“This is the tricky part - the beat, and the chorus, at the same time.”

Whether seasoned professional or spluttering beginner, these are words that I’m sure most beatboxers have heard. Perhaps they were some of the first words you heard before you even started to learn to craft? For many, “If Your Mother Only Know” was the first beatboxing they ever heard.

I remember when I first heard it:

Tom: Yo dude! You have to check this out! This is crazy.

--- Tom wants to send you “IYMOK.mp3” do you Accept? Or Decline? ---
--- You have accepted the transfer. ---
--- Sending of “IYMOK.mp3” is complete. ---

Me: …….
Me: …….
Me: Huh? Is that one guy?
Me: What is he doing? He’s like a drummer?
Tom: No, he’s singing and beatboxing at the same time!!
Me: Beatboxing? I’ve heard of that, isn’t it some kind of martial art?
Tom: Nah, it’s a kind of vocal percussion.
Me: Oh ok? Hook me up with some kind of link.
Tom: Don’t know…
Me: I’ll google it.
Me: www.humanbeatbox.com. I’m gonna check it out.

Well, as you can see I was as uninformed as many out there, but this is what brought me into the whole beatboxing scene.

The History

‘If Your Mother Only Knew’, by legendary beatboxing talent Rahzel of the Roots Crew, is a tribute to Aaliyah, an up and coming American songstress who was tragically killed in a plane crash on a take-off from the Bahamas on August 25th, 2001. Aaliyah's 1997 song ‘If Your Girl Only Knew’ was reconfigured by Rahzel and was turned into the world famous beatboxing track 'If Your Mother Only Knew'. IYMOK (as the track is known) was added to his debut album Make the Music 2000, that included such titles as To the Beat by Q-Tip and Steal My Soul by Branford Marsalis. Rahzel's rendition has wowed audiences internationally, left jaws hanging, and has been copied thousands of times by budding beatboxers all over the globe. But how do you actually perform ‘If Your Mother Only Knew’?

How to do it?

Well, it has been widely accepted that Rahzel isn’t actually singing and beatboxing at exactly the same time, but it’s quite an amazing idea that he instituted - a system of making the mind think it is hearing two things at the same time. Using a method of Auditory Illusion, he crafted a beat that would be imitated countless times world-wide. Rahzel starts off with the lyrics and when he cleverly (and seamlessly) adds the beat, your mind 'fills in the gaps' in the lyrics. This is helped by Rahzel using ventriloquism to produce the lyrics, freeing up his lips to produce the drums sounds.

Although the beat is open to interpretation as how you sing it and incorporate it into a beat ‘at the same time’, this is the pattern:

B[iff] your Pff[mother] B B[on] B[ly] B[knew] B[knew] B B B Pff

B = Classic Kick
Pff = Classic Snare

Now the trick lies in disguising your sounds with the words, until you can flow through it smoothly, don’t forget the echo/repeat of the ‘knew’ at the end of the beat. The most difficult parts of the beat are probably the snare leading into the word ‘mother’ as most people tend to add a kick in there making it sound like “brother”, and the triple kick leading into, and inside the word ‘only’. Practise makes perfect, listen over Rahzel’s version a few times until you have it down-pat.

TIP: Try saying mother without using your lips, using the back of your tongue to produce the 'm' sound like this - 'ngother'. Also, do the whole routine in one breath so you don't need to waste valuable space in the pattern by breathing in.

For more information check out Nitronic's audio tutorial (below) or Fr1esh's useful guide.

And so, a beatboxing landmark was born!

If Your Mother Only Knew, that stemmed from If Your Girl Only Knew is the song that made Rahzel well-known, and helped bring beatboxing to a world-wide audience. This is a significant achievement. It is true that it has lost a lot of its appeal since everyone started mimicking it and beatbox battling with it, yet, it deserves credit where credit’s due. IYMOK will go down in history as a classic beatboxing track.