While most Bay Area rappers have been "goin' dumb" this summer, Rico Pabon has been doing the opposite. Although the soulful, salsified beats on his new album "Louder than Fiction," give it the vibe of hand-clapping party album, Rico's words encourage folks to expand their minds instead of just losin' them. Whether performing with his Afro-Latin hip-hop band Agua Libre or dropping tracks with The Coup and dead prez, Rico reps like a Puerto Rican Chuck D. who ain't afraid to smile.

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