Spreading The Love Crush: Corey Depina and the Fogo Project
Corey shares his passion of performance, social justice, hip hop, and education to help convey the important role music plays in both personal and community development with youth around the world.
Today’s Crush features someone who I really respect, and it’s a little different because he’s not really here to talk about his own art or performances. My friend Corey works at Zumix, which is an amazing non-profit in East Boston. They truly do the Lord’s work, not only providing regular music lessons, but also teaching kids production, sound engineering, some of the business side, things like that. Their aim is to empower youth through music, technology, and creative employment. Corey has recently started another non-profit project called The Fogo Project, which he gets into here a little bit (the photos and video all come from his recent trip to Fogo where he was getting things started). Dude can’t stop trying to help kids learn music! He was also recently presented with the Commonwealth’s Black Excellence on the Hill Award for all of his efforts (it’s clear: he is both black and excellent). Check it out!
Let's start at the beginning. Can you give us some background on yourself and let us know where your work on the Fogo Project came from?
My name is Corey Depina! I'm a teaching artist, youth development & performance manager and Founding member of one of Massachusetts' best non-profits; Zumix. My background is steeped in Hip Hop culture, youth development and music education. Son of two amazing and resilient immigrants from the Cape Verde islands, I grew up in 1980s Roxbury. Around 1992 I started taking music and creative tech classes in someone’s living room, not knowing one day it would grow to become one of the most influential and highly recognized non profits in the state. In 2017 I was granted, through the Massachusetts cultural council, an opportunity for professional development. I took the opportunity to study my ancestry and visit the Cape Verde Islands to understand my roots and better understand my students, which is often a large population of 1st & 2nd generation immigrants. Through my Visit to Fogo, Cabo Verde and with my history of philanthropy & non-profit work, I knew I could help. I then started collecting money, instruments and equipment to send back to Cabo Verde in efforts of building a music center for the children on the island.
What is the common ground between Boston and Fogo?
Hood trivia: There are actually more Cape Verdians in Massachusetts then there are in Cabo Verde! Cape Verdians have a deep history with Massachusetts beginning with the whalers of New Bedford and ending with the small communities you can find in tucked in Cape Cod, Roxbury and Brockton. Some of the best Cape Verdian artists live right here in Boston, Brockton and New Bedford. Our common ground is found in music, food and culture-- sprinkled throughout many Boston neighborhoods.
You’ve got carte blanche to put together a show in Boston. Where does it take place and who is playing?
House of blues is the location we doing a Boston Hip Hop extravaganza with DJ Statik Selektah and DJ Slipwaxx and performances by: Ed O G, Reks, Terminology , AKROBATIK, Token, Cliff Notez, Oompa, Jazzmyn Red, Mark Merren , Latrell James , and Stl Gld.
What Boston artists are you crushing on?
I’m such a boston music whore I have to say STL GLD, Jazzmyn Red, Estee Nack, and Angel NRG just to name a few.