Boys & Girls Clubs Alumni Usher And Big Sean Announce $1M Investment For Detroit Incubator That Will Live In New Michigan Location
The city of Detroit has positioned itself to have a stake in the future of technology.
On Feb. 3, the city unveiled a new Boys & Girls Club location at Michigan Central Station in collaboration with Usher and Big Sean’s foundation, Spark Lab Studios. The duo has invested $1 million to create the Detroit Entertainment Innovation Incubator for younger generations to explore music creation, according to a press release.
The musicians’ investment was first announced in December 2025, as AFROTECH
previously told you. The space is geared toward youth ages 14-24 pursuing careers in film, television, music production, AI, 3D, and other immersive technologies. According to a separate press release shared with AFROTECH, participants will also have opportunities to engage with mobility, software, and robotics.
In addition to Usher and Big Sean, the project has earned the support of various partners, including the Ilitch Sports + Entertainment and Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.
In an interview with AFROTECH, Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan Shawn H. Wilson said he was raised alongside children similar to those he serves today as a leader. His passion for philanthropy can be traced back to when he was 8 years old and living in a camper in Milwaukee, WI, where he later experienced homelessness with his mother.
“That leaves an imprint on your heart in a major way. And I think that makes moments like this even more meaningful because I’m giving kids a next-level opportunity that I never had,” he expressed.
Usher also came from humble beginnings. He was raised in Chattanooga, TN, before his rise to fame. He lived in his grandmother’s home with his mother, Jonnetta Patton, who was responsible for Usher and his brother while sustaining the household on $10 a week. Despite the hardships, Usher maintained a deep empathy for others, a value that profoundly influenced the artist and continues through his foundation, Usher’s New Look®.
The foundation, launched in 1999 by Usher alongside Patton and Wilson, was created to position teens for long-term success, according to its website.
“My mom was a visionary. She saw something more for me, but she knew my heart. She knew that I would have empathy for kids who were just like me … She understood, ‘Okay, there are other kids who are going through probably worse circumstances than yours.’ And what I had was access. I had enough access and human capital and cultural capital to be able to dream,” Usher told AFROTECH.
“Thank God there was a Boys & Girls Club that gave me a place to take my active brain and allow it to be active, even if it was just at sports. But we want to give them 10 times more access. We’re gonna give them an opportunity to really dream,” the singer later added.
Big Sean was also a Boys & Girls Club kid and is a Detroit native who credits the city for birthing his creativity and introducing him to people from diverse walks of life. He was raised on the west side of Detroit, attended the Detroit Waldorf School on the East Side, and later enrolled at Cass Technical High School.
Throughout his upbringing and journey, charity has been a tradition spanning generations. His family, including his mother, Myra Anderson, regularly donated to churches, fire departments, the Salvation Army, and Goodwill.
“Growing up, my grandparents, my mom, everyone was very charitable no matter what we had … I think one of the biggest lessons I learned is it’s better to give than to receive … So when I got into a moment in my life where I could really get back in a bigger arena, I always made sure I did that in any capacity I could,” he shared with AFROTECH.
“Having a mom that believed in my dreams more than I believed in my dreams at some point was probably the sole reason that I was able to even do this for sure,” he added.
Big Sean’s philanthropy, particularly with the Boys & Girls Clubs, began with a $100,000 investment that helped stabilize the nonprofit, according to The Detroit Free Press. Since then, Big Sean has gifted four fully operational Big Sean Studios to the Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan, creating opportunities for more than 10,000 youth to explore music, a news release notes.
Now, Big Sean and Usher have invested $1 million in the organization to launch a new Boys & Girls Club location at Michigan Central Station, notes the release.
The new location will include a special FX lab where students can create prosthetics, a creators’ lounge, a virtual production studio, an autonomous and drone training space, a literary and storytelling lounge, a youth-run retail marketplace, and innovation, fashion, and technology incubators, notes a release shared with AFROTECH. There will also be advanced programming and opportunities for participants to receive seed funding to support content ideas or launch creative startups.
Big Sean has also said he plans to shoot music videos in space and involve youth in the production process.
“If you look at other innovation districts, they don’t really engage youth until they’re in college or graduate students. So for us to be able to provide access to kids from Detroit neighborhoods, from the east side to the west side, and give them access to this is a game changer,” Wilson acknowledged.
While the incubator hub is a first-of-its-kind for the Boys & Girls Clubs, Usher told AFROTECH that the goal is to establish 500 more of these locations across the country.
“I want to be able to allow these minds to go wherever they want to go. This is a seed of an investment. This is the beginning,” he stated.
The space officially kicks off programming on Feb. 9, according to information shared with AFROTECH.
The post Boys & Girls Clubs Alumni Usher And Big Sean Announce $1M Investment For Detroit Incubator That Will Live In New Michigan Location appeared first on AfroTech.
The post Boys & Girls Clubs Alumni Usher And Big Sean Announce $1M Investment For Detroit Incubator That Will Live In New Michigan Location appeared first on AfroTech.
