Becky G gets key to ‘the real Coachella’ and celebrates her Latina roots

On Saturday, you could hear Becky G's arrival long before you could see it.

That noise, however, wasn’t the pop star's voice that plays on radios around the world, but the screams of hundreds of mostly young and female fans who had endured 90-plus-degrees to get a glimpse of her.

And while the screams might have seemed to indicate otherwise, this wasn’t that Coachella (as in the two-weekend desert fantasyland over in Indio with the spectacular pyrotechnic displays, hordes of rowdy college kids and VIP wristbands that can cost more than a rent payment).

No, it was the other Coachella, a few miles down the road but a world away, a small unassuming city known mainly for being an agriculture hub that serves as the eastern gateway to the Coachella Valley.

"The real Coachella," as Mayor Steven Hernandez repeatedly called it Saturday.

But if there was one takeaway from Becky G’s visit to the city, it was that the residents of the real Coachella love the 26-year-old Latina singer just as much as the crowd that packed her set at the other Coachella, the day before. Maybe even more.

“For us, it's just an honor to give (Becky) these keys and we are extremely proud that she is here,” Hernandez said, moments before handing the artist a framed key to the city.

Becky G was the latest Mexican American artist to be presented a key to the city while visiting the area to play at the iconic music festival, which has increasingly welcomed Latino artists in recent years. In 2022, Grupo Firme was given the honor, while Los Tucanes de Tijuana were given a key in 2019 (the festival was canceled in the two in-between years because of COVID-19).

“More than anything, for us it's about bringing a little bit of 'Coachella' to Coachella,” said Hernandez of the tradition. “You know what I mean?”

Becky G soon demonstrated that she knew, explaining in a speech that went back and forth between Spanish and English that she had been “crying all day” at the prospect of being given the key.

The singer, who grew up in Inglewood, said she was proud to be a “200 percenter,” a term that means someone is 100% American and 100% Hispanic. She said the identity is nuanced and layered, but one she wouldn’t change for anything.

“We might speak a little Spanglish along the way, and that’s fine, but we will never forget the blood that runs through our veins and the history of our last names and the journeys that our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on took to get us to where we are today,” she said.

Becky G, who was born Rebbeca Marie Gomez, said she saw much of herself in the young girls in the crowd, adding that she had felt she was meant to be a singer since she was 9 years old.“This is what my heart always wanted, was to represent and have connection with my community, for us to see ourselves in authentic ways and ways that really represented our heart, our passion and our work,” she said. “It’s been a long journey and I am still a baby, honestly, and still figuring it out. But in that journey there has been so much discovery.”

During the ceremony, Coachella City Councilmember Stephanie Virgen said it was exciting to honor Becky G because Coachella is a city that “likes to lift women up.”

“We know that as Latinas, as women, it’s a struggle sometimes to be in certain spaces,” Virgen said. “ We’re not always welcome, but we make sure that if we don’t have a seat at the table, we bring our table with us.”

Hernandez explained that Becky G was also being honored because of her involvement helping farmworkers, both in Coachella and across the state.

But as glad as Hernandez seemed to be to welcome the singer to the city, Becky G seemed even more happy to be there.

“I am so proud to be able to hold the key to Coachella — the real Coachella — in my heart and it is one that I take with so much pride and I look forward to spending more time here with you,” she said as the ceremony concluded and the crowd again serenaded her with cheers of “Becky, Becky, Becky.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Becky G gets key to ‘the real Coachella,’ celebrates her Latina roots