“It’s the song of the people”

It is not easy to put a melody to a passionnor letter to a feeling. Ricardo Delgado (Madrid, 1971) —”although that’s what only those from the Treasury call me,” he jokes— has done so, accompanied by Locosa band that he joined in 2005 and that he simultaneously with Ska-Pwhere Cheekas everyone knows him, was a second voice and a showman for 24 years. Together with them he created an entire anthem: ‘Like a Lightning‘. A song that decades later continues to play, almost like a ritual, in the Vallecas stadium. Now, just a week ago, ‘Siempre Rayo’ was released, a fresh, fun song with a catchy chorus to claim the figure of the fringe fan

“It was composed before the pandemic. My intention was to make the video clip with amateurs and for them to also participate in the recording in the studio.. I want this song to be something of the people, nothing institutional, but of the neighborhood and for the neighborhood,” he explains. Cheekwho cannot hold his laughter recounting the adventures and misadventures of a recording in which members of the Peñas Federation and the ADRV Platform participated: “We were about 40, let’s not even have a gospel choir (laughs). We gathered in a large studio for Ambassadors so that we could all enter. The group roll was what gave me the most problems. We had to do a few takes. One came in late, another didn’t know the lyrics, another came from making a joint out there, another from having a few beers… (laughs). I would say to the technician, ‘Is everything ok?’ And this one looked at me with a face of ‘Yes, ok for the balls’ (laughs). We had a great time and it was a unique experience. It was wanted to capture in the video, recorded in the vicinity of the stadium. It was important to place the viewer in a mythical enclave of the neighborhood.”

A neighborhood that was his for two decades. “I lived in Puente de Vallecas, near the Hebe roomand now I’m in La Adrada (Ávila),” he narrates. It was then that he fell in love with Rayo: “It’s magical, unique… and there is no supporter that can better portray the essence of their club and their neighbourhood. Your values. The stands are anti-fascist, anti-racist… It shows. There is maximum respect for all the players, except for Zozulia. Few teams can boast of this. Hence the Lightning is much loved elsewhere. When we played in other countries with Ska-P there were always people in the audience showing you a scarf or t-shirt. He says, ‘But man, if we’re in Russia or Ecuador, where did you get it from?’ In a certain way we were ambassadors of Rayo. Of course, we have never received an honorary subscription (laughs)“.

This Saturday he will not miss the derby and he trusts that Iraola’s men will give the bell. “If we get a caricature of Madrid like the one we saw in Paris, it will still be a surprise. You can get your hands on it. This Ray is very competitive. Iraola brings out the best version of each one. We knew there would be a downturn and it is also taking place because of the mood. The players feel that rupture between the fans and the club. Trejo, when he has the opportunity, he claims to seek a solution. We are far away and every day things appear that embarrass the neighborhood. Trejo gets wet, he is the captain of Vallecas“, he says hurt, to which he adds: “It seems that it is done on purpose, that stones are sought in the path of a car that should go alone. The fan feels a mixture of anger, frustration, disbelief… The solution lies in consistency“.

Sinking your teeth into Real Madrid is greedy, but given the choice Cheek He stays with a cup comeback. “For an anti-Madrid player like me, it’s a fucking dilemma (laughs)… I signed a final against Athletic and we took the barge through the Albufera. We have a super staff, but not a spectacular wardrobe. At this point we have to go for the Cup to the death”, he decides. Of course, to aspire to La Cartuja, Rayo must win in the second leg of Villamarín.

He dreams of seeing the Strip in a final and you can’t imagine a better time for present his ‘Always Lightning’. “It would be the most. I could already die (laughs)“, points Cheekwho accompanied the team through the good times and the bad: “In UEFA, Second B… I’ve been to fields that my God… but you had to be there. Now in the Fund there are many 25-year-olds and I feel like the dinosaur of the stands (laughs)“.

Next month his biography will be published in Mexicowhere he shares the lights and shadows of the world of music, of a trajectory built on the basis of work and principles, those that he shares with his Rayo: “The pride of feeling like a worker”.