Matthew Urango, known professionally as Cola Boyy, is a musician and activist based in Oxnard, California. His music has been described as belonging to the

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

genre. ''NME'' compared his sound to “a disco ball melting or the after-effects of some particularly potent hallucinogenics”. His debut EP, ''Black Boogie Neon,'' was released in 2018. His debut album, '' Prosthetic Boombox'' was released in 2021. Urango has toured and collaborated with

MGMT MGMT () is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists of ...

Early life

Urango was born with spina bifida, kyphosis and

scoliosis Scoliosis is a condition in which a person's spine has a sideways curve. The curve is usually "S"- or "C"-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others, it increases over time. Mild scoliosis does not t ...

, as well as a

club foot Clubfoot is a birth defect where one or both feet are rotated inward and downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. In approximately 50% of cases, clubfoot aff ...

to a white mother and a father of Chumash,

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

and

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

ancestry. He describes himself as

Afro-Latino Black Hispanic and Latino Americans, also called Afro-Hispanics ( es, Afrohispano, links=no), Afro-Latinos or Black Hispanics, or Black Latinos are classified by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget, and other U.S. ...

. He has a twin brother, who is non-disabled. Urango describes himself as having "basically taught myself" to play piano at his grandmother's house as a child. In high school he played in punk bands, playing his first backyard show aged 17. After graduating from high school, he searched for work but experienced discrimination due to his disability. He eventually found employment at

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, but was hospitalised with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

due to being pushed to overwork by his employer. As a result of this episode of illness he qualified for disability welfare payments.

Music career

Before Cola Boyy, Urango played second guitar for indie pop band

Sea Lions Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

. Urango released the single "Penny Girl" in July 2018. The track was ranked #72 in '' Fader Magazine'''s "100 best songs of 2018". In August 2018, "Buggy Tip" premiered on ''Vice'''s Noisey. He released his debut EP, ''Black Boogie Neon'', in September 2018. The EP includes earlier releases "Penny Girl" and "Buggy Tip". The name of the EP comes from an early demo track about a fictional club of the same name where disabled people can enjoy themselves free from

ableist Ableism (; also known as ablism, disablism (British English), anapirophobia, anapirism, and disability discrimination) is discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities or who are perceived to be disabled. Ableism characteri ...

stigma. In the video for "Beige 70", filmed at the real-life Le Peripate club in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, Urango is portrayed in this club as a part of a diverse cast of club-goers. Explaining the song's meaning, Urango said: “It’s a love song about a girl at a club whose clothes are shabby and her friends are making fun of her, but it doesn’t matter to me because she’s a star. It’s about being judged and accepted.”. In 2019, Urango performed at Pitchfork Paris. In April 2021, Urango released single "Kid Born in Space", featuring MGMT. Urango revealed in a press release that the song is about his experience growing up as a disabled person: “The song is me explaining to my younger self to let go of worries about people staring or not understanding. Everyone has their struggles, and problems that shape them.” The debut Cola Boyy album, ''Prosthetic Boombox'', was released by the French label Record Makers in June 2021. The album features appearances from

Nicolas Godin Nicolas Godin (born 25 December 1969) is a French musician best known for being half of the music duo Air. Early life Godin was born in Paris, Île-de-France, France, and studied architecture at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture d ...

of Air and

Andrew VanWyngarden Andrew Wells VanWyngarden (born February 1, 1983) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitar player and songwriter for the band MGMT, praised for (according to ''Interview Magazine'') "an uncanny knack for producing pop music that s ...

. '' Paste'' gave the album a positive review, describing it as "an electrifying, catchy and colorful debut." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, describing the record as a "delirious blast of disco,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

and psychedelia."

Activism

Multiple features about Cola Boyy as a musician have made reference to his left-wing activism, which he became involved in around the time he began making music as Cola Boyy. Urango became politicised after participating in a radical reading group that he was invited to by a friend. Since then he has organised with Todo Poder Al Pueblo, a collective that advocates for immigrants and workers in Urango's home-city of Oxnard. He is also a member of APOC (Anarchist People of Color), which helps to organise free punk rock concerts accessible to all ages. Urango has stated that he wants to convey his

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economi ...

political views through his music. However, he forgoes the more traditional medium of punk rock in order to reach a wider audience. Speaking to ''NME'', he said, “I have my beliefs and my messages that I want to get across to as many people as possible so obviously I’m going to do that through pop because it’s so positive.”

References

{{Reflist Living people People with cerebral palsy People with spina bifida American activists of Mexican descent Singers from California Musicians from Oxnard, California Chumash people American people of indigenous peoples descent Year of birth missing (living people)