Bad Bunny Asks Selena About Repping the Latino Gang
In honor of her first studio album in four years, Selena Gomez is out here doing her thing
Photo: Instagram/selenagomez
In honor of her first studio album in four years, Selena Gomez is out here doing her thing. She’s sporting new curls, is launching her new Rare Beauty makeup line this summer, and she’s also become more candid than ever. In a new cover story for Dazed, Gomez opened up to an array of questions by her fans, famous friends, and talented collaborators. But there was one question that was particularly interesting.
Bad Bunny asked the singer a question that was a bit more personal and a lot more complex. He asked, “You have a Latin surname because of your father: as a worldwide star, do you feel like you represent Latinos despite the fact your music is sung in English?”
This question is especially fascinating because only recently has Gomez started opening up about her Latin roots and her thoughts and views on immigration, all thanks to her Netflix documentary Living Undocumented. Gomez’s responded to Bad Bunny by saying she feels completely emersed in her Latin culture.
“One thousand percent,” she said. “I’m always very vocal about my background, as far as me talking about immigration, and my grandparents having to come across the border illegally. I wouldn’t have been born (otherwise). I have such an appreciation for my last name. I’ve re-released a lot of music in Spanish as well, and that’s something that’s gonna happen a bit more. So there’s a lot more I would love to do because I don’t take it lightly, I’m very honored.”
We love hearing her speak so passionately about being Latino, and we can’t wait to hear her Spanish music. Natascha Elena Uhlmann, a Mexican author, and immigration activist also questioned Gomez about what it is like to now be more open about her background and the things her family endured.
Uhlmann asked, “Thank you for your vulnerability in sharing your own family’s experiences with immigration. My family has felt the pain of borders and it terrifies me how hostile the world has become since then. How do you balance the importance of sharing our experiences with the system – giving it a human face – with fear of putting our loved ones at risk?”
Gomez responded by saying, “It’s definitely frightening, but I think sometimes you have to do the things that scare you in order to shake people up. My goal was to simply humanize my people because they were being called aliens, criminals, and I can’t even imagine what these kids being separated from their families are going through. It’s something that is going to traumatize them for the rest of their lives. And it just seems animalistic; it is scary but I think it needs to be talked about, so that’s where my heart was coming from when I signed on to do a project (Living Undocumented) that addressed such a big issue.”
Click here to read the rest of the interview.
