Los Rakas - 'Ta Lista

OK, first off, I love Los Rakas: they're one of the most exciting Spanglish things coming out of California. And I love the sound of this single - that instrumental is like hyphy that's been chopped and screwed with the treble up, and their voices have the most amazing quality.

But what's with the girls at the beginning of the video?! They look about 14. If the lyric of your chorus is "ella 'ta lista" ("she's ready"), it doesn't look good to have pre-teens in your video. Just saying.

I'm not blaming Los Rakas - their lyrics are faultlessly non-specific, and they have a great track record of not presenting women as objects. But whoever cast those girls needs a reality check.



Anyway, ignore the video, listen to the song, and love that instrumental. Los Rakas are amazing.

Los Rakas - Abrazame (Uproot Andy Remix)

Oh my days - this one sends shivers down my spine. I've had a soft spot for Los Rakas ever since they worked with YAK films. And what they've done on this is probably their best work: the instrumental can explain itself, but the lyrics are something else. They've taken their genres to the next level - the boys' lyrics are standard dancehall/reggaeton seduction-chat, and then they admit "no lo pienso cambiar" ("I'm not going to change"). What amps it up is the girl's lines:

"aqui me tienes, borracha y arrepentida,
es que no hay nadie como tu no se que hacer,
estoy volviendo loca, perdoname
espera un momento, no me apresures,
es que quiero sentir tu piel,
abrazame, abrazame, abrazame, abrazame
no te voy a soltar"

"here you have me, drunk and ashamed
it's that there's no one like you, I don't know what to do
I'm going crazy, forgive me
wait a moment, don't rush me,
I want to feel your skin,
hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me
I'm not going to let you go"

Ever heard something so guilty and good?

The illustrious XLR8R have already done a phenomenal job explaining the complicated parentage of this song. And if you like Uproot Andy, there's a wicked mixtape he made available for download.

Abrazame (Uproot Andy mix) by Los Rakas by PaolaCapo13