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THE HISTORY OF BEATBOXING
IRISH HIPHOP GETS SERIOUS
INTO THE GROOVES



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// THE HISTORY OF BEATBOXING

by White Noise
July 1st, 2002



First of all, an explanation. Despite the fact that Beatboxing is an important piece of Hiphop, A Capella, and the music world as a whole, some people still aren't clued in.

Beatboxing is The Art of Vocal Percussion. i.e - making drum sounds and beats using your lips, tongue, mouth, throat, and vocals. Summed up by the guy in the hoodie with his hands cupped over his mouth spitting and making noises.

The history of Beatboxing is blurry. It appears, like graffiti, to have begun it's life as an urban art form. In the ghettos, the slums of USA, where beat machines, samplers and sound synthesisers could not be afforded. Necessity is the mother of invention. Without machine-supplied beats to rap over, a new instrument was created. The mouth. And Beatboxing was born.

There's a lot of discussion about who was the first. The creator. This is not important. The real beginning was when Hiphop trio The Fat Boys (originally known as the Disco 3) gave us 'Buffy'.

In 1983, Darren "Buffy, the Human Beat Box" Robinson won a talent contest at Radio City Music Hall thanks to his talent for using his mouth to recreate Hiphop rhythms and a variety of sound effects. News spread, and Beatboxing was brought to a wide audience. Buffy was followed by Beatboxers Doug E Fresh (MC Slick Rick's sidekick), and Biz Markie.

Beatboxing caused a storm for a while, but slowed down. Beatboxers were held back by people's perceptions of them as novelty value circus acts. On Dec 10, 1995, Darren "Buffy the Human Beat Box" Robinson died of a heart attack in Rosedale, NY. Beatboxing in hiphop virtually disappeared.

Beatboxing/Vocal Percussion popped up in jazz, and was the foundation for a new breed of A Capella groups using soft organic percussion to keep time in their tracks. The art form spread slowly and quietly into many genres, including rock music with the group The HouseJacks, and jazz great Bobby McFerrin showed off more and more of his skills as his audience grew. Vocal boundaries where also smashed by Michael Winslow the Vocal Effects Master. You probably know him as the guy form the Police Academy movies who does the amazing sound effects that you, like me, assumed were fake. He also did behind-the-camera sound effects for films such as Back to The Future.

Beatboxing returned to hiphop a few years ago when Rahzel of Philadelphia hiphop group The Roots gained fame for his skills. Rahzel is the greatest Beatboxer of all time. Rahzel has brought new interest to the art form, he has given it new life. Although, Rahzel is a true Hip Hop artist, he maintains the belief that Beatboxing is not limited to hiphop. The Roots also put forward Scratch, who claims to be able to imitate any sound made on a turntable. Judging from his vocal scratching, i'd say he's not far off.

Beatboxing is not just urban. It is not just a partypiece. It is the evidence that the human voice is the most underestimated instrument.

if you want to witness the magic of this art, i strongly, strongly reccommend you go to the Temple Bar Music Centre on 2nd August and see Killa Kela, a UK Beatboxer. Not quite in the same league as Rahzel, but he is an amazing artist, who specialises in drum and bass recreation.

- White Noise 1/7/02 .:: http://www.whitenoisebeatbox.tk ::..



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