Boombox Blitz: Corina Corina battles self-loathing & anorexia in ‘Skinny’

Welcome to Boombox Blitz, an artist spotlight series showcasing overlooked singers, songwriters and musicians who are quietly taking over the world.

From flashy runways to glossy magazine covers and Hollywood’s generally damaging exterior, women are instructed to be as skinny as possible. Far too many succumb to the pressure and spiral into a cycle of self-loathing, blame and an eating disorder. It’s a tragic existence outsiders continue to ignore. But alternative singer-songwriter Corina Corina is here to dismantle the system. Her single “Skinny” is a dark and twisted portrayal of the lowest point in her life. Now more than a decade removed from her struggle with anorexia, she offers wisdom in spades. “I’ve always been a songwriter, but over a decade into my recovery from anorexia, I still hadn’t written a song about it. I had never made any public statement about my story and every time I met a new person, the question of “when do I tell them?” ran through my head,” she writes about the song, which is paired with an effervescent lyric video.

Over a grim parade of percussion and cymbals, she sings, matter-of-factly, “Some people die of cancer / I died from hating myself.” It’s a chilling but truthful statement, cutting to the heart of the matter. Her soul was hurting, and while the darkest days are forever behind her, the suffering left an indelible mark on her skin.

In an unlikely bolt of creativity, her life changed forever during a train ride in Brooklyn on the 5 Train. “The whole song passed through me in a matter of minutes and I recorded a rough demo of it in the studio that same day. It was the hardest song I’ve ever recorded. My palms were sweaty, and I could hardly breathe,” she continues. “Skinny,” produced by Willie Green, who also helms Corina’s forthcoming new record, titled, Hangover Music, was a watershed moment. She morphed from victim to powerhouse warrior.

“My friends don’t recognize me when they see me on the street / But I’m being approached by model scouts and agencies,” she reports on the second verse, spitting venom with precision. “Can barely wrapped my head around the irony / I’m starving to death, but they’re rewarding me…”

“Recording [the song] transformed my life. I was able to re visit my darkest days and paint a real depiction of how it feels to be trapped by such a catastrophic disease. That feeling of powerlessness was still deep inside me somewhere, and through this song, I was able to let it speak,” she adds. “Although recovery from this disease is still a daily challenge, creating a piece of art to reflect my experience feels a hell of a lot more potent to me than the shame surrounding my disease.”

Watch below:

Follow Corina on her socials: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website