RAC and Ireland Baldwin.Photo: RAC/Instagram
Ireland BaldwinandRACare parents!
The couple welcomed a daughter,Holland, in May 2023.
Baldwin and the musician, born André Allen Anjos, announced they were expecting on Dec. 31, 2022. The couple have been dating since 2021, and while the two have shared a few birthday shout-outs and photos of each other on social media, they generally keep their relationship pretty private.
Anjos isn’t just the model’s boyfriend, though: He is a musician who has worked with huge artists and received some pretty big accolades. Anjos began RAC, or Remix Artist Collective, in 2007 with other remixers he had met online.
So who is the award-winning artist and expecting father behind the pseudonym RAC? Here’s everything to know about Ireland Baldwin’s boyfriend, André Allen Anjos.
He’s from Portugal
RAC Instagram
Anjos was born and raised in Portugal before moving to the U.S. to attend college. According toRolling Stone, he was born in Coimbra, Portugal, to an American mother and Portuguese father, whose work took them around the country until they settled outside Porto.
He toldRiffmagazinethat he moved to Pennsylvania for third and fourth grade, then moved back to Portugal. “All things considered, I had a pretty good childhood,” he told the outlet. “I had a bit of a weird childhood in a sense that my parents are missionaries. I grew up in a very religious environment.”
Although Anjos eventually moved to the states for good in 2005, he said that Portuguese culture had a big impact on his art. “Dance music was such a popular thing [in Portugal],” he toldAll Access Musicin 2014. “In the U.S., people kinda take it for granted, because it’s so ubiquitous. It had been so big for so long in Portugal that it was so mainstream.”
He’s a musician
Anjos is best known for his work as RAC. In 2020, he released his third original album,Boy; his prior releases include 2014’sStrangersand 2017’sEgo.
RAC has gone on tour, performed at music festivals like Coachella and frequently collaborates with other popular artists — his single “Cheap Sunglasses” featured songwriter and producerMatthew Koma.
His musicianship dates back to childhood. In a 2021 interview withRolling Stone, he shared that he started taking piano lessons before he turned 7, discovered the guitar as a teen and played in “all kinds of bands.” In 2001, he learned about Napster, the popular file-sharing app known for peer-to-peer music distribution, and discovered the music world outside of Portugal.
During an interview withFlipboard, Anjos described his sound: “I like experimenting with new styles and trying new things. At its core, [it’s] pop music, but outside of that a little bit of dance music, house, a little disco — it’s all over the place.”
He started out as a remixer
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty
Before releasing his own original music, Anjos was famous for his remixes, which is how he started out in the industry. In the beginning, he worked with a few other remixers, but it slowly became a solo project.
According to an interview withPatreon, he started making remixes in 2005 while studying music business at Greenville College in Illinois, where he made remixes of artists like The Killers to post on YouTube. Since then, RAC’s remixes have racked up millions of plays on SoundCloud and topped the charts. He’s remixed artists likeBob Marley, Kings of Leon,Lana Del Reyand Death Cab for Cutie, just to name a few.
Some of his favorite remixes were his first for The Shins, telling Flipboard that it “changed [his] life,” and the Lana Del Rey remix that was “still one of the most requested tracks.”
In 2017, Anjos won hisfirst Grammy, taking home the award for best-remixed recording for the remix of Bob Moses' “Tearing Me Up.” He was also nominated in that category in 2016 and 2021.
He and Baldwin live in Oregon
Anjos moved to Portland, Oregon, in 2009 with his ex, perThe Oregonian. Baldwin relocated there from Los Angeles in 2020. In his 2016 interview with Flipboard, Anjos cited the area as one of his inspirations for his music.
“Portland has a lot of nature and hiking, and I enjoy doing that quite a bit,” he said. “For the past couple of years we’ve made it a point to explore nature here and around the world.”
He’s a supportive partner
Although Baldwin and Anjos have not shared many details about their relationship, he has been a supportive partner throughout Baldwin’s pregnancy. In January 2023, Baldwin sharedhow hard her pregnancy had been, writing, “It takes so much out of you. I wasn’t ready for that.”
She added that her boyfriend had been there for her through it all. “Without him, I think I would have lost my mind,” she wrote. “He’s everything and more to me but man, it’s hard moving somewhere with no family.”
They own a store, cafe and bar called Good Times
Baldwin and Anjos aren’t just romantic partners — they’re also business partners. In November 2022, the pair announced they were opening a boutique, cafe and bar calledGood Times, which would operate both online and at their brick-and-mortar location in Gearhart, Oregon. The lifestyle brand sells products from women- and Black-owned small businesses, and the cafe-bar combo serves wine and food.
Baldwintold Eater: “Most of the brands we’re working with are my friends. So it’s a communal thing with the boutique and cafe, because we’re all kind of a family that’s working on this together.”
Of course, Anjos is in charge of the music. He created a dedicatedSpotify playlistfor the space, adding, “I’m picking songs that set a very specific tone. It’s about enhancing that comfort.”
He’s big on digital art and cryptocurrency
Anjos went all-in on cryptocurrency with his digital art. According toRolling Stone, in 2020, he released 100 cassette tapes that could only be purchased with his own personal crypto token. The $20 tapes were resold for as much as $13,000. His first audiovisual NFT, a 30-second art loop, sold for $26,000.
The crypto world has become a passion of his. In 2021, he launched a creative agency called “6” that aimed to help other artists navigate the crypto-based business and storytelling world. “I like the idea of creating a level playing field where no single party can control everything,” he explained.
He’s a photographer
One look at Anjos' Instagram, and it’s clear that he’s also skilled in photography. The artist regularly snaps beautiful nature photos throughout his travels and has alsotaken promo photosfor Good Times.
In an interview with Flipboard, Anjos said photography is one of his passions. “In a strange way it’s an excuse for me to explore when I otherwise wouldn’t,” he said. “My mind always goes toward some business angle and I have to remind myself to enjoy photography for what it is, to have a creative angle that I don’t depend on financially.”
He and Baldwin welcomed their first child together in May 2023
Ireland Baldwin and boyfriend RAC with newborn daughter Holland.Ireland Baldwin
Anjos and Baldwinannounced the birth of their daughterin a joint Instagram post.
“holland 🩷,” they captioned a photo from the hospital, which showed mom and dad cuddling their little bundle of joy.
source: people.com
