Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Secret Service Op

“He’s like family to me, and I’d do anything for him,” says Derrick (“St@tus”) Santiago about Eric (“E.S.”) Sanchez. Santiago and Sanchez make up the local hip-hop duo Secret Service.

Santiago was talking about donating one of his kidneys to Sanchez, who in 2006 was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, an autoimmune disorder that affects the kidneys.

On December 10, Secret Service checked into UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest for kidney-transplant surgery.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Looking at him in the hospital was emotional,” says Sanchez, who is recovering from the procedure in his Serra Mesa home. “He’s a new father and is engaged. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything. It was scary.”

Sanchez and Santiago have known each other since they were teenagers and started writing and performing music together 16 years ago.

Since that 2006 diagnosis, when he wasn’t attached to a dialysis machine, Sanchez looked for a suitable kidney donor.

Santiago took the tests to see if his kidney would be a match. While doing so, in November 2009, the hip-hop duo decided to get back to making music.

“Everybody was responding to the new tracks and we were getting gigs, but we had to turn them down because of the dialysis treatments,” says Sanchez. “I guess you could say my disease was an inconvenience and was putting a strain on trying to make this music thing happen.”

Last summer, Santiago got word that his kidney was a suitable match for his friend.

It’s been several weeks since the transplant, and Sanchez’s and Santiago’s recoveries are apparently progressing. On January 23, Secret Service started recording a new track at Batkave Studios in Rolando for a record due out in May.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Holiday Market At Petco Park, Will Smith’s Dance in the Darkness Tour, Light Shows, Snowfall, Caroling

Events December 12-December 13, 2024
Next Article

Live Five: Andrew Peña, Frankie J, Beat Farmers, Jesse LaMonaca, Puddles Pity Party

Latin, roots rock, and pity parties in Mission Beach, Little Italy, El Cajon

“He’s like family to me, and I’d do anything for him,” says Derrick (“St@tus”) Santiago about Eric (“E.S.”) Sanchez. Santiago and Sanchez make up the local hip-hop duo Secret Service.

Santiago was talking about donating one of his kidneys to Sanchez, who in 2006 was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, an autoimmune disorder that affects the kidneys.

On December 10, Secret Service checked into UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest for kidney-transplant surgery.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Looking at him in the hospital was emotional,” says Sanchez, who is recovering from the procedure in his Serra Mesa home. “He’s a new father and is engaged. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything. It was scary.”

Sanchez and Santiago have known each other since they were teenagers and started writing and performing music together 16 years ago.

Since that 2006 diagnosis, when he wasn’t attached to a dialysis machine, Sanchez looked for a suitable kidney donor.

Santiago took the tests to see if his kidney would be a match. While doing so, in November 2009, the hip-hop duo decided to get back to making music.

“Everybody was responding to the new tracks and we were getting gigs, but we had to turn them down because of the dialysis treatments,” says Sanchez. “I guess you could say my disease was an inconvenience and was putting a strain on trying to make this music thing happen.”

Last summer, Santiago got word that his kidney was a suitable match for his friend.

It’s been several weeks since the transplant, and Sanchez’s and Santiago’s recoveries are apparently progressing. On January 23, Secret Service started recording a new track at Batkave Studios in Rolando for a record due out in May.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Rapper Wax wishes his name looked like an email password

“You gotta be search-engine optimized these days”
Next Article

Holiday Market At Petco Park, Will Smith’s Dance in the Darkness Tour, Light Shows, Snowfall, Caroling

Events December 12-December 13, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader