Ricardo Flores Carrasco (Lima, Perú), known professionally as Liberato Kani, is a

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

-language hip-hop singer and songwriter. Through his work, he is also a cultural and Indigenous Languages activist.

Early life

Liberato Kani was born in the coastal city of Lima, growing up in

San Juan de Lurigancho San Juan de Lurigancho (SJL) is a district in Lima, Peru, located in the area known as ''Cono Este''. It is Peru's most populous district, with a current population that may exceed one million. On the north, it is bordered by the districts of ...

district. At the age of 9, his mother's death prompted him to move to Umamarca, Apurimac, located in Peru's highlands, where he lived with his paternal grandmother. While living in Apurimac he learned his family language,

Southern Quechua Southern Quechua ( qu, Urin qichwa, es, quechua sureño), or simply Quechua (Qichwa or Qhichwa), is the most widely spoken of the major regional groupings of mutually intelligible dialects within the Quechua language family, with about 6.9 mil ...

and connected with Andean traditions. At the age of 13, Flores Carrasco returned to Lima where he finished high-school, attended college and started his music career.

Musical career

At the age of 21, Flores Carrasco, was part of a hip-hop group called ''Quinta Rima''. Then he became a soloist and adopted the professional name of Liberato Kani. In 2016 he presented his first album ''Rimay Pueblo'', which was internationally acclaimed, although it also faced criticism due the fusion of traditional Andean sounds with contemporary urban rhythms. He was able to perform at major arenas in Peru, including Teatro Nacional, Lima Book Fair, and Afuera Fest. In 2018 he made an international tour called ''Pawaspay'' (taking off, in Quechua) where he visited Chile, Spain, Cuba and the United States. In 2021 he launched his second album ''Pawaspay''.

References

{{Reflist Quechuan languages Indigenous languages of the Andes Indigenous musicians of the Americas Year of birth missing (living people) Living people