Becky G was born in California, but that doesn’t stop her from viewing Mexico as her home. While the singer visited Mexico, she discussed how much the country meant for her and why that connection was so difficult to express in words.

According to El Milenio, Becky G discussed her heritage with the media while in Mexico, explaining her complex feelings on the matter. “Every time I’m in Mexico, I feel at home. Even though I was born in the United States and so were my parents, every time I’m here I feel this connection that I can’t explain with words. Being a part of this culture is important to me because here I have my grandparents, who cook me all of these meals that remind me of my childhood,” she said.

“I’ve always felt very proud to be Latina, ever since I was a little girl. Honestly, I identified more with the Mexican flag than with the American flag. I’m also trying to learn to speak more Spanish. Professionally, it was very scary for me to sing in Spanish but it was so important for me to connect to my community.”

Her role as a woman and as a Latina is something that she explores in her new record, “Esquemas.” “I’m doing things on my own terms,” she said in an interview with Hypebae. “I was like struggling to find one word that was representative of what my mission has always been since the beginning of my career, which is to step outside of the boxes that people constantly put me in and to romper esquemas (break schemes), to break the mold, to step out of the boxes us women and Latinos are constantly put in,” she said. “It’s just second nature for me, you know? And if you look up the literal definition of “esquemas,” yeah, it’s schemes. But for me, it’s kind of breaking those things … Breaking the plan that society has for you and making your own. And so that’s what the songs are.”

“Esquemas” was released in May of this year and is made up of 14 tracks that follow no particular genre. There are reggaeton tracks, pop tracks, and a little bit of everything, which is part of the fun.