Rakuna

Hailing from the rural mountain valleys of upstate New York, Rakuna is a singer songwriter who creates sumptuous lo-fi blues-tinged folk music. Rakuna’s earthy approach to songwriting allows her emotive vocal to shine brightly, showcased beautifully on her debut single, Criminal.

Having struggled with mutisim on and off throughout her life, Rakuna first began teaching herself to write and perform music at the age of twenty one. The ability to communicate her feelings, emotions and past trauma’s through art was a cathartic experience, one that acted as a form of healing for the mind, body and soul. 

This sentiment pours out of debut single, Criminal. A reflective, intimate piece of music, Criminal illustrates Rakuna’s organic production and creative flair. Raw and poignant the song is the perfect platform for Rakuna’s rich, affecting vocal delivery and pensive lyricism. Having struggled with PTSD throughout her life, Rakuna explores how accepting and moving through scars of the past, and the painful emotions associated with this, was key to her fully realising her true worth and, thus, the ability to co-create equal and respectful relationships.

A survivor of homelessness and severe physical and sexual violence, Rakuna has used her experiences to help various communities. This resulted in spending her teenage and adult years working and volunteering for non-profit organisations and mutual aid groups supporting the likes of At-Risk Youth, Domestic Violence Survivors, LGBTQ rights, Food for Underserved Communities and Environmental Protection and Restoration. Criminal is the first of a number of tracks to be released prior to the unveiling of her debut album Child Of The Wolves later this year.

Criminal is out on 20th March.