This weekend Brooklyn is set to host the 1st American Beatbox Championships. Human beatboxing, often referred to as the 5th Element of Hip Hop, is seemingly the final element to take the globe by stealth and storm. Internationally the musical art form has grown into a cultural phenomenon throughout the past decade. The art has travelled eons since the originators like Big Buff Love a.K.a “The Human Beatbox” of the Fat Boys (RIP) and Doug E. Fresh, both Hip Hop legends. Even Michael Jackson was widely known to be a highly skilled beatboxer who crafted many of his songs by making music with his mouth.
True school Hip Hop lovers this weekend will find their way to the ultra trendy neighborhood of Gowanus Brooklyn and nestle inside of Littlefield, a new state of the art eco friendly performance venue and art gallery, to witness beatboxing hold it’s first national championships in the United States. The mic 2 mic battle is part of BOXCON 2010 an annual international convention dedicated to the art of beatboxing which is usually held in London and now in it’s sixth year. The convention and championship battle plays host to some of New York’s upper echelon of music talent as well as Hip Hop’s elite with special guest judges Jarobi White (ATCQ), Parrish Smith (EPMD), Swiss Chris (drummer/music director for John Legend), as well as beatbox legend Kenny Muhammad. The weekend is packed with workshops, panel discussions, showcases, open mic and more.
Friday, July 30th at 8pm is the kick off press party/convention meet and greet and it’s open to the public ($10) and will be the U.S. premiere of “Street Sounds” a short film competition produced by thesmalls.com in collaboration with Scion. The innovative competition allows filmakers to collaborate by using only sounds uploaded by the public to an interactive sound map. The four winning films will be screened and audience members will even have a chance to “Beat the Smalls” by stepping up to a booth and adding their own human sounds directly to a short film. Following the screening will be live performances by drumming sensation Swiss Chris, Stephanie Rooker and Ben Tyree, renowned U.K. beatboxer Hobbit, Alyson Greenfield, Brooklyn based beatboxer and WBA co-founder Chesney Snow with DJ Reborn on the decks.
Saturday morning at 11am opens with DJ Leanna and DJ IIya from Park Slope’s Project Reach Youth a Brooklyn based youth organization dedicated to sexual health and the fight against HIV/AIDS amongst Brooklyn teenagers. The young DJ’s will spin music leading into the international open mic and showcase series featuring some of the world’s best up and coming beatboxing artists. The day features performances by Grammy award winning vocalist Maya Azucena, Hasan Salaam, Masai Electro and Swiss Chris.
Saturday evening at 7:30pm doors will open for the 1st American Beatbox Championships hosted by Hasan Salaam. 8 finalists from across the country Heaven Beatbox, B.Flow, Maximillian, Frisco, Luckey Monkey, Human Drum Machine, NYCBeatbox, and One Mouth Band will face judges Kenny Muhammad, Jarobi White (ATCQ), Parrish Smith (EPMD), and Swiss Chris for the crown of America’s first beatbox champion. The evening features performance by ILL-Literacy, Colin Dean’s Root’s and Grooves, and Akim Funk Buddha. BET’s hit show “The Deal”, Media Sutra, and selected press will be in house filming exclusive footage of the historic Hip Hop battle.
Sunday closes the event with more beatboxing showcases from across the globe with feature performances from EmileYX and DJ Angelo (South Africa), Kenny Muhammad, Swiss Chris, and the Stone Forest Ensemble w/ DJ Hard Hitting Harry on the 1 & 2′s bringing it home for the convention after party.
Get your tickets for this history making event now
American Beatboxing Championships
tickets $20 with promo code: ABC2010
www.beatboxconvention.com
info@worldbeatboxassociation.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/worldbeatboxassoc
(Via Hip Hop Press)
