Corey makes tracks with Taboo

Recently back in Sydney after a trip to a Los Angeles recording studio with Black Eyed Peas emcee, Taboo, the 20-year-old is now awaiting the release of his first single, set to land in January next year.

“It all happened pretty quickly but I’m super-excited about it, yeah,” Mr Webster said.

His brush with musical royalty came out of a Redfern community centre collaboration with photographer Russell James called Nomad Two Worlds, where a host of musicians and artists joined together to inspire young indigenous people in the name of reconciliation.

One of them was the Nowra boy, who raps under the name ‘Yung Nookie’ and was a self-confessed “angry man” at the time.

“It’s how I started in music,” he explained. “I was angry one day and just started playing, and it all just got bigger from there.”

Mr Webster thanks the mentors and staff at the community centre for lining up his fateful meeting with Taboo last year.

“They told me to come by and then next thing I knew, Taboo was walking up the stairs and we were having a freestyle session,” he said.

“All of a sudden, I was going to LA.”

During a week in the wealthy US city, Mr Webster spent most of his time in the studio with the well-known emcee, recording a track featuring the iconic sound of the didgeridoo.

“I thought a lot about my people back home when I was over there,” he said. “Before this happened, I was searching around the house for a dollar to feed myself, and there I was on Sunset Boulevarde with Taboo by my side, representing my country.

“Hopefully some people back home will see my story and be inspired,” he said.

It’s likely, too, with his new single soon to be released and a recording company in the works called Black Cockatoo Productions. And Mr Webster’s fledgling business boasts a name that speaks volumes of his commitment to country.

“When my partner and I started up the company, we called it Black Cockatoo as a shout out to growing up in Nowra, because it’s all about our connection to the land,” he explained, adding that the Shoalhaven communities of his childhood stand to benefit from collaborations like the Nomad Two Worlds project.

“There’s a real need for young people there to have something to put their energy into, like music or dance,” he said.

And while Mr Webster is happy to sit back and enjoy the ride, one gets the distinct feeling from talking to him that we have plenty more to see yet.

“Taboo told me he saw a lot of himself in me, and that he saw my passion, which was a pretty good thing to hear,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to seeing what happens.”