It is truly difficult to bring words to life when speaking on behalf of yourself. I’ll start with my name, Santiago or Santi. My passion for writing always has been a love and hate relationship, but it always conveys emotion. Its a love/hate relationship because there are times where the words just flow right through me like right at this moment. I stare at my iced coffee with little to no ice for lack of engagement in my words. We get lost in the text, just like we get lost in our thoughts. I am not an aspiring wunderkind, I just have a story to tell like we all do. My story like many always comes from the depths of experience, for without experience the story is dull. Like a delicious steak without a wine pairing, like peanut butter, no jelly. I welcome you to my world, I hope to bring together the recipe of my life and spill it out in words for you all to understand the depths of me. I write because it is the ultimate expression of character. I can use my words vocally but what do these words all really mean?

We speak through emotion at times, we raise our voices and say words we don’t necessarily mean, this is the problem with being vocal. Emotions mixed with the spoken word at times have consequences, the same is invoked with the written word, but you have to really ponder what your verse will be. You have the luxury of time with the written word. Written words are a contract, you have to stand behind what you say, sure you can adjust your thoughts, but again, it is only possible to do so with experience. Which brings me to how I write, I believe the essence of good work comes from being vulnerable on the blank page, describing the emotions you feel and deliberately facing yourself with the page to transcribe these emotions. It is open for your interpretation as a reader.  My daughter invokes emotions, when I think of her the faces she makes when she brings me inspiration to write how I can picture her life playing out. That is where you will see the spurts of emotion flow through my words. We all have parts in our lives that light us up from inside, we write about these moments the most because they are brightness in our lives. Brutal honesty, this is what is required to get lost in the words.

I am a writer, I knew that when I was in high school, I felt it in my bones when I would hear Tupac, Notorious BIG, and the Wu-Tang Clan. I may not have grown up with the same oppression they had to endure in my life, but love is love, hate is hate. Both are equally relevant to distinguish, the stories behind these artist lives are the heartbeat of many New Yorkers in the 90’s. If these songs do not move you, it is because the stories do not hold any significance in your life. I come from poverty, I am a proud Latino. I paint the image of my life just as these artist do in their artworks.