Feature by 
EJ Maret 
1998
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

"People can take from our music what 
they wish and leave the rest. We just do what we gotta do."

When asked what they want to get across to their Latino brothers and sisters, 
the band members of Ricanstruction replied with but one word: "Despierta!"
With lyrics like "Pedro’s got a pipe bomb set for the fourth of july…", and 
"dream in Porto Rican, freaking dreaming a nightmare…",  these Puerto Punks 
are not mincing words about the need for human rights, social justice, and 
revolutionary change. Drawing from an eclectic pool of rhythm that includes 
everything from John Coltrane and Bad Brains to Bob Marley and Willie Colon, 
this high energy band flies its philosophy like a bandera de justicia, 
echoing the outrage shared by a growing portion of today’s talented and 
politically aware young Latinos. 
     Ricanstruction absolutely exudes Che Guevara charisma, but despite their 
incendiary image and often inflammatory rhetoric, they steadfastly refuse to
be cast as part of any organized political group. Ricanstructions Afro/Latin, 
avante jazz drummer, Joseph Rodriguez, claims that the streets of Harlem 
taught him everything he needed to know about life and freedom.  The 
neighborhood microcosm of family values juxtaposed with the injustice of the 
police state had a powerful effect on him and molded his revolutionary 
consciousness. "Our music is an act of self realization. We’re emancipating 
our selves from mental slavery, because, as Marley said, ‘none but our selves 
can free our minds…" He states, adding  "people can take from our music what 
they wish and leave the rest. We just do what we gotta do. Punto!"
  Ras Alano, the dreadlocked  ghetto prophet and "throat" of Ricanstruction, 
whos onstage gymnastics are the spark plug of this anti-establishment engine, 
adds, "From San Juan to Santo Domingo, Harlem to East LA, the forces of 
exploitation try to crush the individual spirit of the masses. Our wish is 
simply to help build that spirit back up. The spirit of  Zapata, of Villa, of 
 Sandino, and Marti.  The spirit of  Albizu, and L’ouverture,  and Che. " 
And that spirit does indeed live in Ricanstruction. Having educated and 
entertained the masses everywhere from Loisaida and Washington Heights to 
Vieques and El Salvador, Ricanstruction earnestly decry the actions of 
imperialist regimes the world over, and continue to shine their pure vision 
of liberation on  the ever growing throngs that seek out their message. For 
them, the music and the message go hand in hand.  Every lyric, every note, 
feedback and fusion burn into the very core of what’s not right in this 
world.  As Joseph Rodriguez declares, "we’re not politicians, but we know 
that things have gotta change in this world, so we use our music to help 
bring down the walls of jericho... and, maybe, eventually,  the Trump Towers, 
too " Ras Alano adds  "The recent massacre of seventeen innocent woman and 
children in Acteal, Mexico is just the shitstem once again showing its true 
colors. It’s no different from the injustice being served to Mumia Abu Jamal 
in the U.S.. Or Leonard Peltier, or Oscar Lopez Rivera and the other Puerto 
Rican political prisoners.   We see the reality of this ugly planet all over 
the world, and we know that nothing changes unless we change it for 
ourselves." He adds, "Music, art, is like a reflection of our world, a 
mirror. And sometimes when you don’t like what you see in the mirror, you 
seek to transform the image.  Maybe even destroy it… in order to ricanstruct 
it.  This is the art… of revolution. "