MANILA, Philippines — Aristotle Condenuevo Pollisco, better known as the rapper Gloc-9, will launch a new batch of poetry chapbooks at this year's Philippine Book Festival.
Gloc-9 is no stranger to poetry, his rapping skills aside, having released the poetry book "Akin Lang Naman" in 2017 with ABS-CBN Publishing.
Using his real name, Gloc-9 is launching the seven-part "Makata sa Pinas" in collaboration with Everything's Fine. The book design is by Dan Durante with cover designs by JC Lo.
The seven chapbooks are shaped around the rapper reexamining his discography, revisiting recurring themes and subject matter that consistently surface throughout his music.
The first three — "Pagkatao," "Pangarap," and "Pursigi" — are all personal to Gloc-9, particularly the first as it tracks his development as a poet and roots in Binangonan, Rizal.
"Pangarap" includes poems about Gloc-9's dreams of becoming a songwriter and a rapper, reaching those aspirations, and reassessing what that means to him while "Pursigi" is about the kind of hard work and persistence that reaching one's ambitions demands, the clarity of one's goals, and the importance of holding on to one's values.
RELATED: Gloc-9 reveals reason why he refuses to write 'Upuan' part 2
The next two, "Pagibig" and "Komunidad," show a shift in the rapper's storytelling. "Pagibig," naturally, touches on all kinds of love — familial, romantic, and the kind that unravels and ends painfully.
"Komunidad" is about the people in one's neighborhood, from those we constantly approach and care for, as well as ones we don't see as often.
The final chapbooks take yet another turn, this time the political aspects of Gloc-9's words.
"Lipunan" looks at the society we've collectively — and often unconsciously — built, shaped by who we've become and by the hate and compassion we choose to nurture within it.
"Bayan" is composed of Filipino stories that few songwriters speak of, from the perspective of the struggling majority who suffer in the hands of the wealthy and powerful few.
Gloc-9 will be present at the launch of his "Makata sa Pinas" at the Philippine Book Festival 2026, taking place at SM Megamall's Megatrade Hall on March 12 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.