Words by Alex Osborne
Beatboxing is back, and this time around it’s taking centre stage. Beatboxing is a grossly underrepresented area of hip hop these days, but Beatbox Australia is set to change this with the third Australian Beatbox Championship. Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane are all hosting Beatbox Royales, where eight beatboxers from each state will battle against each other.
Luke Bellamy won Sydney’s Royale in May, and now has a place in the Australian Beatbox top 16. These 16 will fight for the national title at the Australian Beatbox Championships to be held in Sydney this December.
Perth’s top 8 beatboxers compete last night at Mojos Bar in Fremantle. This was judged by Perth-based beatboxers STRAIGH—TEE, Gale and SamWise.
Brisbane is currently judging via its online eliminations in preparation for their event to be held, date to be determined. Check the website for updates.
Melbourne’s Royale will be held at Horse Bazaar on August 23. Tickets are available online here, and are also available at the door on the night. Judges for the Melbourne show are local beatboxers Spillage, Dr. SFX and DizzBeats.
I was fortunate to meet DizzBeats when he and Melbourne emcee Mistress of Ceremony opened for Mobb Deep in April. It was the first live beatboxing I had heard in years, and I was blown away. When I saw he was named judge for the Melbourne Royale, I decided to ask him about the state of the beatbox game in Australia.
“In the last two years [beatboxing] has evolved so rapidly and I think there’s only one way to grow from here. A lot of art forms are undervalued, but I think if you’re someone who is driven, passionate and there’s no better feeling than when you’re in your zone expressing yourself with sound frequencies, then it shouldn’t matter how it’s represented. We just gotta keep doing our thang ‘til someone notices. And they will.”
It seems that Australia has started to notice, and the rest of us will certainly be paying attention in the wake of the Beatbox Championship events this year.
And if you just can’t wait any longer, check out DizzBeats’ track Buddah Run performed entirely with his vocal chords.