After a year spent under a lockdown imposed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Selena Gomez kicked off 2021 by honouring her Latina roots with a Spanish song and will now be releasing her first full-fledged Spanish album, ‘Revelación’. In an exclusive interview with ETimes, Selena opens up about her heritage, singing in Spanish, and exploring the beauty and culture of India. Excerpts:

Selena’s fans were in for a surprise when she dropped her first Latin single, “De Una Vez” early this January. Ask her what prompted her to come up with the song and the songstress, who is known for heart-wrenching numbers, points out, “It is very special to me, as I got to connect with my heritage with the empowering track”. Living up to expectations, “Da Una Vez” debuted at No 4 on the Hot Latin Songs chart and clocked her a second top-five spot. “I couldn’t be more excited to share ‘De Una Vez’ as I am targeting my fan base and my heritage, and I truly believe the song is a beautiful love anthem,” adds the singer who also has other Spanish tracks to her credit. Hits like, ‘Taki Taki’, ‘Un Año Sin Lluvia’, ‘Fantasma de Amor’, ‘Dices’, ‘Más’ and the posthumous duet of ‘Bidi Bidi Bom Bom’ with her namesake, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, have already proved that language is not a barrier for her. “I think I sing better in Spanish,” she quips.

We agree. Going on to explain the reason why she dabbles in her mother-tongue ever so often, Selena says, “(It is about) embracing my heritage as a proud Latina. I want to immerse in the culture and it is important to join forces with some of the industry’s most influential Latin creators in order to communicate the purest vision possible.” In keeping with this vision, Selena will be dropping her first-ever Spanish-language album on March 12. Titled ‘Revelación’, the album will feature several big-names in the Latin music scene, including Tainy, Albert Hype, Jota Rosa, and NEON16.

While fans are looking forward to the new release, Selena is still basking under the praise coming her way for last year’s release ‘Rare’, which is regarded as her most ‘personal’ album yet. “It’s nice to know that ‘Rare’ became what it became for me, and obviously, I would like to say that it was the best album that I’ve released so far,” she asserts. Looking back at the year of its release, and all that it held for her professionally and personally, Selena shares, “There’s this bittersweet feeling. Of course. I would much rather the world be in a better place, yet, at the same time, it was so beautiful to see that my music could hopefully bring some people some sort of joy in the midst of it”

However, the actress is far from getting complacent. “It doesn’t mean that I’m not gonna challenge myself for the next,” she clarifies. All of 28, with so much more to sing about, Selena is now broadening her horizons and looking at other countries to ensure her music has a global presence. The singer, who collaborated with Korean-Pop stars BLACKPINK for “Ice Cream”, insists that reaching out to the Korean music industry has been a pleasure. “Especially because of how warm and welcoming the audience has been,” she smiles.

Selena and the band worked on the track over FaceTime, given the pandemic. But the singer, who thoroughly enjoyed the experience, says, “It’s also been a learning process because the language was new. But, somehow our distinct styles, along with their energy… we just fit together perfectly”, adding, “The BLACKPINK girls were so welcoming, we had an absolute blast while working on the song”.

Now that she has collaborated with an Asian band, will India be on her radar too? “I would love to visit India, whenever the pandemic ends. I have always wanted to explore the beauty and culture of the country, and it will be super to meet my fans there,” she exults. Ask the singer-actor-producer if a Bollywood film could be on the cards too, and she quips, “I’ve never been asked.” Well, that’s not a ‘no’, in case Bollywood’s reading.