Maria Becerra: From YouTuber to Chart-Topper

This story is part of Billboard‘s Mujeres Latinas en la Música package.

Maria Becerra‘s charisma and versatility have made her a force to be reckoned with. Since emerging on the international scene of the ever-expanding global Latin music community with her debut album Animal two years ago, the Argentine singer-songwriter continues to chart in her native Argentina and beyond with her unique style and unmistakable voice.

With La Nena de Argentina (2022) — her most personal and multifaceted album to date — she has garnered more than 301 million plays on Spotify alone. Her delectable mix of pop, cumbia villera, bachata and reggaetón, with lyrics that speak of love, heartbreak and female empowerment, has resonated with a growing and diverse audience. In her own words, her goal is to deliver “quality music with songs that transcend time.”

Becerra started as a YouTuber as an adolescent and was nominated for a Latin Grammy for best new artist in 2021. To date, she has achieved three entries on Hot Latin Songs, including her hit with “Qué Más Pues?” with J Balvin, as well as two top 10 entries on Latin Airplay (the No. 1 hit “Te Espero” with Prince Royce, and “Éxtasis” with Manuel Turizo at No. 9) and five entries on Latin Rhythm Airplay.

La Nena de Argentina will be honored as a Visionary at Billboard‘s inaugural Latin Women in Music gala, which will air on Telemundo on Sunday, May 7.

Billboard: What does being a visionary mean to you?

Maria Becerra: I really feel that you have to have a lot of confidence in the project, and a lot of people around you who also trust, who push forward and constantly contribute ideas. I am a very active person, a person who shoots ideas, who wants to generate new concepts, who wants to make new and different genres. I think it goes more on that side, in the sense of not stagnating and always thinking about new things and looking to the future.

It’s been two years since you released your debut, Animal. What have you learned since then that you value today?

What I value most is having learned to work. I was very young when all this happened to me. I started with music at 17, and at 19, suddenly I was living alone, I had a career, I had a salary, I had to record myself in the studio, do publicity, photos, interviews. And today, at 23, I can say that I love infinitely what I do and I make a very long trip of a month away from my family, but I’m not bad. [Before, I was] “No, no, no, no, I can’t handle this, I can’t handle this pressure, I can’t handle this job.” Today, yes, I am 23 years old, but I am an empowered woman, I am independent, I go out, I go to another country, I go for a month, I go to work, I go to learn about culture, and to make music with producers.

I am happy because my self-esteem goes up incredibly, because I am working for what I love. Having understood that, I feel that it was what has given me answers and peace of mind.

Before you became a singer, you started making videos on YouTube and achieved success on the platform at a very young age. Tell me about those beginnings.

It was around 11, 12 years old. Actually, I started on YouTube when I was very young. I made videos singing covers: One Direction, Whitney Houston. And I would upload them to YouTube, I was happy. Very few people saw them. I did a lot of casting also online. When I was about 15, I had a video that went super viral, and then I said “this is my moment.” It was four years in which I uploaded videos all the time, blogs, videos [of me] singing, doing sketches. I recorded them, I edited them myself, I was always very autonomous. And the people were encouraging me to “leave the channel aside and dedicate yourself to music.” It was at 19 that I decided to dedicate myself [to music] professionally and that’s when it all started.

Seizing the moment!

Totally. If the world is not giving me the opportunity […] I’m going to do it myself. I think it is something that, thank God, is happening to the new generations because of all the social networks, because of all the massification there is with the networks, with everything. So, luckily we can undertake it, and we can make ourselves known.

How did you get the nickname La Nena de Argentina?

La Nena de Argentina came up on a song “Animal” with Cazzu. At the end of the song, when we were recording it in the studio, we said: “Let’s record some taglines to finish.” She threw one at me, “Las nenas de Argentina” (or Argentina’s baby), but people didn’t understand that she had said “Las nenas de Argentina” (plural). They started to call me “La Nena de Argentina”, and it stayed.

How did you feel when your songs started appearing on the Billboard charts?

Unbelievable. Billboard is a very important media in music. Being part of a list or an interview is extremely important, it is a very nice recognition for any artist. I think that since I was a little girl, you have Billboard in your head, because your favorite artist appears on Billboard. So it is something very gratifying.

Tell me about your musical inspirations.

My biggest inspirations have always been the great women in music — Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Amy Winehouse, Montserrat Caballé, Ariana Grande, Rihanna. I was always a big fan of women with big voices, with incredible stage presence, with vocal strength, in their gestures, in their performance, in everything. Their strong way of being, so empowered, filled me with desire.

You have several tattoos, which was the last one and what meaning does it have for you?

The last thing I tattooed was an upside down wine glass. I did it with my manager and his daughter. It’s a shared tattoo. We were drunk, actually. We had a release party for my song “Automático,” and we brought tattoo artists. There was a lot of alcohol and we said, “Shall we tattoo something together?!” “Well, come on!” “The glass!” we said, because he [her manager] likes wine. It’s nice to have it shared, I think that’s the important thing.

Do you have any hidden talents that the public doesn’t know about?

I am a very good cook. I make very good pot roast, mother’s food. I love to make potato pie, polenta, pasta and lots of it. I cook with a lot of love.

Tickets to Billboard’s Latin Women In Music can be purchased here.