Rafael Santiago Casal (born August 8, 1985) is an American writer, rapper, producer, director, actor, musician, and showrunner originally from the San Francisco Bay Area.
Contents
Early life
Casal grew up in Berkeley and Oakland, California. He was expelled from Berkeley High School after two years but earned his diploma through an alternative independent study program. Casal later designed and served as creative director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's First Wave Spoken Word and Hip Hop Arts Program while earning a sociology degree at night.
Casal has Irish ancestry on his mother's side and Spanish ancestry on his Cuban father's side.
Career
Poetry
At 18, Casal appeared on 3 seasons of HBO's Def Poetry Jam while touring, performing, and teaching nationwide with YouthSpeaks. He is a two-time Brave New Voice Poetry Slam Festival champion.
