When he was a teenager in Monterrey, Mexico, Fermín Caballero Elizondo had only one dream: to make music and have people sing his songs.
And although for his parents, who came from towns near the great industrial city of Mexico, their future lay in a medical career, Fermín put all his enthusiasm into the concerts that he organized with his friends in the patio of his house.
Little did he know that success would soon surprise him, when as part of the local band Prófuga de Metate he met Antonio Hernández, a DJ who preferred to use the pseudonym Toy Selectah, and vocalist Patricio Chapa Elizalde. The three formed the Control Machete group, which, inscribed in the movement known as Avanzada Regia, laid the foundations of hip-hop in Mexico.
Highly influenced by Cypress Hill but incorporating musical elements from northern Mexico, in 1996 they released their first album, “Mucho Barato”, which had a great response throughout Latin America. His single “Comprendes Mendes” made hip-hop stop being a genre only for connoisseurs and become something popular. And with their album “Artillería Pesada Presenta” they were nominated for a Latin Grammy for the single “Si, señor”.
Today, Caballero Elizondo, who at 48 still maintains his artistic name, Fermín IV, remembers the frenzy of that moment.
“We did our first concert in Mexico City, at the Teatro Metropolitan opening the presentation of the album Chaco by Illya Kuryaki and The Valderramas, who were at their most important moment, and two months later we were at a festival in Madrid next to huge stars. All of that was very crazy, we skipped a lot of steps and suddenly we were already there, being part of an industry that generates crazy things, ”he reflects.
However, something happened that changed his story. Although he had already dropped out of medicine to be able to devote himself fully to music, at the age of three one of the group members decided that he wanted to take a gap year.
“I remember telling my girl that today she is my wife, we have been married for 23 years, that I could not believe that this person did not want to continue touring. She told me to be calm because God had a plan. Of course, she did not understand that, what plan could she have? What I wanted was to go out and play, ”she says.
However, the pause helped him discover another world, that of spirituality.
“During that year I began to serve, to go to prisons, schools and rehabilitation centers for minors preaching the message and I began to see changes, not only in myself but in other people,” says who, after leaving the group, launched a career as Christian music soloist for the evangelical church Semilla de Mostaza, with which he became a pastor in 2005.
And now, Fermín IV tries his luck as a writer. In his book “Yes, sir” he tells how his transformation from rapper to pastor occurred.
“Today I am the happiest man in the world,” he says. “At the age of 30, Christ told me ‘come, follow me’, and that’s what I did these last 23 years, and he has been faithful and good to me, he has given me a wonderful family. But it is interesting that there are many people who remember me for those 3 years that I was with Control Machete while I have already been a pastor for 18 years, that is, it is something to which I have dedicated much more time”.
“Sí, Señor” is the story of how God took control of the life of Fermín IV., part memory and part redemption story. The book is a chronicle of the author’s life, from being a famous rapper who talked about drugs and alcohol to being the pastor of one of the largest churches in Mexico City.