Cola Boyy, a rapper and disability activist from Oxnard who carved out a music career that saw him collaborate with titans of the independent music scene, has died. He was 34.
The musician, whose real name was Matthew Urango, died Sunday, according to his label.
Urango was born with spina bifida, kyphosis and scoliosis, disabilities that affected his spine and hindered his movement. He used his platform as a successful independent musician to raise awareness about other artists with disabilities and advocate for progressive causes.
Urango was multiracial, with Scottish and Portuguese ancestry on his mother’s side and Chumash, Mexican and African American on his father’s, according to a profile in tmrw magazine. He had a twin brother who was not disabled.
The self-taught singer and musician had a unique sound that was as diverse as his upbringing, with his label describing his genre as a mixture of hip hop and disco, guided by “the spirit of punk with Latino grooves.”
Record Makers, which released several of his albums, announced his passing on social media.
“He was quite a soul, a man with no age, a childlike spirit with the musicality of an old legend,” the label wrote on X, previously Twitter. “His lyrics, his melodies, the sound of his voice: every side of his music was unique and timeless…”
He collaborated with other musicians in the independent music scene, including MGMT and the seminal electronic group The Avalanches, who said of Urango, “Matthew was the most effervescent hilarious talented and passionate guy you could ever meet. He was a man of his convictions and of his word.”
Members of his family told TMZ that they believed his death was related to the health issues he’d battled since birth.
Tributes to the artist poured in on social media, with fans and collaborators sharing stories about his character and the impact of the one-and-only “disabled disco innovator.”