Biography

Austrian rapper and dancehall/hip-hop producer RAF Camora (aka RAF 3.0) was born Raphael Ragucci to an Austrian father and an Italian mother on June 4, 1984 in Vevey, Switzerland. He moved to Vienna when he was still a child and started to rap and produce his own beats at the age of 14. Throughout the following years, he became a member of several rap crews, including Rapatoi, French Connection, Assaut Mystik, Balkan Express, and Family Bizz, and while he only rapped in French during those early years, he soon switched to German. Skandal, a collaboration album with Balkan Express member Emirez, was released in 2006. The same year, Camora guested on Chakuza's debut album, City Cobra, which also featured several beats he'd produced. A mixtape called Therapie vor dem Album was released in 2008, followed by Camora's proper debut album, Nächster Stopp Zukunft, in November 2009. Only a few months later, Camora released a collaboration album with Austrian rapper Nazar called Artkore. The mixtape Therapie Nach dem Album followed in 2010, as did a mixtape called Inédit 2003-2010, which featured previously unreleased songs recorded between 2003 and 2010. In 2011, RAF Camora changed his pseudonym to RAF 3.0 and signed with Viennese label Irievibrations Records. An album titled RAF 3.0 followed in 2012, and featured a futuristic sound with stronger dancehall elements and guest appearances by German rapper Marteria and Jamaican reggae musician Sizzla. The album charted at number seven in Germany and number five in Austria. A limited-edition collection of RAF Camora tracks, Therapie Nach dem Tod, appeared in the summer of 2012 via Mzee.com, selling briskly enough to chart in Austria, and the second RAF 3.0 album, Hoch2, was released in July 2013. The album hit the number one spot on the German charts, a first for the artist. ~ Christian Genzel, Rovi