Most teenagers enjoy listening to hip-hop and rap. But for Senior Dante Sanchez, listening isn’t enough. Rapping in his spare time is what truly connects him to the music. Of course, every rapper needs a… cool whip. For Sanchez, this means his bright white 2006 Mercedes-Benz C230. He got the car about seven months ago, but what a seven months it has been for him.
Sanchez was inspired to rap by Linkin Park, his favorite band. “I got VIP tickets to their concert in L.A. and I got to go on stage. They had this look in their eyes that said they wanted to do this forever. The way they made 30,000 people go nuts inspired me to rap on my own,” he explained.
Unlike other rappers, Sanchez didn’t come from humble beginnings. “I started off on the good side. Nothing crazy or bad happened to me,” he said. However, his setup could use some help, as he said, “I make songs with only a computer and a karaoke microphone.”
Sanchez also enjoys rapping in his car. “I get beats online, burn them to a CD, and freestyle over them in my car. One day, I’ll go to a mall, bring speakers, and do it in public,” he explained.
When he isn’t working on his music, he doesn’t mind participating in a little car race, or two. “One night after babysitting, there was this guy on the freeway. He was driving a BMW 3 Series. He gave me this look and the next thing I knew we were racing. I was doing at least 100,” Sanchez said. His need for speed isn’t limited to just the freeway. “I was driving down Clairemont Mesa Blvd and this guy next to me started flashing his lights, said ‘Let’s go,’ and took off. I stepped on it and won. I could see him rage-quitting as I pulled onto the freeway,” Sanchez said triumphantly.
Sanchez plans to one day achieve his dream of touring the globe. “First, I’m gonna go to a concert and play my music in public and hope someone important likes it,” he said. He already has six full songs written and plans to release an album sometime in the future. “It’ll probably come out after high school. Gotta get that education first,” he added.
Whether it’s graduating high school or embarking on a world tour, Sanchez always has his eyes set on the future. It’s easy to mistake his confidence for cockiness, but Sanchez is slowly making his way to the top. As he raps in one of his songs, “Words of wisdom/the wise are always dying/I don’t know why/why I keep designing/Working to the top/yeah I keep on rising/My only words of wisdom/you ain’t living/you dying.”