Video: Los Rakas feat. Faviola: "Abrazame"

Los Rakas is one of my favorite acts coming out of the Bay Area right now. Their ability to blend hip-hop, dancehall and reggae in a way that bears little resemblance to reggaeton is unique and puts them firmly in their own lane. And while the Bay Area hip-hop scene has experienced a rebirth, Los Rakas is still fairly under the radar in their own backyard. That is not the case elsewhere however. The duo has been holdin shit down in NYC and can be found in The Fader religiously.

Their video for "Abrazame," featuring Faviola and directed by Aris Jerome, gives you a little taste of their smoother side. The Gyptian sampled beat, later remixed by UpRoot Andy, fluxes between serenade and slap, showing Los Rakas' sonic range in the process.

The story lines follow Dun Dun and Rich as they each seek to make their relationships with their significant others work. Rich is trying to win back his girl despite her Heisman-like attitude, and Dun Dun is enjoying the fruits of young love with Faviola, while dealing with resistance from her family. Upon digging deeper, we learn that this was meant to illustrate the lingering issue of inter-racial dating in Latin America. Shout out to Big Dan for playing the big brother role and to Los Rakas for continuing to brew up their own strain of Latin hip-hop.



Previously: Catching up with Los Rakas