Heading up the news-that-makes-you-feel-good this week is Los Rakas’ appearance in Washington D.C. last Saturday. The White House invited the duo to be musical guests at the first Brioxy White House Summit for Innovators of Color.
The Summit convened 100 leaders of color in their twenties and thirties, who spent the day discussing national issues like Black Lives Matter, immigration policy, and food equity. In between creating national plans of action, the leaders listened to White House speakers like Brioxy’s founder B. Cole and Michael Smith, from President Obama’s 2-year-old My Brother’s Keeper mentorship program.
The Panama City boys by way of the Bay Area were looking extremely sharp in their formal wear. Raka Rich, were those denim slacks you paired with that patterned tie? We’re with it.
“It was a very exciting weekend,” Raka Rich told Remezcla. “The show was tight. I was surprised to know that there were so many Rakas in the building.”
Raka Dun and Rich performed Saturday night at D.C.’s Blind Whino for the Brioxy Innovators Ball (the Summit afterparty) alongside V. Bozeman, Hopie, Christian B., and the always radiant hip-hop pioneer MC Lyte, who turned in a DJ set.
In 2015, Brioxy was responsible for building a task management app for young people of color that integrates social networking so that users can support each other in their goals.
Los Rakas recently announced that their next album will be dropping this year. Fans got a teaser in single “Raka Party,” which features Panama reggae/reggaeton head Kafu Banton.
The team clearly got life from the inspirational leaders they got to hang with this weekend. “The Summit was powerful, inspiring, and awesome,” the duo told us. “We felt honored to be a part of the conversation. They have the right vision to change the future for the better.”