for some people might have been
a little bit too out there, but we still did
it anyways. And I can't think of a female like
Latin and urban music collaboration before seeing Biama. There was
probably some there, but none that were able to really
break the ceiling in the way that did. It was
risky at the time. People weren't ready for it. And
(17:51):
I think that now, more than ever, is the time
to take risk. Like we have to push each other.
I really believe that, like, just do what you feel
like and then and you were going to start just
attracting to your life exactly what you want. I was
my own manager for ten years. I mean this Jourdney,
I needed to face some guys that were just like
(18:12):
looking at me, like, oh this girl, young girl that
shakes her ass. So I started to study about everything, cameras, microphones, everything.
So when I get to a place and a man
tried to be like she doesn't know what she's saying,
I was a camera, give you do this, do this?
(18:33):
I was like I needed to be aggressive and rude. Yeah,
it's a lot of work. Why are women like this?
Why are we so empowered? It's unfortunate that the reality
is that it's been through pain and great hurt that
we've had to become as successful as we are. It's
literally been a matter of survival for a lot of us.
Here at this table, we do carry like generational whether
(18:56):
it was the generation before us that was the one
to really pave the way of us being that first
generation to try to build generational wealth. We're carrying our
flags for me, two flags I'm carrying, you know, sp English,
Spanish English. I'm carrying all four of my grandparents and
my parents and my siblings. It's just like it's a lot,
you know. But these two groundbreaking women have turned their
(19:17):
struggles into success and their music careers into empires. Anita
is the chief marketing officer of a beverage brand and
sits on the board of a bank in Brazil. And
when Becky g recently launched heron makeup line, there's Lucy
Anita was right by her side showing her support. I
love when other women, when another Latina's succeed. It shows
(19:41):
the world, Hey, this isn't just up dropping the bucket
one person that comes out and does this. It shows
the many beautiful facets of who we are as Latinas.
I think in a time like yours, we weren't there
at all, Like you, You were the representative, and then
here and here and here would trickle in and it
would funnel in because you can only have so many
(20:03):
Latinas and wants to face because it was very small minded.
But we all look and talk and speak and identify
so differently that to make sure that we're seeing ourselves
in all positions, I think it's something that I'm so
passionate about in business conversations as a whole. I don't
want to just be the Latina face that checks a
box for a bigger corporate company that wants to be diverse.
(20:24):
I actually think it's important for us to see ourselves
in power positions and be the owners of the brand
and say hey, I'm gonna hire uh Latina social brand manager.
I'm gonna have a Latina brand partner. That's the key.
Hire what you want to see represented. Absolutely, I think
what you girls are doing is fantastic because you're your
(20:44):
own managers, you run your empire, and you studied business administration.
She is like I left studying. I was just like
going for it. I took French classes, I too chapinampoo complains.
(21:05):
I took piano classes. I took interpretation like acting classes.
I took some political classes politics from Brazil. If I
didn't get like the best scores, I would go crazy.
You competitive, I was very no not with people. I
was the back with you. I wanted to be like
I was a very good student for me, like I
(21:28):
want to build platforms where I can empower more women
and share the light because we're so much more impactful
when we come together. Absolutely. When our RTT Familia found
out that Becky and Anita were coming to the table,
we were flooded with questions for them. First, we have
a question from Mada in Brazil al Anita Mexico. Six,
(21:58):
but madio. Yeah, I was trying to speak Spanish, kid.
I love it all that perfectly beautiful goodness, so good.
(22:19):
She said that she kissed the girl for the first
time at year going. She said, she kissed the girl
in the first time in my cousin was magical. It
is so nice. We changed people's life in a way
that we don't even realize how much. Isn't it's amazing.
I would say it depends a lot if you're going
to have are not the support of your family. I
was blessed of having my family support. My mom was
(22:41):
the best. When I was thirteen, I came home and
I was like, Mom, I kissed the girl and my
mom was like, so what. We still have a lot
of pressudice in Brazil, ormo phobia and everything. So just
try to be happy with who you are and accept yourself.
Try to find people that you can relate with, so
you guys can switch experiences and you're gonna feel supported
(23:05):
by each other. I can imagine that it does hurt
when it's your own family that doesn't accept you as
you are, But I don't know what hurts more that
or living the rest of your life pretending to be
something that you're not second option of being like never
free in your life to me who you are, it's terrible.
So I would just go on and if they don't
accept me, I would be just like, I don't accept
(23:27):
you too because your pressureice, I don't like you. I
think this whole sexuality thing like love who you want
to love, be with who you want to be. I
don't understand why you don't come out straight. Why do
you have to come out gay? I think it's a
personal journey for everyone. Sometimes labels do help people. Sometimes
it does help them be able to feel seen and
recognize and identify with something, but then at the same
(23:50):
time for others to be conformed to something, to feel
like there's like a box that you have to stay in.
I don't think that that's that's also very helpful for
someone because what if today I am but then the
next day I'm something else, and I shouldn't need to
ask for validation or permission to be who I am.
We have another question from Validia in Los Angeles. So,
(24:14):
being the oldest child in an immigrant Hispanic family comes
to a lot of pressure. Becky, I know that you've
probably gone through a lot to support your family at
such a young age. What advice would you give to
other Latino women that are going through the same situation.
My new model with my siblings and with my parents
is putting family first, is putting ourselves first, because we're
no good to others if we're not okay. Being the
(24:35):
best you will allow you to then feel all of
those other roles and be present for others. Yes, and
I need that has done the same thing, just trying
to be happy and improve yourself for yourself and then
immediately automatically you're gonna be the best daughter and the
best sister because you're being the best version of you. Absolutely,
(24:58):
thank you so much O. We have another version from
Lucia in Spain from a spin lane. Stop using a
(25:18):
cell phone. Stop checking so much here just the screen
and stuff, and that gives even more anxiety. And my moment.
We didn't have the internet, we didn't have Instagram, where
the first thing we do in the morning is pick
up our phone to see what they're Billions of images
are bombarding your brain when I was doing this because
(25:38):
I'm human, so I make the music I want and
somebody's gonna hate it. I'm Latina and somebody's gonna hit
me for that, I'm sure, and somebody might hate me
for that. So you know what I did. I didn't
read it. I never read reviews. I never looked at
the shows I did. I never bothered on purpose, like
they would have to force me read this review, read
(26:01):
this thing, and I go, did they like it good?
I don't want to hear about it because we need
to protect our psyche. It's called boundaries, and in our
culture were never taught to have boundaries. We're not and
to protect my artistry and my sanity unless it's coming
from someone I really care about, I don't need to
know about it. But definitely got out of the internet.
(26:23):
That's one thing that brings more anxiety. Ever. I know
I'm checking myself on too much, so I just don't
do it. What I try to do is to be
in person with friends, hang out with friends. Group therapy
is really cool. I just started family therapy, getting professional help.
I don't think it's a bad thing, you know, I
think it's something that's saved my life to learn how
to self soothe, self cope. Those tools are very important.
(26:46):
Exactly and tell someone we're literally all here for a reason.
And some of us might have bigger platforms, but that
doesn't determine our value as people. Like I tell people
I care about all the time, I can't imagine this
world without you. Thank you so much for being here.
I know that you've given us so much time. You're busy,
You've got so many things to do, and I appreciate
(27:06):
you sharing your wisdom and your careers and yourselves to
talk about sisterhood and how we can all empower each other.
Because what you're doing here is going to empower a
lot of not just women, a lot of people. We
all need on you, guys, and we all can have
each other's backs and still shine. So thank you, thank you,
thank you. What's your sign, Virgo? It's like my brother
(27:31):
and you. I'm an area is like both my parents,
like my husband, and and she's a sad which I love.
They're like my girlfriends. Thanks for listening. To join the
Red Table Talk family and become a part of the conversation,
(27:53):
follow us at Facebook dot com, forward Slash, red table
Talk is Stefens red Table Talk. Step Funds is a
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B Benito's me and Gloria Stefan. Here you are listening
to Red Table Talk via Stephans Podcast, all your favorite
episodes from our Facebook watch show in audio. I'm not
a role model, I'm a real model. Superstars Anita and
Becky G. Do you want to say I love to
have sex? And I'm gonna say I love to have sex?
(00:21):
Are leaving it all on the table. People are like
judging me. Oh my god. This is grow how they're
changing the game. I tried upset women free. I don't
want to just be the Latina face that checks a box.
I want a moment in history. Let's talk about it. Today.
(00:41):
We gotta dance down. Yes and today it's gotta be
like like you always have always. Today is all about
the grow power. Here at the Red Table, real life
friends Becky G and Anita are here to get real
about the transformative power of sist your hood. Yes in
(01:02):
the Sun comes into Savanna comes in with billions of
streams and millions of followers. Becky G and Anita rule
the Latin music charts. I'm a boss. You're gonna do
what I say With their provocative videos, I just had
to leave a not a lover soon as it couldn't
(01:24):
handle my persona and empowering anthems. These ladies are redefining
the male dominated Latin urban music landscapes. Well the lady,
(01:47):
you know, I loved that I came with her. We
were already gossiping on the how did you girls become friends?
Because I know that it's rare in the music industry particularly,
I feel like it was. I feel like now more
than ever, like I see everyone hanging out with everyone
and I love that, but very few people can I
(02:08):
consider a friend, like I have a picture of her
boobs in my phone, like I was getting my boobs
done and I was like, back, you gotta get to
this doctor. And I was like the amant of times
you just told me just I mean, come to Brazil
with me. You could stay at my house and the
perfect person. And she was like, what about if people
(02:31):
talk about it? After her, I was like, I feel
like everyone knows me the way I am that if
I did something, they would like say something about it.
And she's like, well screw that. She's like, you're doing
for you and I was like, you know what, you
got a good point and those care what they say.
It I know your baby. You are like, I don't
care what you're saying. This is what makes me beautiful.
(02:53):
I was very honest because I wanted to provoke women
to feel like that's okay. When I did the blastic surgeries,
I went to the TV with my my bands on
my face and people are like, why do you have
the things? And then the house who was like, what's
going on? I'm like, oh, I just had plastic surgery.
I can't move that much. It's gonna be blood everywhere.
And then people are like judging me, like on television,
(03:15):
like oh my god, this is girl. But Brazil was
a second country that does so I got depressed in
that moment. But then when I started to see like
all the girls starting to do the things that I
was like killed for doing, I was like, do you
want to say whatever? I want to say? Oh, it's
(03:36):
everyone's always going to have something to say. Learning to
ignore the haters inspired Anita to become a champion for
body positivity, empowering women of all shapes and sizes. In
her Girl from Real video look like Big curls in
the energy and love from by of that. Why is
(04:00):
it important to celebrate women their curves. I like to
feel like women are represented for the audience to feel like,
oh yeah, I'm there, I am that woman for me.
That says a lot about Brazilian rio, because if you
ever go to Brazil, you feel like the women they
understand that their beauty is their vibe. They have a
(04:24):
different differently, they are very different that they just act
like very empowered and uh, I feel like this is
the Brazilian vibe. You know, you shouldn't have to conform
to beauty standards. My mom is curvalicious, and so is
my baby sister. And my mom was supposed to give
half of her as to me and then the other
(04:44):
half to my sister, and it says she gave it
all to my sister. And I spent my whole life
wishing I was more curvalicious, that I had more love
to give and whatever, and I have my own insecurities
because of it. We're very critical of ourselves all the time,
and many million different ways we need to lower solves.
Everything goes through waves, and right now, big butts is
(05:05):
a very good trend. When I was younger, they didn't
want exactly. It was like you had to squeeze your
button down and tighten it after the expectations. You know,
I'm just gonna do whatever I want. You both do that.
You you are open in your songs, you know, talking
about sex. Do you think it hurts the way that
people perceive women. I think the bigger general message there
(05:27):
is when I choose to go there is when it
should be respected for all women, When we choose to
go there is when it should be respected. I might
feel super sexy in the in the music video, but
I'm also super sexy with my hair and a jongo
and you know, and I also can be in a suit.
Do you guys think that there are still pressures in
the industry that are pushing women to be sexual. It's
(05:51):
different when a woman, I think is going there because
they feel they have to, because Lord knows. There's been
times where I know a lot of young women who
come into the industry and think they have to be
something that they're not because someone's telling them that they
have to show more, that they have to do this,
that they should talk like this. You know, the music
video is not sexy enough, and I'm like, but I'm sexy.
I'm the sexy why you know what I mean? It's
(06:13):
an essence, it's an or, it's an energy thing. It's
so it's about how you want to talk. And if
you want to say I love to have sex, and
I'm gonna say I love to have sex. I think
it's freedom versus do whatever we want. If I have
sex with twenty guys and they are all friends, and
if if I had sex with the whole industry, which
which probably I had, I don't have. Also, it's no
one's business to know what happens, and we shouldn't be
(06:36):
just like publicizing every single thing about our lives when
some things are meant for us to go through on
our own for our own personal growth, you know, to
protect our own hearts. Growing up, my life changed on
the internet. So you're under a microscope from the very beginning.
And I went from like you know, littlet any that
like this little you know, perfect role model, to like
(06:57):
a young woman in front of everyone's eyes, and very quickly,
everyone has a lot to say about what you say,
how you say, what you look and how you wear it,
and who you're dating and this and that, and it's
just like it's a lot, and it was a lot
of pressure. You become very famous and you get thrust
in the position of oh, now, it is your responsibility
to be the example for every girl and every woman
(07:21):
just and the hard part is we're human. There's room
for error. We are not robots. Like That's why I
say I'm not a role model. I'm a real model.
I wonder what I see that I'm a real person.
I have my own obstacles that I have to overcome.
When Becky g was a young girl, her parents lost
their home and the family moved into her grandparents converted garage.
(07:42):
My parents were very young when they had me there, eighteen,
and so by the time my mom was my age,
she had all four kids, and so she was kind
of like Becky is in her own world. Somebody helped
me with her because I've got three other kids to
take care of, you know. And it wasn't until I
was nine and I was like, you know, what can
I do. I can't go get a job back in
groceries at the grocer I can't get a night to
(08:04):
five in an office, like, I gotta do something to
get us out of here. I want the real Coco Puffs,
not the knockoff brand from the grocery store, Like I
want the real things, but you know that came with
you with this amazing package that you are, because most
nine year olds so thankful for not going to be
thinking about helping their family out. That's why I call
(08:25):
it a midlife crisis because it was at the time.
Was that a conversation that you heard from your parents?
Was it just you know, the house and moving into
your grandparents house. I think it was just annoying. It's
a very interesting age because I feel like I was
old enough to understand what was happening with two young
to actually do something about it. Anita also comes from
humble beginnings. She spent most of her childhood in a
(08:48):
favela or slum in Rio de Janeto, Brazil. We're running
water at home was not always guaranteed. You both have
worked so hard. So do you guys feel that you
have missed out in your childhood? No, because I didn't
have opportunities. But my mom always faked things for us
(09:10):
to look like always good. Sometimes we needed to shower
in the streets, some things like that, and oh my God,
to die, We're going to shower in the street and
we're like, exactly in the garage. My parents did that.
It was like a sleepover every night, and we would
(09:31):
build like tents with the binkets, and it was this
indoor outdoor experience. You have to make the best of
your circumstances in your youth, especially because sometimes I was like,
can we showering the street again? For me? Like I
was the redwinner for my family and still am. You
are literally living the American dream of you, American dream
of support. I'm so blessed in so many ways, but
(09:54):
if you ask me, I still don't feel like I'm secure.
It's interesting where that fear comes from, because it's not things.
It's not a car, it's not a big house, it's
not anything you just want to be taken care of.
And sometimes you have to be the one to provide
that for yourself. And I've been blessed enough to be
in a position to do that, not just for myself,
but for my mom, for my dad, for my siblings.
But it's a lot of people, and so when you
(10:16):
have a day, which we all do, I am constantly
being reminded, like if I don't show up and if
I don't knock get out the park. It's it's not
just me. And sometimes we get my siblings education on
the line. It's the roof over my head. My mom
and my brother they had food at home because of
(10:37):
my work. But sometimes they were like quit, we don't
want and they knew I loved it to protect and
sometimes they were like, we don't want you live in
this life. My mom was like, I can go clean houses.
I don't care by that's it. The entertainment industry is brutal,
but a lot of it for you guys was we
need to do it for our families, for our future.
(10:59):
It's a form of survival. When I was young, I
was so lucky to take my family on the road
with me because if not, I wouldn't have done it.
And I was on the road with my kids, so
she was little. Get off this stage and they're up
till three in the morning because you know, the adrenaline
after a show. I could go to see till three
or four in the morning and they want to play.
(11:19):
And so it's you know, it's not for a woman.
And your song you talk about breaking those female stereotypes.
(11:41):
What are those stereotypes that you want to break? I mean,
you're an amazing example of it yourself. You know that
you can pursue your dreams and not have to sacrifice
them to be a great mother or to be a
great partner to someone. God bless my grandmother's Like I
love them so much and I learned so much from them,
But at the same time time they were so little
(12:02):
exposed to anything else other than the kitchen, other than
you know, and whatever I want, what I want, it's great,
it's amazing, but not for a man like I can
blanch out my you know, clothes for a meeting for myself.
The thing is, us girls feel like we need to
behave some way to be successful, and I don't want
(12:24):
to behave anyway. I feel like the society needs to
relate the woman to a man to feel like, oh, yeah,
she's successful because he has this guy. What about being like,
oh yeah, I respect this woman. Should know man, this
is the male dominated industry. I'm a drummer, and for
me it's always like, oh the girl drummer, Oh the
girl band. Why can't it just be a band? Right?
(12:45):
And also it shouldn't be like I don't want to
win like best female category. I want to win best artists,
Like I don't you know what I mean. I don't
want to be just determined as like the best because
I'm female. I just want to be a legitimate artist
who backs up in fully, loves what she does and
puts out there into the world. I really don't believe
in general roles, like in my partnership with my boyfriend,
(13:07):
like has nothing to do with the fact that he's
the man and I'm the woman. And that's why it works.
There's a lot of things where I carry a lot
more masculine energy than he does and he balances me
out with that feminine energy and then the other way
around in other aspects of our relationship. And so I
think men are a huge part of the conversation. I
think it's how we raise our sons. I think it's
how we like bring them into the conversation to see
(13:29):
us as who we are as people. You know, your
dad is like that. Emilio is so incredibly supportive and
open minded. But that's where we have to raise our
sons and spread the message in our art to be empowered.
We've really worked together on everything, and there's a lot
of things that he doesn't care about, like finances and
(13:51):
things that's my bag. He gets very bored with. That
is a d D he's very creative in other ways,
but we balance and he's always about supporting, loving, and empowering.
Relationships are hard work and when you have a very
demanding job, both of us meet and said, but he's
a professional athlete, I'm an artist. So we're like ships
in the nights sometimes. So I feel like communication is
(14:13):
a really big understanding that we're two individual people coming
together versus like I Need you is so so crucial,
and that's a good relationship. It's just a lot of balance,
secure enough to allow the other person to grow succeeding,
Like he's also for me to just to be with
(14:34):
just one person for years and years, like not getting bored.
I don't get bored, you know what I mean. It's
like a lot of like forever, there's always a friend
and the bridal party who puts the same forever side,
like she's gonna be that friend. That's like, that's it.
Are you sure? You know? I literally went through all
types of humans because everything is my type. It's just
(14:55):
like people with a good vibe but good energy. In
two thousand eighteen, I Need That revealed she's bisexual on
her Netflix series by I Need That instantly becoming an
lgbt Q plus icon to her millions of fans, would
you ever think, Okay, I want to be with one person. Yeah.
Do you think it's gonna be a guy or a woman.
(15:18):
I think it's gonna be a guy because I have
sex with girls. I go out with girls. I have.
I had a kind of an open relationship with girls,
but then it doesn't work. So women are complicated with
the guys that work better having relationships. But right now,
if one guy can get me like chill and settle,
I would be like guy, yeah, yo, I wouldn't find
(15:41):
because you don't find this one, I can stop or like,
I don't get bored. The thing is I always get
bol fair, but there's little time for boredom when you're
the biggest star in Brazil. I need that shot to fame.
As a teenager, she and Becky were each discovered on
YouTube at a time when we didn't really see a
lot of female artists come together, especially in Latin music.
(16:02):
There was like these invisible walls, especially between female artists.
It was always like this unspoken thing where there was
only one seat at the table. It's always been the same.
There's competition between women. I remember a party that I
was in New York and there was a lot of
the top top women and they wouldn't talk to each other,
and the only one they would talk to was me. Yes,
I grew up seeing people like Christina Aguilera, people like
(16:26):
Britney Spears, and I always used to thing to myself,
what if they went on tour together? What if they
did albums together? They had a record breaking numbers alone,
imagine if they came together. I just know that it
would have done so much for me as a little
girl to see two empowered young women come together and
work together. So Betty decided to create that moment for herself.
She was inspired by a track she co wrote but
(16:47):
had not yet recorded, Sia. I always believe in the song.
I was like, Yo, this is so cool, this is
like full like like I love this. How cool would
it be if we got like another female on the song. Well,
you know, we'll see. I got the run around for
a very very long time, and I remember I just
reached out to not be myself and I was just like, yo,
like I want to send you a song, I want
(17:09):
to see what you think about it, and cool exchange numbers.
I heard the song, and I remember someone on my
team being like, well, if you think it's such a hit,
why would you want to share it? Like no, no, no, no, no, Like,
if you think it's going to be such a hit,
why would you want to share it? And I said,
because hit songs happen every day, and I don't want
to hit song. I want a moment in history. Why
(17:29):
do we have to separate? Why does it have to
be my hit? So it was like one of those
things where it's like for some people might have been
a little bit too out there, but we still did
it anyways. And I can't think of a female like
Latin and urban music collaboration before seeing Biama. There was
probably some there, but none that were able to really
break the ceiling in the way that did. It was
risky at the time. People weren't ready for it. And
(17:51):
I think that now, more than ever, is the time
to take risk. Like we have to push each other.
I really believe that, like, just do what you feel
like and then and you were going to start just
attracting to your life exactly what you want. I was
my own manager for ten years. I mean this Jourdney,
I needed to face some guys that were just like
(18:12):
looking at me, like, oh this girl, young girl that
shakes her ass. So I started to study about everything, cameras, microphones, everything.
So when I get to a place and a man
tried to be like she doesn't know what she's saying,
I was a camera, give you do this, do this?
(18:33):
I was like I needed to be aggressive and rude. Yeah,
it's a lot of work. Why are women like this?
Why are we so empowered? It's unfortunate that the reality
is that it's been through pain and great hurt that
we've had to become as successful as we are. It's
literally been a matter of survival for a lot of us.
Here at this table, we do carry like generational whether
(18:56):
it was the generation before us that was the one
to really pave the way of us being that first
generation to try to build generational wealth. We're carrying our
flags for me, two flags I'm carrying, you know, sp English,
Spanish English. I'm carrying all four of my grandparents and
my parents and my siblings. It's just like it's a lot,
you know. But these two groundbreaking women have turned their
(19:17):
struggles into success and their music careers into empires. Anita
is the chief marketing officer of a beverage brand and
sits on the board of a bank in Brazil. And
when Becky g recently launched heron makeup line, there's Lucy
Anita was right by her side showing her support. I
love when other women, when another Latina's succeed. It shows
(19:41):
the world, Hey, this isn't just up dropping the bucket
one person that comes out and does this. It shows
the many beautiful facets of who we are as Latinas.
I think in a time like yours, we weren't there
at all, Like you, You were the representative, and then
here and here and here would trickle in and it
would funnel in because you can only have so many
(20:03):
Latinas and wants to face because it was very small minded.
But we all look and talk and speak and identify
so differently that to make sure that we're seeing ourselves
in all positions, I think it's something that I'm so
passionate about in business conversations as a whole. I don't
want to just be the Latina face that checks a
box for a bigger corporate company that wants to be diverse.
(20:24):
I actually think it's important for us to see ourselves
in power positions and be the owners of the brand
and say hey, I'm gonna hire uh Latina social brand manager.
I'm gonna have a Latina brand partner. That's the key.
Hire what you want to see represented. Absolutely, I think
what you girls are doing is fantastic because you're your
(20:44):
own managers, you run your empire, and you studied business administration.
She is like I left studying. I was just like
going for it. I took French classes, I too chapinampoo complains.
(21:05):
I took piano classes. I took interpretation like acting classes.
I took some political classes politics from Brazil. If I
didn't get like the best scores, I would go crazy.
You competitive, I was very no not with people. I
was the back with you. I wanted to be like
I was a very good student for me, like I
(21:28):
want to build platforms where I can empower more women
and share the light because we're so much more impactful
when we come together. Absolutely. When our RTT Familia found
out that Becky and Anita were coming to the table,
we were flooded with questions for them. First, we have
a question from Mada in Brazil al Anita Mexico. Six,
(21:58):
but madio. Yeah, I was trying to speak Spanish, kid.
I love it all that perfectly beautiful goodness, so good.
(22:19):
She said that she kissed the girl for the first
time at year going. She said, she kissed the girl
in the first time in my cousin was magical. It
is so nice. We changed people's life in a way
that we don't even realize how much. Isn't it's amazing.
I would say it depends a lot if you're going
to have are not the support of your family. I
was blessed of having my family support. My mom was
(22:41):
the best. When I was thirteen, I came home and
I was like, Mom, I kissed the girl and my
mom was like, so what. We still have a lot
of pressudice in Brazil, ormo phobia and everything. So just
try to be happy with who you are and accept yourself.
Try to find people that you can relate with, so
you guys can switch experiences and you're gonna feel supported
(23:05):
by each other. I can imagine that it does hurt
when it's your own family that doesn't accept you as
you are, But I don't know what hurts more that
or living the rest of your life pretending to be
something that you're not second option of being like never
free in your life to me who you are, it's terrible.
So I would just go on and if they don't
accept me, I would be just like, I don't accept
(23:27):
you too because your pressureice, I don't like you. I
think this whole sexuality thing like love who you want
to love, be with who you want to be. I
don't understand why you don't come out straight. Why do
you have to come out gay? I think it's a
personal journey for everyone. Sometimes labels do help people. Sometimes
it does help them be able to feel seen and
recognize and identify with something, but then at the same
(23:50):
time for others to be conformed to something, to feel
like there's like a box that you have to stay in.
I don't think that that's that's also very helpful for
someone because what if today I am but then the
next day I'm something else, and I shouldn't need to
ask for validation or permission to be who I am.
We have another question from Validia in Los Angeles. So,
(24:14):
being the oldest child in an immigrant Hispanic family comes
to a lot of pressure. Becky, I know that you've
probably gone through a lot to support your family at
such a young age. What advice would you give to
other Latino women that are going through the same situation.
My new model with my siblings and with my parents
is putting family first, is putting ourselves first, because we're
no good to others if we're not okay. Being the
(24:35):
best you will allow you to then feel all of
those other roles and be present for others. Yes, and
I need that has done the same thing, just trying
to be happy and improve yourself for yourself and then
immediately automatically you're gonna be the best daughter and the
best sister because you're being the best version of you. Absolutely,
(24:58):
thank you so much O. We have another version from
Lucia in Spain from a spin lane. Stop using a
(25:18):
cell phone. Stop checking so much here just the screen
and stuff, and that gives even more anxiety. And my moment.
We didn't have the internet, we didn't have Instagram, where
the first thing we do in the morning is pick
up our phone to see what they're Billions of images
are bombarding your brain when I was doing this because
(25:38):
I'm human, so I make the music I want and
somebody's gonna hate it. I'm Latina and somebody's gonna hit
me for that, I'm sure, and somebody might hate me
for that. So you know what I did. I didn't
read it. I never read reviews. I never looked at
the shows I did. I never bothered on purpose, like
they would have to force me read this review, read
(26:01):
this thing, and I go, did they like it good?
I don't want to hear about it because we need
to protect our psyche. It's called boundaries, and in our
culture were never taught to have boundaries. We're not and
to protect my artistry and my sanity unless it's coming
from someone I really care about, I don't need to
know about it. But definitely got out of the internet.
(26:23):
That's one thing that brings more anxiety. Ever. I know
I'm checking myself on too much, so I just don't
do it. What I try to do is to be
in person with friends, hang out with friends. Group therapy
is really cool. I just started family therapy, getting professional help.
I don't think it's a bad thing, you know, I
think it's something that's saved my life to learn how
to self soothe, self cope. Those tools are very important.
(26:46):
Exactly and tell someone we're literally all here for a reason.
And some of us might have bigger platforms, but that
doesn't determine our value as people. Like I tell people
I care about all the time, I can't imagine this
world without you. Thank you so much for being here.
I know that you've given us so much time. You're busy,
You've got so many things to do, and I appreciate
(27:06):
you sharing your wisdom and your careers and yourselves to
talk about sisterhood and how we can all empower each other.
Because what you're doing here is going to empower a
lot of not just women, a lot of people. We
all need on you, guys, and we all can have
each other's backs and still shine. So thank you, thank you,
thank you. What's your sign, Virgo? It's like my brother
(27:31):
and you. I'm an area is like both my parents,
like my husband, and and she's a sad which I love.
They're like my girlfriends. Thanks for listening. To join the
Red Table Talk family and become a part of the conversation,
(27:53):
follow us at Facebook dot com, forward Slash, red table
Talk is Stefens red Table Talk. Step Funds is a
production of Westbrook Studios in partnership with I Heart Radio's
Michael Tura podcast network. For more podcasts from my Heart,
visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever
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