Editor’s Note: “Boston Thriving” is an ongoing series from Vanyaland highlighting and honoring the national and global success of Boston- and New England-based bands and artists.
Raise your glasses soda cans: Oompa will be representing Boston as a member of Pepsi’s Music Lab Class of ’22-’23.
Pepsi launched its Music Lab program last year, creating an “annual academy [that] fosters career growth, providing up-and-coming artists with performance opportunities, industry expert coaching and mentorship, brand-building workshops, professional content capture, radio amplification, and more.”
In 2021, the academy only welcomed three artists; this year, the new “class” has grown to include 12 members, each selected with assistance from technology platform UnitedMasters. Oompa is notably the only 2022-2023 representative from New England, joining fellow creatives from California, Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee, Arizona, Puerto Rico, and beyond. Their career amplification “bootcamp” with Pepsi and UnitedMasters begins later this month.
“I’m still in shock, but mostly honored to announce that I’ve been selected to join @pepsi as one of the newest Pepsi Music Lab artists,” the always-rising Boston rapper wrote on Instagram today (October 20). “Yeah, like Pepsi Pepsi. Like, PEPSI. I Can’t wait to get started as a Pepsi PARTNER starting with next week’s bootcamp with @unitedmasters. Please stay tuned and turn them notifications on for updates. Thank you big God.”
The comments on Oompa’s post are almost as great as the news itself, ranging from “I’m never drinking Coke again” to “So, basically we playing the Super Bowl.” (A Rihanna-Oompa mashup would sound pretty slick. Just sayin’.)
Check out Oompa’s full announcement below.