For those of you who were among the 500 at Cargo, you will recall that despite a tough month for London, nothing could stop a sell out crowd surfacing to watch Britain´s brightest beatbox talents compete for the title of UK Beatbox Champion.
With set of fine heavyweight beats, BBC 1xtra´s DJ Blakey set the stage for the evening´s host Doc Brown, who introduced the panel of prolific stature within the beatboxing world. The iconic multi-vocalist Killa Kela, our own TyTe and Shlomo, and of course the figure behind the organization of the World Championships, Bee Low.
Nearing two hours to midnight, hoodies were yanked over heads, nervous brows doused and mics checked one final time before 8 finalists emerged from the stage wings to rapturous applause having already made it through a series of heats to qualify for the night´s events. Three minutes in saw fractionally-sized London competitor, Zani run verbal rings around opponent Bigg Taj, overthrowing the gargantuan Scotsman within the first round. A Star Wars inspired offering won Faith SFX a place in the second round over Foz, giving the crowd a taste for gimmickry. Next up were some tough calls between Northern talents Dr Badfunk and DeSEBel for whom the crowd voted for in duplicity, finally seeing Badfunk triumph from a discretionary decision by the panel, only to tumble at the talent of Faith in the semi final. Fortune may have fuelled Brighton talent Beardyman into the semi final by default when competitor Chemikal found himself stranded at Glasgow airport, but some unbelievable regurgitations of killer rap
classics are what pushed him through to an all London final against Faith SFX.
Gun shot drum beats roared from Beardyman´s mouth the moment his two minutes started, with such nuclear accuracy it had people looking for a record spinning behind him. The audience seemed so impressed, many an opponent might have folded. But not Faith. The Brightoner stalking him about the stage with the most convincing light sabre impression you will ever hear. The unphased Faith then ripped beats into the competition, pushing himself to the front of the stage to transfix the gaze of kaleidoscope eyed Killa Kela before uttering the lyric, "I´m just a bachelor...". The hook to Ginuwine´s 1996 grimy R&B classic, ´Pony´, to write off any chance Beardyman had of taking the title home that night.
Raw from the terrorist attacks earlier in the month, the evening´s efforts and outcomes only seemed to amplify the importance of celebrating London and the UK as a major breeding ground for beatboxers; and by the looks of things from that night in Shoreditch, the place where it continue to grow into something phenomenal.
For those of you who were among the 500 at Cargo, you will recall that despite a tough month for London, nothing could stop a sell out crowd surfacing to watch Britain´s brightest beatbox talents compete for the title of UK Beatbox Champion.
Gun shot drum beats roared from Beardyman´s mouth the moment his two minutes started, with such nuclear accuracy it had people looking for a record spinning behind him. The audience seemed so impressed, many an opponent might have folded. But not Faith. The Brightoner stalking him about the stage with the most convincing light sabre impression you will ever hear. The unphased Faith then ripped beats into the competition, pushing himself to the front of the stage to transfix the gaze of kaleidoscope eyed Killa Kela before uttering the lyric, "I´m just a bachelor...". The hook to Ginuwine´s 1996 grimy R&B classic, ´Pony´, to write off any chance Beardyman had of taking the title home that night.
