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Words by Eddie STATS Houghton
Y’all know we are Los Rakas stans around here. Hell, we are actually naturalized citizens of West Rakastan (henceforth I would like to be referred to as ‘Raka Stats.’ Not really.) And in the spirit of our homeland we are giving LargeUp readers a chance at visiting the motherland when Los Rakas come to New York this Saturday November 19th to bless the stage at SOBs.
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Words by Eddie STATS Houghton
Y’all know we have been repping Los Rakas something gargantuan for a minute–and any lingering doubts about them being the leaders of rap’s multilingual new school were dispelled Friday night when they tore down Tammany Hall (miraculously rebuilt within 24 hours) in the LES Friday night at their LargeUp-sponsored EP release bashy. That EP–Chancletas y Camisetas Bordadas–drops today and a few hours in it is already #1 on iTunes “hip-hop & reggaeton” charts. Not that we’re trying to take credit or anything. On the contrary, rather than big ourselves up, we’ll just reprint the big-ups Okayplayer gave us (*switching hats):
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Words by Eddie STATS Houghton, photo by Martei Korley
Our Panabay dudes Los Rakas just dropped this video for “Ta Lista”–their newest track to leak off the upcoming EP Chancletas y Camisetas Bordada, which drops in August. Watch below or stream/download over at FADER–we recommend the video though, cause if most music videos strive for maximum eye-candy then this joint is like a eye-pinata.
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A LargeUp Exclusive Webisode – Words by Eddie STATS
For our newest edition of Now Things series (see the features on Maluca and Kid Daytona here and here, respectively) we caught up with Panaman via Oakland rappers Los Rakas, chopping it up with the duo when they passed true NYC to destroy a show at SOBs. These dudes have generated a lot of buzz lately in all quarters, from the turfing scene in the bay to the Caribbean with their ability to jump from a playero riddim to some of the most exciting Spanglish rap happening right now. Bigger things are obviously in store cause in addition to touring with Collie Buddz, they just announced their August 20th appearance at Central Park Summerstage alongside Meta & The Cornerstones today. Click play to get the full story on them, their forthcoming EP Chancletas y Camisetas Bordada (artwork after the jump) which drops around the same time and catch a little vapor of their onstage presence. It’s going to be a Raka redhot summer.
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Words by DJ Gravy via DJ Child
To help raise awareness and funds for DJ Kool Herc’s current medical situation, Oakland, California’s DJ Child, along with Ras Terms and; Safety 1st of Black Diamond Shining (BDS), put this mix together to provide word, sound, image & power to pay homage to a visionary, pioneer and father of this culture we call hiphop.
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Words by DJ Theory
DJ Child is the hardest-working man in the reggae biz that you’ve never heard of–if you rely on mainstream channels for your music discovery, that is. As the mind behind Oakland-based Project Groundation, he is a pioneer on several levels; of a new mixtape format that condenses two or three LPs worth of original material into a coherent product with a central theme, of a particular musical vision that combines rasta-inflected reggae (think Sizzla) and fight the power gangster rap (think Dead Prez), and a post-digital DIY indie approach to music that encompasses everything from designing your own graphics to growing your own food. Appropriately, when Child and LARGE UP correspondent and music dude DJ Theory sat down to chop it up, they covered everything from dwarf banana trees to prison documentaries and the reggae scene in Mali.
