Los Rakas

(image by Tragik)

In the last year, artists like Flex, Eddy Lover and La Factoría have exported Panamanian music to the top of the charts in the U.S. and Mexico. Now Los Rakas are hoping to plant the roots of reggaetón in a stronghold of West Coast rap: Oakland, California.

Born and raised in Panamá, cousins Abdull Dominguez (DunDun) and Ricardo Guillam Bethancourt (Rico AKA Filthy Rich) settled in Oakland, California as teens. Taking their name from "raka," Panamanian slang for "ghetto," Los Rakas debuted in 2006 with the Panabay Twist mix-tape.

The album's first single, Mi Barrio, is a pounding bilingual track that's a bit more reggae than hip hop; imagine El General gliding between English and Spanish over a modern dancehall beat. The song has become an anthem in their native Panamá.

Oakland, home to political hip hop like The Coup and Zion I, is a fitting backdrop for a straight-up polemic track like "Invasion of Panamá '89" in which Los Rakas explore the recent history of their motherland: "Killing with no purpose at all, I can't believe [George H.] Bush would do this to y'all, attacking unexpectedly, bombing in the presence of Jesus."

See: myspace.com/losrakas1