Yesterday, a tweet from Danny Masterson reignited my fascination with human beatboxing.* I then embarked on an internet rampage to catch myself up on all that I’ve been missing in the world of beatboxing. Apparently quite a bit.
Talent
I’ve never watched America’s Got Talent (it pains me to watch the Hoff embarrass himself that much), but there was a beautiful beatboxing broad named Butterscotch who made it to the final four on Season 2. She’s done well since her stint on the show, scoring a regular gig with Mike Patton’s Peeping Tom. Check her out:
There’s also a guy named Shlomo who seems pretty legit (your speakers will have to be better than my shoddy laptop ones in order to appreciate this video).
And back in July, Justin Timberlake’s blog featured the “The Story of The Homeless G-Funk Beatboxer Named Red.” He sounds like a singer using a vocoder (think T-Pain) without the vocoder.
These three are just the tip of the iceberg for what’s out there. Do a quick search for “beatbox” or “beatbox battle” on YouTube and you’ll find thousands more of equally amazing people performing.
Events
Hosted in Germany, there’s an annual Beatbox World Championship in May. Contestants duke it out for five rounds until the best wins the world champ title.
Also, the International Beatbox Convention, coined “Boxcon,” is held over three days in April (locations vary by year).
And the US is gearing up for its first American Beatbox Championships in 2010.
Note: None of these include cash prizes so my guess is that beatboxing at its most basic form has never been popular enough to turn a marginal profit, except when combined with other forms of music. It persists nevertheless as a great source of entertainment and, presumably, a personal challenge for the performers.
Want to know more?
The most comprehensive beatboxing site online, Humanbeatbox.com has you covered. It includes the history of beatboxing (Part 1 & Part 2), an active forum, and perhaps best of all video tutorials for beginners. The quick, efficient video lessons are led by Gavin Tyte who, with his engaging British accent, somehow makes it look easy to perform these vocal acrobatics. His vocal echo sound effect is quite amazing, if I do say so myself.
Unreal.
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*I first became enamored when Justin Timberlake, back in the good ol’ ‘N Sync days, took some time during their concert to practice for his future solo career showcase his skills. When their HBO concert aired, I’d watch this over and over and over…
(Don’t judge me. I was, like, twelve.)
