Besides Manu Chao, MGMT, Cypress Hill, Damian & Nas at Smokeout Fest on October 16th in San Bernadino, CA, newly added Los Rakas are set to perform as well!
Panamanian-born, Oakland-bred cousins Raka Rich and Raka Dun, lit up New York City last month w/ their set at the Bowery Ballroom which blew a lot of people’s minds w/ the 6 piece B Satz Ensemble; receiving love from the NY Times to National Geographic to Argentina’s Pagina 12.
Their special brand of sensitive love songs mixed with gritty tropical hip-hop, bouncy pop and dancehall riddims topped off with culturally relevant nod to their afro-Panamanian heritage, is fresh and needed!
“We learned a little bit about our culture in Oakland. As far as being African, being black. In Latin America, they don’t teach us anything about African culture. So we wanted to spread the message on as far as Afro-Latinos. In Oakland, a lot of of people are amazed when they hear us speaking Spanish…and we’re like ‘Why are you amazed? There’s black people everywhere’ – and so we felt like it’s a necessity for us to tell people about it and spread the word.” – Los Rakas interview w/ Raul Campos from Los Angeles’ 89.9 KCRW
Check out the guys at work in NYC during some last-minute recording before returning back to Oakland. Shout out to Jonathan and all the good people at The Zoo Studios in the South Bronx.
And finally, their newly dropped video for Abrazame ft. Favi (Uproot Andy Hold Yuh) directed by Aris Jerome. Bella!