Dazzle Magazine wanted a clear insight as to how the magic happens, and Cory Carson Raggie, known to most as simply Cory Carson, sat down with us to give us a detailed step by step of how he started The Air Born Academy. Born and raised in St. Lucia, and an alumni of Saint Mary’s College, Cory describes himself as someone who believes in integrity. Believing hard work is what’s most important, he likes his work and his dedication to speak volumes.
I started off like most people,” Cory said when we asked about how he started off in the music industry. “I was a fan of music, and having grown up in a house where music was a regular thing–my father with his love of jazz and my brother and his interest in American music, I too found myself gravitating towards it. Being the middle child, I followed my older brother a lot, and once I’d found that calling, that one thing that kept pulling me back to it, I got inspired to keep going.”
After singing their own songs, Cory decided that he wanted to make his own original music. He needed the right equipment and the right space, but first he would start with the basics.
“I used Fruity Loops to make beats on my computer but now, a few may know it as FL Studio. There wasn’t really much to work with, the program only had about five sounds and with my computer being the only equipment I had , I had to learn how to make it work. Eventually I was able to get my own microphone, but even then I didn’t really like how our music was sounding. I wanted to make it better, so I turned my interests to engineering.”
Once Cory got his own home studio, he got to make the music he always wanted.As he continued to better his sound, word spread about what he was doing, and he soon got the opportunity to work with a few big names; Vybz Kartel, Bunji Garlin, Tallpree, Kiprich, The mighty Pele on his last album “good ole boys”, Jackson, Alpha, Qpid, G.O.B, and Kayo just to name a few. Working with these artists also granted him other opportunities to work with bigger companies, such as Accela Marketing, Digicel and Cable & Wireless. Once he’d spent about a year in Trinidad, integrating himself into the soca scene, he came home to release more music and then realized he needed a way to get into the real music industry.
“I decided on going to school,”he explained. “I’d gotten encouragement from a few friends and acquaintances, like Wyclef Jean, Lawrence Court, and Derek Lewis. They convinced me to go to New York for school, and Lawrence recommended The Institute of Audio Research in New York City. I took it upon myself to go, and while studying, I got a job offer at Universal Records.” Things changed for him, and he found the perfect avenue to insert himself into the music industry. “I went from being this Caribbean guy in class, learning sound and audio like everyone else to the guy people would wait outside of Universal Studios for to slip a CD for an A&R.”
Working at Marvelous Recordings and Platinum Beat Service in New York City, Cory gained more of his credits there. He helped produce 50 Cent, Paul Wall, Dipset or The Diplomats, Young B, Smoke Dza, Currency to name a few. After playing some of his music for the studio owner at Platinum Beats Service, he landed himself a deal under Scrilla Hill and started working on his album. “I went to St. Lucia to renew my work permit and was about to head back to go on tour, but a family friend who was into music suggested that we work together. At first, I contemplated what would be better for me, going back on tour or branching off to do my own thing.”
“I worked in the Promotions and Marketing Department, so I learned the business side of the industry and how quickly an artist could go from nothing to something. I got to see what others couldn’t, how everything got done. I was instrumental in a few projects, one of those being Damian Marley’s “Welcome to Jam Rock.” When he came to Universal Records, I was brand new there too and the head A&R immediately sought me out because they weren’t familiar with Caribbean music and thought I’d be better suitable to handle this one.” He went on to say.
With the decision being made, Cory was eager to start his own, after having gained enough experience working for others. His experience in building studios, something he learned abroad was a necessary tool now as he managed to build his own studio.
“The concept was to build a facility where every musician and artist can create. I also wanted to inspire musicians and artists and to share my story with them. So we formed The Air Born Academy which was primarily a private school, the first of its kind. I wanted to teach production, engineering, the business side of music–everything I knew, in the actual setting.”
With St. Mary’s College being his Alma Matter, Cory pursued them first. “We had quite a few kids register, and today I’ve seen some of them in music videos, creating their own music and being successful all in their own way,” He reminisced. “That’s what The Air Born Academy is about, that’s our goal. In keeping with the theme, outside of The Air Born Academy, I also specialize in architectural acoustics, which means creating acoustic spaces, building studios, installing music systems and so on. I did that for a long time, and one of my more noticeable projects would be the room I built in 2017 for the Sacramento Kings at their Golden 1 Center in California.”
For a business with a music focus point, the team ensuring that they remain a lucrative business is definitely one with talented and hard working people. Cory broke down the essential personnel, how they got their name and how they’re working hard to stay on track with their goal. The main Air Born Academy team members include Wayne Vitalis, Bl’eve Brown, Kevin Martial, Ken Darpoh, Cayll Raggie, Ben Arrindell, Leila King, JD Anderson, John Hamilton, Phil Dudderidge and not forgetting those who helped him get off the ground, his parents.
“There’s a saying, ‘the sky’s the limit’ but for us it’s not. Basically it means that you’re up there, and whether or not your dreams are sky high, you can reach them. If the sky’s the limit, then that’s where you are: Air Born.”
“The primary goal was to give people the knowledge and hopefully inspire them to challenge themselves and to do something people didn’t expect. We’re definitely still heading down that road, and to help us do that, The St. Lucia School of Music jumped on board with The Air Born Academy. Right now at the facility we have piano, guitar, violin and singing lessons. When the kids come in they can learn the theory, and then learn how to play the instruments before actually putting music out there.”
Every successful business has a struggle period, and with The Air Born Academy, there were a few bumps along the road.
“The most important thing is having good mentors, and people who you can talk to. It was difficult and luckily I’ve been backed up by some really amazing people who would keep me motivated because it’s new to St. Lucia so not everyone would understand it from the getgo. For me, once I’ve inspired one person, that keeps me going.”
Earlier in his career, he hinted at the work he’s done with big names in music such as Vybz Kartel, Wyclef Jean and Damian Marley, The Air Born Academy has since worked with a few music stars as well.
“We’ve worked with a few soca artists, especially recently, such as Nailah Blackman, Farmer Nappy, Jamesy P, Blaxx, a lot of talented musicians from the Jazz and Lincoln Center, Gregory Porter and a few others as well. I worked with Machel Montano on his last project, “Greatest Of All Time” which hit number 1 on the iTunes reggae charts and I was flown to New York for that.”
