We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nestor Barrientos a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nestor , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Well I’d say my first album, Cutting Ties, was definitely the most meaningful. I’ve always tried putting my all into my projects. With Cutting Ties being my first album it was a big deal to me, it felt like this massive milestone I’d built up in my head. I look back and the album comes from a place of frustration and confusion, not just in the industry but key points of my life. I felt, at the time, like everyone was against me and I didn’t know it at the time but I had placed a massive weight on my shoulders. I like to think I’m a very different person now, and honestly at times when I hear songs from the album, I feel a bit sad. Sad, because if you listen to the album start to finish I wanted to take listeners on the same emotional roller-coaster I felt my life had been on. I succeeded, but all the things I spoke about came from a place of anger and hurt. I don’t regret the album, though I don’t think some of the things I’d said at the time were justified. I do believe in that time I was just a kid who felt he needed to be heard. That album still echoes in my life today, it tells my story and my feelings at the time. I see things differently now, because I’ve grown, but it was art, it was my raw expression and for that reason I have no regrets.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a rapper, a musician, and a poet, I love words and the power they hold. My love for music started very early on, I discovered hiphop and rap at the age of 6. At around 9 I started writing my own rhymes, nothing special just whatever my early vocabulary would lend me. It was always just a weird habit I had, I’d hear a word or phrase and start scribbling them on napkins or old receipts. Wordplay was always fun to me, and poetry in my English class was like a game of disecting words. In 7th or 8th grade I discovered Edgar Allen Po and the way you could use your words to guide listeners through a journey of emotions. Rap for me was always about the lyricism and words for me. It just calls to me, like fresh colors call to a painter, or fresh ingredients to a chef. Words are power, understanding them and using them is an art form. On my songs I do my best to give them justice, to say some of the slickest metaphors. It’s satisfying to me, to relisten and hear my own easter eggs, my own puzzles in my music. I listen to other lyricists with the same attention, to breakdown their thoughts, their double entendres. To me, it’s a game, like chess, with an infinite number of possibilities different breakdowns, interpretations, and views on life expression.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Everybody tries to give advice on how your path should look. There’s no blueprint, everyones story is different, it almost has to be different. Regardless of the field or industry you’re pursuing, those who are considered to be the greatest in that field, always have backstory that makes you wonder how they got there. If everyone had the same story, that same A to Z, there would be no ‘Greats’ we’d all just be people equally good, or bad, at everything, and nothing would be special. The biggest thing I’ve had to learn is that it’s alright not to be out of the gate, best there ever was. It’s alright to fail horribly in areas that others succeeded. As long as you move with the intention to advance and learn from your failures, it doesn’t matter how you reach your goal. I mean if you want it bad enough, you won’t even hesitate to try a different path to get you there.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding thing about being an artist, is my ability to play. I watch peers who decided to settle for jobs or career paths just because they pay the bills. I understand having responsibilities, however I am a firm believer we should all find a passion. Something that excites the inner child, something that we do for ourselves just for the love of our own happiness. Bow your passion doesn’t need to be something creative, but mine just happens to be. I am beyond grateful, it is a reward in itself to have something in my life that I can pursue, but also makes me happy. I think things like that are easy to overlook as an important part of life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/Nesquick17
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nesquick17
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/nesquick117

Image Credits

Nesquick
Cutting Ties album cover
Stick Figure Cover art