Raka Rich
Raka Rich
Early Life
Raka Rich was born in Northern California and moved to Panama City as a child, living there until he was 12. He's always been attracted to the whimsical nature of sound and rhythm and began experimenting with his own rhymes at a young age. His father used to lived in California and held a green card, but was eventually deported when he had a run in with the law. [11]
His name is a play on the Panamanian slur "Rakataka," a derogatory word for someone from the ghetto.
He spins it on its head to show that not everything from the ghetto is negative.
Career
Raka Rich started networking and building his music career at East Oakland's Youth UpRising community center. In a profile by Alamedamagazine he said: [12]
"I was part of BUMP records, which was a youth record label program.
We started at Youth UpRising in 2005 and became a group in 2006.
We learned everything we could from Youth UpRising.
They had the videos, the studios, the resources that we needed to start with the music.
In 2011, that’s when we became international.
We put out a double disc—a mixtape and DVD so people can understand our flavor"
2010 saw mainstream success for the duo, playing at Snoop Dogg's Smoke Out Festival, recording "Desorden" with Diplo, Collaborating with Blondie, and topping it all off with a new EP, Chancletas y Camisetas Bordada.
Los Rakas have been able to achieve widespread success with very little help from labels, releasing most of their stuff through iTunes and Bandcamp. However, in 2014, they released a full-length album calledEl Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo on the Universal Latino label. Around that time Los Rakas worked with Sebastian Krys, Kafu Banton, Kat Dahlia, former Prince percussionist Sheila E., and Scoop De Ville. [13]
After releasing El Negrito Dun Dun & Ricardo and their Raka Love EP on major labels, Los Rakas dropped Manes del Negocio on Delicious Vinyl Island and their own imprint, Raka Music.