With This Week’s Release Of LOS RAKAS’ Debut Album “El Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo” – The Panamanian Born, Now Oakland Based Duo Vaults Multicultural Hip-Hop Into The Top Ranks of iTunes’ Latin Chart.

 

 

Even Though It Is Only the Group’s First Full Album, The Highly Anticipated Release Lands In The Top-5 Of Latin Sales – Alongside The Likes of Shakira, Romeo Santos, Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, Calle 13, Santana, Marc Anthony & More – While Being Hailed As: Exhilarating …comparable to Outkast’s ‘Speakerboxxx/The Love Below’ …like the best and most classic hip-hop … infused with bracing elements of Latin rock, reggae and dancehall. …pioneering, fearless creators… tackling immigrant reality in the U.S (see sample reviews below)

 

 

 

The Album’s Likewise Just Released Second Single “Sueño Americano” Has Been Chosen As This Week’s iTunes Latin Single of the Week, and Is Accompanied By A Chilling New Video That Los Rakas Describe As:

‘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 but shows how the American Dream does not always go according to plan.’

 

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“[Los Rakas] are Latino music tastemakers…  It’s tempting to compare Los Rakas‘ new record to Outkast’s ‘Speakerboxxx/The Love Below’ …Like the best and most classic hip-hop, El Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo gives us macro world views of micro communities, connecting what they see with their eyes and whatever ambitions and fantasies they want to fulfill…. ‘Sueño Americano tackles immigrant reality in the U.S., brought forth by sober guitars and superb production” – Remezcla

 

“Los Rakas’ debut album, El Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo is exhilarating. …If there’s one thing that the boys from Los Rakas know, its diversity… Raka Dun and Raka Rich, go way beyond bilingual. They’re bicultural… With 14 tracks that range from hip-hop to EDM, from hard rap to soul, ‘El Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo’ illustrates the broad range of genres that Los Rakas has both been inspired by and embraced– Complex

 

“Los Rakas turns out hip-hop that’s infused with bracing elements of Latin rock, reggae and dancehall. ‘Sueño Americano’ is a seductive calling card… presenting the group’s melting pot of influences over a hypnotic sampled beat concocted by the BOYZfromMARZ production unit, while electric and acoustic guitar leads twist and turn under the Rakas’ raga-tinged lyricism.”– iTunes’ Single of the Week

 

That the immigrant experience in the U.S. is not always, or often, what it’s cracked up to be — a fairy tale of moving, hope, hard work, and eventual success of the kind you hear at political party conventions — is the subject of “Sueño Americano,” the new single and video from Oakland’s Los Rakas. These two should know. Born in Panama, Raka Rich and Raka Dun take their name from a Panamanian slur used to describe someone from the ghetto. Their latest single, off of today’s major-label debut, ‘El Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo’, tells how the hopes of the migrant can so easily be squelched by a system that offers little opportunity and even less concern. – SF Weekly

 

“Latin America’s love affair with the urbano and Latin hip hop genres shows no sign of letting up, so Los Rakas couldn’t have picked a better time to release their major label debut album. ‘El Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo contains 14-tracks of the trademark-for-those-in-the-know ‘Raka’ sound—plena– and reggae- infused hip-hop with a global bass edge. … They take their name from the Panamanian word “Rakataka, ” long a slur used to describe someone from the ghetto. The duo ‘reclaim’ the term into a proudly touted badge for cultural rebels ‘looking to inspire and embolden fellow ‘Rakas’ to become successful despite their circumstances.’ In fact, one of my favorite tracks on the album, Dun’s ‘Sueno Americano,’ is an apt track for the immigration debate occurring in the States these days.  Now with the backing of a label, they will continue to carve a lane as pioneering, fearless creators without a set genre or cultural identification limitation.” – Sounds and Colors

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Sueño Americano  (The American Dream – English Translation)

 

These guys don’t know anything about me – Nor do they know what it’s taken for me to survive

Life in America is not what I thought – And even less how they think it is

Those who don’t live here – It’s hard homie, this ain’t Panama

Where if you don’t have something – The neighbor gives it to you

Here, if you want something, you have to find it – And if you don’t have work, you have to sin

Cause the rent is high, the law is bad – Without papers, you’re nothing

They don’t treat you like a human being – This is a message for all of my people

 

(Chorus)

Hey nothing is like it was before – Things have changed – But you have to keep moving forward

I am an immigrant and they treat me – Like I am a criminal (Repeat)

 

The American dream – It’s the American dream

That’s how the American dream is – It’s the American dream

 

The circumstance limits me – I can’t go to college

Because I don’t have my green card – I’m without a job and a negative mind

Doing what has to be done to get to the top – You feel me?

I’m not the same innocent kid anymore – America turned me into a delinquent

Hanging with dudes who rob and sell – Drinking, smoking, making trouble

And my mom is tired, yesterday she called me – She said she can’t anymore

That all day she’s praying to God – That it all goes well for me – And that I’ll never go astray

 

And my eyes begin to water – She needs me and I can’t even help her

Forgive me mother – Soon me and Rico will have fame and fortune

 

(Chorus)

Hey nothing is like it was before – Things have changed – But you have to keep moving forward

I am an immigrant and they treat me – Like I am a criminal (Repeat)

 

The American dream – It’s the American dream

That’s how the American dream is – It’s the American dream

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Download El Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo at iTunes or Amazon  

Please Visit:

www.losrakas.com

twitter.com/LosRakas

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