He
has changed the ways Urban Latinos do business, promote and market their products.
His actions and accomplishments speak for themselves. Google him and you will
see he’s
not like the fake ones trying to get credits for some one elses actions. He
loves the haters and the haters love him. When it comes to success, Rayroq Acosta
is the one labels call on.
A genuine Mastermind and a lover of music, Rayroq Acosta is not only responsible
for successfully co launching and marketing the TV show turned website turned
Latin powerhouse
Latinflava, but he also helped established and build the non-traditional distribution
and marketing system at UBO and is now the CEO/President of the infamous Wu-Tang
Latino.
The native Dominican relocated to the United States at just 3 years old with
his family to start a new and prosperous life. His family settled in Washington
Heights, New York where he was
introduced to the music that would change his life, Hip-Hop. After graduating
with a Masters degree in design and marketing from the New York Institute of
Technology, Rayroq went full
fledge into his career in the music and fashion industry. Influenced by Hip-Hop
greats like Run DMC, Kool Moe Dee and LL Cool J, Rayroq started a career in
marketing and creative
consulting. He co-owned the hottest design/marketing firm in NYC, Designey Inc.,
designing logos, images and marketing for Sony, Epic, Wu-tang, Rocawear, LL
Cool J, Razorsharp Records,
Wu-wear, Avirex, Disney, A&E, History Channel, Loud Records, SRC, Persaud
Brothers, Source Magazine, Ave B marketing, Willie Esco, Champion, Durango,
Sprite and Adidas, just to name a few. After helping to create trademarks and
help start some of the companies mentioned, Rayroq decided to make a career
move, by launching a movement that was very dominate in countries outside the
US, but unheard of stateside; that sound was Latin Hip-Hop. “I was trying
to bring Reggaeton and Latin Hip-Hop to the states and people were basically
laughing in my face.” Rayroq explained, “So I decided to start Latinflava
with my partner at the time Ney. At first we started off a televison show and
we grew so big that we decided to launch it as a web-site and from there the
response was so enormous we hooked up with UBO and launched a label. We knew
that Latin Hip-Hop was a growing movement and who better to launch a home for
it stateside thanus.” With the rapid growth of Latinflava, Rayroq went
on not only to be named the Vice Presidentof Marketing and Musica Latina at
UBO, but Rayroq also helped them build their highly effectivenon-traditional
distribution and Freedom girls marketing system. After accomplishing so much
at UBO, Rayroq felt it was necessary for an even bigger move. “ I felt
at the time that I had done all I could do at UBO,” Rayroq said, “
I knew it was time to do something bigger and better than anyone has ever done
for the Latin movement.” During his time at UBO he took Don Omar’s
career to the next level with the hit single “Reggaeton Latino”.
With the explosion of Reggaeton in the states, Rayroq knew it was time for stateside
Latinos to not only control the image of their music, but be the ones who put
it out all together. So when he thought about launching a Latin Hip-Hop powerhouse,
he decided to team up with his old friend Rza to launch Wu Tang Latino. “I
love a challenge and this is a big challenge for me,” said Rayroq of his
decision, “I want to make Wu Tang Latino the Def Jam of Latin Hip Hop.”
In May of 2005, Wu Latino opened its door and now houses the some of the hottest
names in Reggaeton. At the end of 2005 he was the first Latino to connect corporate
America with a Latin label. He got HONDA to sponsor their first mini movie/video
for his first single “Mamita Ven” by Los Yo Yais. The video was
first released by Mun2 and then was picked up by all video channels nationally.
In early 2006 Wu Latino put out its first MixTape named “The New Chamber”
produced by the RZA and mixed by DJ Clear. This has been the First MixTape to
go platinum in Latin History. During the Fall of 2006 he closed a deal with
STARCOM to sell calling cards and music. The first calling cards will hit the
market in December 2007. He also closed a deal with Coca Cola to launch an energy
Drink for Latinos in mid 2008. Aside from music, Rayroq Acosta has also contributed
back to his community by co-founding the United AIDS Foundation, a foundation
that raises money for the research of medicine to help find a cure and he is
also in the process of launching a clothing line with Erni Valez the top graffiti/pop
artist in the world. With his creative genius as a label owner just getting
started as well as the contributions that he has already attributed to the Latin
Hip-Hop Reggaeton movement and Hip-Hop altogether, one can only imagine what’s
next for the creative genius, “My goal is to really establish a true and
powerful Latin presence in Hip-Hop to the point where we are not separated by
categories anymore,” says Rayroq, “Eventually with the impact of
Reggaeton, Latin Hip-Hop and Bachata we will finally all be classified together
as Latin Hip-Hop so that our differences within the community can be expressed
but embraced by us all.”
