Julio Cardenas

Julio Cardenas was born and raised east of Havana in Alamar, Cuba — known as the “cradle of hip-hop in Cuba” and home to the National Hip-Hop Festival. In 1996, Cardenas founded the Cuban rap group RCA, aka Raperos Crazy de Alamar. RCA eventually became one of the best known rap groups in Cuba. After being featured in consecutive years at the Cuban National Hip-Hop Festival, in 2001 Cardenas was among the first hip-hop artists selected to travel to the United States and perform for U.S. audiences in New York City as part of the inaugural International Hip-Hop Exchange. He now lives in New York.