Exclusive: Rico From Los Rakas Dishes On Rocking 'The Spot'

By Michael Lopez

A couple weeks ago, we told you about Tego Calderón kicking off an ongoing summer concert series. Well, now it looks like the trend is catching on, with a new batch of live shows labeled "The Spot" running all month long in New York's Soho district. One of the groups set to perform this week are the Panamanian-American duo Los Rakas and we spoke exclusively to co-frontman Rico about the experience.

"We're really happy to be on the lineup this week," he said. "We're honored."

Rico (aka Raka Rich) formed Los Rakas with fellow mic master Dun Dun (aka Raka Dun). Their unique blend of hip-hop, reggae, and dancehall has built up quite a following. Rhyming in both English and Spanish, they truly fall into a musical category all their own.

"It's really freestyle what we do," Rico explained. "It all comes from the heart. We do cumbia songs, we do house music, we create music for the people and do it for the love."

Panamanian music is a big part of their sound too. Dun was born and raised in Panama, and Rico spent a good portion of his childhood there. Obviously the sounds of Central America greatly influenced the duo, as did one "special" native musician who actually contributed to Los Rakas' new album.

"We’ve got my grandma on the one of the tracks of our new EP," Rico said enthusiastically. "It's crazy because I used to hear her sing. But to actually get my grandmother on a song, that's amazing! Mostly because my grandma doesn't do our style of music."

Judging from the massive fan base Los Rakas has on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, A LOT of people "do" their style of music. And Rico seems to be extremely grateful for the positive support. Right now, he and Dun are putting the final touches on their new EP.

"The new EP is going to be fresh!" he explained. "You don't have to speak Spanish to grasp on to it. We've also got some great producers working on it."

You can hear some samples of Los Rakas tracks on their heavily populated website. And if you happen to be in the New York area on July 21, make sure to catch them live at "The Spot!"

Are you a fan of Los Rakas? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Exclusive Entrevistas, Hot Stuff, Los Rakas, Música, Panama, Raka Dun, Raka Rich, The Spot, Tr3s Exclusives