Matthew Urango, a musician and disability activist who professionally performed under the moniker Cola Boyy, has died at the age of 34.
Manager Jack Sills announced his passing on Instagram Monday, but gave no cause of death.
“Anyone who knew Matthew knows he had a larger than life personality,” Sills captioned a slideshow of photos. “He was always the life of the party and could chop it up with anyone. He was also one of the most talented and down to earth people I’ve ever met.”
Urango’s father, Joseph Urango Jr., spoke to TMZ on Tuesday, revealing the musician’s twin brother found him in bed not breathing after going to check on him at his home. Paramedics later pronounced him dead at the scene.
Born with spina bifida, scoliosis, and kyphosis, Urango — a self-proclaimed “disabled disco innovator” — didn’t let his disabilities deter him from pursuing his dreams of making music.
After playing bass for California indie-pop group Sea Lions, he released his solo EP “Black Boogie Neon” under the French label Record Makers in 2018. The five-track project’s groovy singles “Penny Girl” and “Buggy Tip” attracted a fan base that led to collaborations with MGMT, Air’s Nicolas Godin and The Avalanches.
In 2021, Urango released his debut album “Prosthetic Boombox,” which was heralded by The Observer for addressing “his disability head-on with [a] delirious blast of disco, funk, house and psychedelia.”
A nod to his prosthetic leg, the album’s title aligned with his philosophy on being open about his disabilities.
“Not a lot of artists are visibly disabled,” said in a 2018 interview with Tmrw Magazine. “Society wants us to stay inside and to be timid and docile, and to not feel confident, or cool, or sexy. They just don’t want us to feel any of that, you know? So, in my life, that often weighed me down, but it didn’t ever stop me.”
Also a multi-instrumentalist, Urango — who embraced his Latino, Black, Native American and Caucasian cultures — worked with leftist collective Todo Poder al Pueblo, and APOC (Anarchist People Of Color).
