“Look, I love you very much but I don’t know how to sing reggae, it’s not my style. I’m going to shit“, answered the Indio Solari Everytime that Sergio Colombo He insisted that he record a song for his group, The Natty Combo. Both coincided in one of the formations of Los Fundamentalistas del Aire Acondicionado – the band that accompanies the solo career of former leader Ricotero – and since then they have maintained a great friendship.
Eight years passed until finally one day, he loosened up. The result is “Cinco”the track n5 of “The mission”, brand new album by Natty Combo.
“La Misión” began to take shape during the lockdown stage of the pandemic. The first song that came out was “Todo lo que tengo”, composed especially for Lola, Sergio’s manager and partner. “Actually, I composed half of the album for her -he confesses- It was my inspiration”.
However, there is an issue that dates back to well before 2020. “‘Cinco’ is an old song that came out in 2006 as a bonus track on the album ‘Super Dubwise’. At that time it was with electronic drums, much softer, and now we have modified everything”.
Not only now added speed, winds and choirs, but also the participation of a great figure of our national rock: Indio Solari. “I don’t think I could have sung reggae with any band here”Colombo tells her to Filo.news in a college bar. “The Natty Combo has a very particular way of making new roots more rock. Said by the people, not by us, it is the most rock band of national reggae. That’s why they call us ‘the steamroller of reggae'”.
At first Carlos flatly refused. “I told him ‘give me a hand. It would be nice to do a combination.’No, I need you to sing a verse.’ Until one day she told me ‘Okay come on, I’m going to do it’. In the end, 70% of the song was sung,” recalls Colombo.
The Indian’s foray into reggae is recorded since October 2022, but due to the different events that followed (World Cup, Holidays, vacations) they decided to bankroll it until now: “It was my silver bullet and I’m not going to throw it away when everyone is looking the other way. -Sergio explains- Do you know what it was like to bank for 5 months with that in my pocket?“.
“‘Fuaaa, that’s great, I congratulate you,'” people say. But what about the Indian? “I spoke to him on Friday and he told me ‘The truth is that I am very happy, I congratulate you, but I did it because I love you. She would have done the same.'” He doesn’t say it out of commitment. When Sergio went to Luzbola – Solari’s studio in Parque Leloir – he showed him the final product and “he loved it”.
“I could not believe it. ‘Put it back on’, he told me. She would put it on the stick, look at me and say ‘How good it is, incredible’. Then he sent a recording to the producer saying ‘Honestly, you made me look great next to a guy who really sings,’ “he laughs.”Because I was happy, and that fills me with pride. I am very happy that he is happy with the final product“.
With this version, which is already playing on a loop throughout the country, Sergio wants to reach more people: “I think this feat is going to make a lot of people who didn’t listen to reggae now start to take the genre seriously. That will not only favor me, but also the bands on the Argentine scene. I did it a bit for that too, it seems super important to me to help the movement of the music that I love the most, which is reggae.”
In a context where “trap dominates the scene”, that means a lot. “Now it is a little less strong, but reggae is in good health and continues to attract people.”
Thus it will surely be demonstrated Saturday May 20 when The Natty Combo officially present your album in Niceto Club, the same place where they were born back in 2003. With the special participation of Gaspar Benegas and Baltasar Comotto on guitars; Deborah Dixon and Luciana Palacios in backing vocals; and Miguel Ángel Tallarita on the trumpet, among others, “they will play the entire album and the classics of today and forever.”
“Everyone already tells you: ‘Cinco’ together with Indio is the most important feat in the history of national reggae, by far.”, reflects Sergio before closing. “And what I’m aiming for with Natty is for more and more people to listen to us and to be able to play in more and more beautiful places. What every artist always wants is to be heard and reach as many people as possible. Not for money, but for the love of what one does. Once after dead, never die“.
The Natty Combo will perform on Saturday, May 20 at 8:00 p.m. at the Niceto Club (Av. Cnel. Niceto Vega 5510, CABA). You can buy your tickets clicking here.
