FAIRTUNES PLAYER
FEATURED ARTIST - NATAS
When we met Natas in 2009 he was working with the hip-hop project ‘L-Mental’ which he still works with today. Each week dozens of young people attend classes and learnt how to write lyrics, paint graffiti and break dance. For these kids ‘L-Mental’ has an amazing, positive effect on their lives; teaching them how to express themselves in a positive way whilst steering them away from the endemic gang culture that plagues their streets.
Natas is from Ciudad Bolívar, one of the most troubled barrios of the Colombian capital Bogota. Natas has used hip-hop as a means of expressing himself in a world surrounded by poverty and violence.
He started out in 1996 in a group called ‘La Hermandad’ (the brotherhood), rapping over sampled tracks from other groups. As time went on he was introduced to computer programs such as ‘Fruity Loops’ and after much effort on his groups part they managed to get hold of a computer to make their own tracks. Since then the group has changed name to ‘La Suprema’ and is now known as ‘Abran Pista’.
Over the years Natas began to produce music for other struggling artists in the area; in 2003 he began to work on the first Hip-hop project in Ciudad Bolívar, called ‘Bandas del Sur Comandado Por Bolivar, Primer Frente’, for young hip-hoppers with few economic resources to produce demo cds.
Since then Natas has produced a great quantity of tracks for many such artists in his small studio at home, as well as being involved in a number of important hip-hop projects that have an extremely positive effect on participants lives.
When we visited Natas’ studio it was not functioning as his computer was completely worn out. FairTunes donated a PC to his studio so that he could continue to produce music for his group as well as for the young musicians of the area.
“…in 2009, thanks to the computer donated by you guys, we were able to revive our music and our life projects and you gave the incentive to continue ‘Abran Pista’. Today I work with other groups: Purpura, DJ Mic, Microfono Patan, Saltin Breaking, L-Mental. We put on concerts where the entrance fee is food products and toys that go to the poorest of families. We also have a group of 60 kids where we run workshops for drawing, music, break dance and theatre in the barrios of Villa Gloria, La Estrella and Arabia. All of which are barrios of Cuidad Bolívar.” José Fabian Mariño Caicedo (Natas).
