Becky G on Her Personal and Professional Growth After 'Emotional' Year: 'I'm Enough for Me' (Exclusive)

Following a monumental year of milestones in her life and career, Becky G is taking a moment to reflect.

Since the beginning of 2022, the pop performer has earned the highest-charting single of her career, performed on the Coachella main stage and announced her first-ever headlining tour — more than a decade after her breakout hit, "Shower."

"When I hear you say 10-plus years... It makes me happy that I'm only 26, but it's just wild to hear that, 'cause it makes me feel old," Becky, who's currently partnering with Cheetos on the brand's Deja tu Huella campaign to support Hispanic college students, tells PEOPLE. "I'm definitely not old, but it's crazy."

Last year, she released her second album Esquemas, which spawned several hits, including "Mamiii" with Karol G. The high-energy reggaetón collaboration reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 (out-peaking "Shower" by one spot) and earned critical acclaim, proving that Becky's time in the spotlight is nowhere near complete.

"It's a really good example of what happens when women come together," she says of the song. "I think that we are so deserving of all of the space in these very, very tough industries that have definitely put some obstacles in front of us. But I think with those obstacles has come [a] really great opportunity to show up, collaborate and show that — in Spanish I like to say, 'Juntos somos más' — together we're more."

Following the hit's success, as Becky prepared for her latest birthday in March, she felt as though she was on the brink of a new chapter. In the past, she generally avoided thinking of aging as a big deal, but this time around it felt different. "Once I was midway through 25, I was like, 'Man, I feel like there's this deep desire inside of me to finally expand,'" she recalls.

Having risen to fame as a teenager, she often felt older than she was, but reality finally caught up to her. "I feel like I had to have answers, being so young, navigating this industry and wearing this badge of the mature child for so long, that I'm like, 'I'm low-key this underdeveloped adult. I've got to go out into the world and learn new things,'" she says.

At the beginning of 2023, Becky already knew her main stage Coachella performance was on the books in addition to other business ventures. During a therapy session in January, she felt a "manifesting energy" within herself.

"I kept telling my therapist, 'Something's going to happen on that Coachella stage,'" she explains. "I was thinking of the set list, and I was like, 'From 'Singing in the shower' Becky to who I've become today and all I've learned in that time, it's the end of an era.'"

The major performance also marked one of Becky's first since fiancé Sebastian Lletget issued a public apology to the musician in response to infidelity rumors in March, after which she stepped out at the iHeartRadio Music Awards sans engagement ring.

Becky expected Coachella to feel like a moment of "rebirth," which inspired the way she designed the show — a career-spanning set featuring fellow Latin surprise guest stars Marca MP, Fuerza Regida, Peso Pluma, Libianca and Natti Natasha.

Ultimately, she crafted the show through "a more mature lens" from her desire to always give "200%" in her work, which she learned growing up in a Mexican-American family with immigrant grandparents.

"That cross street between two languages, two flags, two cultures, not feeling enough. What does that even mean? Enough for who? I'm enough for me," declares Becky. "That whole journey of self-evolution has been so liberating and super empowering. Definitely emotional, but I think in the best way."

With a fresh perspective following Coachella, she's now preparing to embark on the Mi Casa, Su Casa Tour throughout North America later this year — which will accompany her forthcoming third album, an exploration of regional Mexican music in honor of her family.

"I keep making this joke that the tour is going to be a little bit like how my tacos, which is a little bit of everything on top. I feel like it's been such a long time coming," says Becky. "Fans who embarked on the journey with me since the very beginning, and then fans that came in at different eras will be able to all come together in this one small, intimate space. It's a huge milestone for me."