What is Beatboxing?
Beatboxing, aka vocal percussion, is primarily concerned with the art of creating beats and rhythms using the human mouth. However, it also involves the imitation of sounds such as scratching, something which beatboxer Scratch has mastered.
A good beatboxer can usually demonstrate a wide range of vocal skills.
Multivocalism describes the collective process of beatboxing, sound imitation, singing and more - basically anything vocal. However, it is fair to say that the words 'beatboxing', 'vocal percussion' and 'multivocalism' pretty much all mean the same thing.
'Vocal percussion' is more commonly associated with a-cappella and rockapella groups, whereas 'beatboxing' and 'human beatbox' are terms usually associated with hip hop or other urban music genres. 'Multivocalism' is a relatively new term, coined by the UK's Killa Kela.
Vocal percussion/beatboxing has been used in a-cappella groups for many years, but today it is perhaps mainly associated with hip hop music, often dubbed 'the 5th element of hip hop'. Incidentally, beatboxing has also been described as 'a lost art', something we want to help change!
Human beatbox legends such as Buffy, Doug E Fresh, and Biz Markie helped propel beatboxing into the limelight throughout the 1980's, and the scene has been growing ever since.
Now, at the start of the 21st century, beatboxing is set to gain further recognition as an artform in its own right, and become an international phenomenon in the process.
