Raka Rich and Raka Dun celebrate the release of their debut album, “El Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo” at The Independent in San Francisco tomorrow. The group will rock with a full band as they prepare for upcoming shows in Sacramento, Santa Cruz and Swarthmore College this month. The group is also confirmed for Electric Forest Festival with Schoolboy Q and more exciting festival dates to be announced!

citylogo-lg

If you’re going to listen to anyone about how broken the U.S. immigration system is, it may as well be Oakland duo Los Rakas. Cousins Raka Rich and Raka Dun should know: They emigrated here from Panama, and, though they’ve risen quickly in the world of Spanish-language hip-hop and R&B, they haven’t forgotten their roots. The first single off of El Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo, their recent major-label debut album, is called “Sueño Americano,” and it’s a fierce meditation on the travails of leaving home for El Norte, and all the ways the journey can end in tears, or worse: “The rent is high, the law is bad — without papers, you’re nothing,” they sing. Not that Los Rakas are always so heavy: Their new album blends this smoldering indictment with romantic R&B and smooth, buoyant rap.”

Los Rakas’ new album “El Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo” IS OUT NOW on iTunes & Amazon.

Video: Sueño Americano
“Sueño Americano” (“American Dream”) – a song and video that could change the world – takes a hard look at the story of a frustrated young immigrant who faces the death penalty after one bad decision – a botched armed robbery – not only forces him to lose his best friend (in the video, played by Raka Rich), but shows how the American Dream does not always go according to plan.