Los Rakas have always been loud and proud about their Panamanian roots — their music has been ricocheting with raka party realness for the last 10 years. And with their latest music video, the Oakland duo is making an even bigger proclamation of love to their childhood home.
The guys dropped the video for “Mentira” yesterday, and it’s one messy relationship triangle set to the backdrop of San Miguelito. We see Raka Rich and Raka Dun each cuddle up to model Frieda “DaLuna” Kraemer all over the city — except the girl is playing both dudes hard. The cousins are at odds for once as the video begins and ends in a dramatic confrontation.
Romantic rivalry aside, the star of the whole thing is San Miguelito. Colombian director Christian Rincon captured the love affair without interrupting the Panamanian city’s natural flow: There are clips of tías sitting in front of la venta, little girls strutting down graffiti-marked streets and other iconic scenes from the rakataka neighborhoods that inspired the hip-hop group’s name.
With its super authentic, vintage-y quality, the video looks like it was processed through a Valencia Instagram filter (except much cooler). We’re not surprised we dig the style; Rincon also directed Los Rakas’ video for “Dejame Bailar” and Monsieur Periné’s “Pan Caliente.”
“Mentira” is an ode to Panama, but the country has something to be proud of in Los Rakas, too. They charmed the dembow out of Austin at SXSW in April and then scored a major performance at the White House Summit for Young Innovators of Color. They also headlined San Francisco’s Carnaval this summer. The boys are bringing that can’t-stop-won’t-stop attitude home when they perform in Panama City for the first time on August 19.