Afropop Worldwide

The Panamanian Duo Los Rakas (composed of cousins Raka Rich and Raka Dun) released a short video today, which features lyrical rapping from “El Negrito Dun Dun” (as he is dubbed in the video). His voice is softened by a long, lonely echo, which bounces in time without even a beat to ground it. The video seems to express the homesickness and ambivalence of many Latino immigrants in the U.S. http://youtu.be/iQ7UaPTQSts The title, “Mi Pais” (‘My Country’) appears over the Oakland skyline, even as Dun sings with nostalgia about returning to his homeland of Panama. The black and white camera follows Dun as he moves through the city, passing Central American bodegas, taking the metro, and eventually meeting up with his compadres in the studio. While he laments that many of his countrymen and other fellow Latinos have come to the United States, “but their American Dream was never realized,” Dun states that music has kept him here, chasing his own dream. “Nothing is free, and living in America is much harder.” Well, here's to the hustle. Happy International Workers Day.