Born Raphael Ragucci on June 4, 1984, in Vevey, Switzerland, RAF Camora grew up with an Austrian father and an Italian mother before relocating to Vienna during childhood. At age 14 he began writing rhymes and crafting his own beats, joining a string of crews over the next several years—Rapatoi, French Connection, Assaut Mystik, Balkan Express, and Family Bizz among them—and initially delivering his verses exclusively in French before switching to German.
In 2006 he issued the joint project Skandal alongside Balkan Express affiliate Emirez, while also appearing on Chakuza’s debut City Cobra and supplying several productions for that release. The 2008 mixtape Therapie vor dem Album preceded his first proper studio album, Nächster Stopp Zukunft, which arrived in November 2009; months afterward he paired with Nazar for the collaborative album Artkore. Two further mixtapes surfaced in 2010: Therapie Nach dem Album and Inédit 2003-2010, the latter compiling previously unheard recordings made between 2003 and 2010.
RAF Camora adopted the alias RAF 3.0 in 2011 upon signing with Viennese imprint Irievibrations Records. The resulting self-titled album emerged in 2012, showcasing a futuristic aesthetic laced with pronounced dancehall influences and contributions from German rapper Marteria and Jamaican reggae musician Sizzla; it reached number seven in Germany and number five in Austria. That summer Mzee.com issued the limited-edition collection Therapie Nach dem Tod, which sold strongly enough to register on the Austrian charts, and July 2013 brought the second RAF 3.0 full-length, Hoch2, which topped the German album chart for the first time in the artist’s career.
