The extremely successful Spanish-language rap duo, a couple formed in Madrid by thirty-something Gonzalo Cidre and Fernando Hisado, have been submitting streaming lists for more than a decade and conquering increasingly larger stages since absolute independence.
What is the response to the change in sound on your latest album, ‘Luna llena’?Natos: In each new album we have tried to explore a little new sounds and see where the limit was. In the end, what we like is making music and, as much as we are rappers, it’s cool to experiment a little, otherwise you get bored of always doing the same thing. They have based their career on making songs that are chronicles of youth. Does your current life give you to continue sharpening that?Waor: Yes, because we continue to lead a fairly intense life, at least at times. Feeling strong emotions every little bit inspires. Our life is still interesting enough to tell it and make it entertaining.Does rap have an age, an expiration date?Waor: There are no rappers who have retired yet, so to speak. There are those that the public has decided to retire. There is no 60-year-old rapper who continues to make a living from music, but because rap is not that old in Spain. I think he has no age or expiration date. At least in our case, although we still do strict rap songs, sometimes it would be boring to do only one thing all the time. We like to try, have fun and go back to our origins with enthusiasm. Natos: I think you have to be consistent and that the music you make is in keeping with your life and your age. Seeing a 50-year-old guy with family and stuff talking about ‘flow’ and things like that is a bit ridiculous. Like Mr. Burns with the skateboard.In his music it seems that the ‘heart’ is gaining ground from his usual cockiness.Natos: Yes, it may be that now we are taking more of the emotional side. When you are younger you have more of a need to prove that you are the best and the coolest, and perhaps now the other side has made its way more. But I think there is still a balance.In 2018 they had 500,000 subscribers on YouTube and 400,000 listeners on Spotify. Now, on YouTube they have almost double and on Spotify four times more. Do they make twice as good a living as they did 4-5 years ago?Natos: Probably yes. But we don’t pay much attention to these numbers. It is a thermometer that measures reality much more to see how many people are willing to pay a ticket to go see you at the concerts. If you have a successful song or a collaboration with a very ‘sticky’ artist, you can have a host of monthly listeners… But then I’ve seen many cases that you go to their concerts and it’s a little embarrassing because they’re based on a ‘hit’ ‘ that has played a lot on the radio or a song that has hit TikTok… That doesn’t transfer to the real world.Mention TikTok. What do you think of the platform in relation to music?Natos: Even though it’s not our market, I’m glad that it exists because I see it a bit like when YouTube came out for us, which was a showcase for the public to meet new artists without having to be driven by the radio or because a man in a suit decided that it was you who had to sound.They have had a sustained and upward career… And they don’t stop growing.Waor: We have had an essential move that is: perseverance and work. At the beginning of a career there are many factors to take into account: talent, luck… But when you’ve been there for more than a decade and things have only gone up… The percentage of blame that work has is greater than any other factor. We didn’t know what our lives were going to be like, we had nowhere to drop dead, and when this train passed we got on it and said: ‘we won’t get off from here’. And we have maintained this mentality.
Currently there is a talented new breed of rap in Spanish. Has having successful references like you helped?Natos: It is very important in any discipline to have an example that makes you realize that it is possible to reach your goals. But in no way does this take away from the merit of the kids who are dating now, because if they are where they are, touring and filling rooms, it is because they work hard and deserve it.What do you think has happened so that rap now reaches so many people, fills rooms, pavilions…?Natos: On the one hand, the kids had that need to not just listen to what was being played on the radio, but something that would also transmit to them and identify them. Then there is the growth of culture. That is to say, I don’t see that the rest of the artists are competition, but that we all make this scene grow. That a new kid comes out who is the dick and people love it should make us all happy. Because they listen to him does not mean that they stop listening to us, quite the contrary.You started in the parks and in squatter houses, where you could carry out your work. How important is it that these associative fabrics continue to beat in the cities?Natos: In our case it was key. We had a place where we could go, work, be surrounded by other kids who were doing the same thing, and there we had the opportunity to show people our work. And we will be grateful to them all our lives.“We grew up in the 90s, forgotten neighborhoods outside the M30,” sings Natos in ‘Los 90’. Has things improved?Natos: All you have to do is see how the city centers are, not just Madrid, and how the streets of the neighborhoods are, shitty. More care is always taken from the center than from the periphery. It seems that those who govern do not care about people with less purchasing power. But I think that the neighborhoods are where talent comes from, and suffering is where art is created, the desire to protest and show that you are no less than anyone else.
Where does your ambition end?Waor: I would sign to be as we are now forever. I don’t need to be world stars, tour the United States… If it comes, you are welcome, but it is not our goal. If you are only happy being number one you will never be happy. Of course we want more, but calmly and without being a toxic ambition.This Friday they will perform for the first time at the Palau Sant Jordi. When the tickets for the tour went on sale they had to defend the price they put. To what extent are they involved in that?Natos: We put the price of the tickets, except if they hire us to play, although even so we try not to make them swing. And we are aware of the ‘show’ that we give is worth more than what we ask for, but we also know the effort it takes for a normal person to get 30-40 euros out of their monthly expenses to spend on going to a concert. We try to adjust it to the maximum, but making a production like those of our concerts is extremely expensive. We have a huge team of people, renting all the elements to be able to carry out the ‘show’ is very expensive… And what we can’t do is give a concert and lose money. So you have to find the balance.It seems that the ‘fashion’ of VIP areas at concerts is increasing, which arouses complaints from fans. What policy do you follow with that?Natos: In the concerts that we organize we never do it. We don’t like that the public is segregated or that a guy with more purchasing power is going to have a better site just for that. I think the interest is better, queuing hours before at the door… That has more value than paying 20 euros more.
They have been together for more than 10 years… Aren’t they sick of each other?Natos: We were very lucky to have found each other. It’s true that spending so much time together, it would be normal for us to be hatsa balls, we wouldn’t stop talking, but not at all. Over the years we understand each other better. Waor: The key is how we talk to each other. Beyond the love and what we have experienced together, sometimes with a person you talk to every day it is easy at a given moment not to have the right words. And we have always treated each other with respect and affection even when we did not think the same about a subject. I don’t remember the last time we spoke badly to each other, but it’s been a long time.