Eachbox reviews the 2008 International Beatbox Convention.

Words by Eachbox
Pix by Eachbox, Rooky, AddyP and Nevo D

The early days of Humanbeatbox.com—back when it was known as beatboxing.co.uk—was an infant compared to the grandeur of the organization today. Back in 2002, uploading and sharing music, teaching one another various sounds, and simply networking on the internet was a relatively new phenomenon for beatboxers; no longer were they limited to strictly meeting each other in the streets and passing along homemade tapes or CDs. Through this networking, beatboxers were able to collaborate and battle with others across the globe. In essence, a supportive and collective community was emerging at an incredibly rapid pace.

In a little over a year, this growing community led to the 2003 Human Beatbox Convention in London, which was an important moment for beatboxing. Undoubtedly, Humanbeatbox.com has greatly contributed to the creation of other beatboxing organizations around the world, and it has helped so many beatboxers, including myself, achieve opportunities that we would have otherwise only dreamed about.

And here we are five years later. Still going and growing even stronger. This past April, HBB put on the 2008 International Human Beatbox Convention at the Southbank Centre, and it was an unforgettable weekend (I’m trying to avoid clichés here, but it really was unforgettable). This amazing event spanned from Friday evening to Sunday evening, and it was such an honour to be part of it.

And I’d like to say this real quick in advance—if I fail to mention your name, I sincerely apologize and hope you don’t take it personaly. I was asked to write this review after I had already returned home, so I’m depending a lot on my memory! Had I brought my notepad and pen, I would’ve been able to write everyone’s name down. So instead of trying to remember every single performer and potentially mixing up names and days, I’ll be focusing on the highlights of the weekend while trying to be as inclusive as possible.

Friday, April 18

When over twenty energetic beatboxers are in the same room together and are eagerly waiting to hop on the microphone, one can certainly feel the energy buzzing throughout. This was the atmosphere of the room on Friday night, the first night of the convention. Instead of being open to the public, this evening was all about the beatboxers; it was an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other and just have fun on stage without having to worry about time limits or structure.

Before the beatboxing madness began, the room was filled with beatboxers from around the globe who greeted one another; some spoke different languages as they shared traveling experiences and beatboxing stories. But everyone spoke the same language when it came time to exchanging sounds. Every so often, I would take a glance around the room and see the excitement on beatboxers’ faces as they wondered who would be the first to go on the mic. Hell, I won’t lie, I was just as curious! Although, after not really sleeping the night before and experiencing jetlag, I was more than happy to not go on first. After about 45 minutes of hanging out and drinking, the night was kicked off with HBB owner Jim Wilde aka Archangel, who thanked everyone for coming and encouraged all of the beatboxers to perform. And they did. The diversity of faces and range of talent was truly amazing. Some brought comedy and theatrical elements to their performance, like Nino G and the Beat Warriors; others were masters of a particular style, such as Xaigon, YasSon, and Marv-ill, who were strong with the drum and bass. There were so many other amazing beatboxers who rocked the mic on Friday night. Most of the beatboxers were only on stage for a few minutes, as the open mic was supposed to be a bit loose and took the form of an open jam. Two beatboxers at a time, with people jumping in when the need took them. After the open mic, many of the beatboxers went to the Generator Hostel and continued on with the beat mayhem (and drinking, of course).

Saturday, April 19

Day two of the convention took place during the day in the ‘Front Room’. The massive open space was used for the 2007 convention, and it was impressive to see the room being utilized as a performance area. There were two large red partitions that curved to form the stage and seating area; this construction certainly induced curiosity among young and elderly passersby alike, who made up a large portion of the audience.

The focus of Saturday was to provide a structured open mic, a few showcases, and a beginner’s workshop by Hobbit. Many of the beatboxers who performed the previous night were present on Saturday (and even Sunday) as well. The show was kicked off by Archangel and Hobbit, who thanked the audience for being there and talked a bit about the convention. Hobbit was the host of the day, and his charisma greatly complemented the massive energy that was released on stage by the many beatboxers.

Up first was Corroborree, a set of three young chaps who were fierce with the beatboxing. The first act of any show is comparable to the crucial first bite of a meal that you just made for your date—if she doesn’t like it, she’s gone. Well, the audience wasn’t going anywhere because they were immediately awestruck. After jamming with straight beatboxing, YasSon brought out the didgeridoo and took their set to a whole new level. Boris FX soon went up, and this guy was incredibly talented; being a native from California, I know a surfer when I see one. Boris most certainly reminded me of some friends back home, but I couldn’t discern whether or not he was a surfer. Probably not. But his beatboxing was as polished as a new pair of leather dress shoes. He was fast, energetic, and amazingly precise with his timing. Beatbox veteran, Eliot, got the chance to bless the stage with his raw old school beats; he also collaborated with Inja, a very talented emcee. Another impressive duo set was done by the Beat Warriors; these two guys from Finland were funny as well as very skilled with their beatboxing. They danced on stage, did heavy hip hop beats to famous tunes, and made the audience laugh. Even off-stage, these guys were constantly beatboxing and impressing other beatboxers with various sounds. And then there was Ball-Zee. Oh, who could forget Ball-Zee. Either suffering from lack of sleep or having a little too much of his herb, this guys’ red eyes were slightly frightening. But his beatboxing was sure as hell comforting. He did a range of hard-hitting beats and was able to produce a vocal bass sound that I had never heard before (I hope it doesn’t cause damage to his throat). There were many other very talented beatboxers who performed Saturday; among them were: Marv-ill, Addy P, Waxybox, D-Rop, RamZ, Lytos, Azeem, Daq, Pie Man, Fat Tony, Contrix, and more.

In between many of the beatboxing acts, Hobbit did a very well done beginner’s beatboxing workshop. Considering that he hadn’t slept well the previous night and was doing constant shows, he did an incredible job beatboxing and sustaining his energy as a performer and host. For the workshop, he first gave a brief overview of the history of beatboxing and then taught the audience how to produce various sounds. Interestingly, none of the adults in the crowd were brave enough to hop on stage and try to beatbox—cowards! But fortunately, some young kids were eager and more than happy to beatbox on stage. These young kids were fun to watch, and they’ll most likely be the next generation of beatboxers, making all of us look old school.

After Hobbit’s workshop, there was an amazing performance done by the PeteBox; he stirred a lot of buzz in the room, and many folks couldn’t stop talking about him. I had seen this guy’s name bouncing around on the HBB forums for the past few years, but I had no idea what style of beatboxing he had. He was the first taste of “live looping” that the audience got to witness; he did three energetic, beat-thumping songs that had everyone hypnotically nodding their heads. Not only was he a badass beatboxer; was could f***ing sing as well, smashing the place apart with his cover of the Basement Jaxx’s ‘Where’s your Head at?’. The day ended with a few more amazing showcases, and later that evening, Shlomo performed with the Mad Professor on the main stage of the Queen Elizabeth Hall.