Today we’d like to introduce you to Samuel Bautista.
Hi Samuel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in January 26, 1989 in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic in a town called Pueblo Nuevo. My family was very poor and lived with the struggles of a third-world country. My first memories growing up was waking up to the smell of farm animals and coffee with freshly baked bread in the morning. My Grandmother was known for raising all types of animals and providing for her family in that manner. She was very popular in the town and was known as “La Rubia” which means the blonde girl. In our town, there weren’t many people with her complexion, brown long hair and beautiful light eyes. This made her stand out from the crowd and also the fact that her grandson was as dark as the night sky. People also gave me a nickname at the time, I was known as “abichuelita negra” which means little black bean. I got the dark complexion from my dad and my grandmother got it from her roots. My great grandparents were from Puerto Rico witch as we all know is a part of the United States and because of this, my family got an opportunity to travel to New York in search for a better life.
Through a lot of hard work, sweat and tears my parents Santa and Catalino were the first to make way for my sister Margarita and I to join them in Brooklyn, NY. I was six years old at the time and I remember being so excited for this new adventure. I was also very excited to meet my little sister Girandi who was just born at the time. It was very tuff for us to adapt to this new environment with a new language and culture. I was always a very positive kid growing up so I made the best of it. Learning English was essential for our survival so my sister and I were put in a special class for that reason but our breakthrough didn’t come from that. It came from “Biggie smalls” “2 pac” and all the soulful r&b and hip hop music out at the time in the 90s. I would recite many of the lyrics and Melodys. Growing up in NY was very tuff, my parents struggled a lot and we could never find a stable home. My parents ended up splitting up when I was about 15 and I stood with my mom and little sister. As the man of the household, I felt the responsibility to take care of them and provide. I started working full-time to help my mother with rent and bills while trying to finish school and be a “regular” teenage kid.
I had a lot of struggles and responsibilities at a very young age. I always put my dreams and ambitions to the side so that I can keep my family a float. Although I was very positive and optimistic I also had a lot of anger built up inside. That anger and my struggles led up to bad decision-making and me not doing too good in school. Music was always something that kept me sane, especially RnB and hiphop. it was something about soulful music that I gravitated towards. Aside from it being my “English teacher” it just made me feel good. My mom used to take me to church a lot and that also helped because I remember I wanted to be where the musicians were because I never saw music get played live before. I remember one summer someone random paid for me to go on a missionary trip to Chile in South America. Little did I know this trip would change the course of my life forever.
When I went to Chile I was going through my own struggles back home but to see and be able to help and connect with the people there was life-changing. The one thing that stood out was that everyone my age played an instrument of some sort and the passion they had for it made me want to learn as well. the family I was staying with at the time owned an acoustic guitar. I remember I asked my friend Patricio to teach me how to play and he patiently taught me the basics. Although it was very hard to learn and I wasn’t very good at it I would stay up every night playing it because it made me feel good. when my missionary trip was over I was bringing home a new perspective and passion for life. Little did I know that trip prepared me for what was to happen in my own life.
After a few years of being back home, it was still a struggle for my family. I was getting older and felt stuck. I was good at a lot of things but was never able to fully commit to something because of my struggles. I never got to graduate high school because I was already working a full-time job and I was already making money. I was a very hard worker and felt like that’s all I had to offer so I fully committed to that at an early age so I dropped out. One day I was getting out of work and got at a call that my Mom caught three brain strokes that paralyzed her left side. The doctors told me she was never gonna be the same again and that I was lucky she was alive. for the next couple of years I took care of my mom and it was one of the darkest periods of my life. I needed something in my life that was gonna keep me sane through this process. I picked up the guitar again since my missionary trip. I decided to fully commit to it. I gave it my all and played every day till my fingers bled. I kept practicing and learning music theory. watching videos and trying to come up with my own chord progressions. learning how to produce and record my own stuff. I had a mission to finally commit to something I loved and made me feel good.
After a five years grind of learning and trying to master my craft, I finally started making income through my music by selling loops and collaborating with producers. I started to learn the business side of things and the importance of good relationships. I was enjoying every second of my journey and was making the best of my situation through it all. I finally knew what I wanted and I knew I was gonna fulfill my goals and reach my destiny. One day an artist reached out to me by the name of Justin Howell and was interested in collaborating with me. I was humbled because this guy was amazing. I’ve always been a fan of RnB and his style and vocals is just the type of artist I always imagined working with. I was excited because I knew he was gonna blow up from the moment I herd all the music he wanted me to be a part of. he introduced me to his producer Teray love and the rest is history. We dropped his first album and to no surprise, it blew up. With more than 50 million streams across all platforms. Songs where I played guitar and composed are now being played on the radio and going viral. songs like “my everything”, “faithful” and “hard days”. it felt good to have the amount of success I had for such a short period of time of me committing to the craft.
My mom ended up passing away May 3, 2020. I am fully committed to my craft and now I am a full-time musician. I get to work with some of the coolest most talented people. working with Jhowell and Teray was the icing on the cake and the opportunity I needed to take me to the next level. We are still working on more music together and got a second album on the way. I moved to California and have build the foundation I needed to continue to reach new heights and make my mom proud. I still have a long way to go and many more goals to accomplish. it feels good to walk in my purpose. I want to continue to inspire those around me with my story and hopefully have a huge impact on someone’s life.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It was very tough. I had a lot of distractions and painful struggles. I had to be a provider at a very young age.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Guitarist and producer. I’m known for creating soulful arrangements with my guitars. I am most proud of the amount of time I have been playing. I’ve been playing for seven years but turned my craft into a career in five years. witch is very rare. while others learn guitar by playing with other musicians in a band and lessons, I’m self-taught and never really played with a big band. I learned chords and making my own music before I even learned to play songs.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Humility, hardworking, willingness to learn and staying true to me.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sammystrings26/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIVkAz_1bIYovMQo52nJp_Q
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPm82i0MTHjZfgBYA9XGuLA
