Disco innovator and disabled rights activist Cola Boyy dies age 34

Activist, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, Cola Boyy, has died aged 34.

The musician who, according to manager Jack Sills, was "excited to start releasing new music this summer", passed away on Sunday, March, 17.

Genre-deviant, Cola Boyy, was known for the vivacious creative energy in his music blending disco, rock, soul, funk and Latino grooves with the "spirit of funk".

The news was shared on Instagram by the artist's label Record Makers who wrote: "The one and only Cola Boyy AKA Matthew Urango passed peacefully last Sunday."

"He was quite a soul, a man with no age, a childlike spirit with the musicality of an old legend", the statement continued.

Hailing from Oxnard, California, Urango was born on February 14, 1990, to a multicultural family of white, Black, Hispanic and Native American roots.

Diagnosed with spina bifida, scoliosis, and kyphosis, Urango would later become recognised as a disabled activist, or as he would call it "disabled disco innovator".

His love affair with music started young, first with a kid's drum set and then with the piano in his grandmother's home on which he "basically taught himself".

After struggling with his health and "the realities of not fitting in" in his teenage years, Urango found community when he stumbled across his local skate punk scene.

During this time, he played in a series of punk bands, including local indie pop group the Sea Lions before starting a solo music career under the moniker Cola Boyy.

Coining his name from a love of Coca-Cola, Urango, enjoyed the unseriousness of a name inspired by fizzy pop, telling Fader: "It was a good choice".

Urango's first release was 'Penny Girl' in 2018, a sun-soaked sounding, feel-good indie track, oozing funk that would garner him the attention of American indie-pop group, MGMT, who he would later tour with.

Reminiscing on this time in his life, Urango told tmrw magazine "In general, great songs were being written during this era of music... It was so innovative, funky and glamorous, but at times very street in its own weird way".

Cola Boyy's debut album, 'Prosthetic Boombox', came out in 2021 and would be described by The Guardian as a "joyously defiant sugar rush".

According to the New York Times, an impromptu vigil was held in the musician's hometown on Monday (March 18) with "scores of people" gathering to pay their respects to the late musician.

Urango's manager Jack Sills, has vowed to work with French-label, Record Maker to ensure Cola Boyy's latest unreleased album is shared with fans and friends.

The story of Cola Boyy, in his own words, down below.

Belle Richardson is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter