BBXCSA | EDITION 3 | 2018

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Swissbeatbox is the world’s biggest Beatbox YouTube channel showcasing the best and newest beatboxers from all over the globe. With a following of 612 000 subscribers the channel has the world’s largest online beatbox archive with a growing 2000+ videos dedicated to the fast growing artform. The team and driving force behind SBX are working hard at producing the highest quality bringing the best beatboxers into the limelight, showcasing their individual talents, groups, events, battles and conventions. All members being beatboxers themselves they possess and share a great passion to push the art of beatbox to the next level. Swissbeatbox stands for supporting artists and continually push established and up and coming artists, they continually scouting the globe to bring the newest and freshest talent infecting the next generation with the evolution of style…


B E A T B O X B R E A K D O W N Give Thanks to The Most High for granting us another edition and the first to 2018. Since our last edition in December 2017 many great things have happened for the South African and African Beatbox Community! There had been an awareness brought to many communities across Africa uniting the continent, with one dream being shared through the art of human beatbox. This 3rd Edition has been blessed with interviews and international beatbox personalities that have really brought this edition to life. We have a O.G who has been under the radar for a few years that has graced our pages with rich content, as well as a POWER COUPLE who is truly inspiring to within the beatbox community with their amazing work! We also proudly would like to introduce our partnering agency on the Defiant Production half of the magazine, RAW a.k.a Real Art Wednesday’s. A Cape Town based platform for our up and coming musicians, artists and singers. We are truly amped to work along side this gifted and hard working team of four unique individuals to bring you the best quality and performances Cape Town will ever see! Without a doubt a huge shout out to my team Amic and Kurt for the amazing visual and digital work! And too each and everyone who contributed from photographers to the artists for their interviews and bio’s!! Without your love and support we can’t make this happen!!! AGAIN GIVE THANKS TO THE MOST HIGH FOR HE IS THE ONE WHOSE BLESSINGS GRANT US GREAT SUCCESS!!

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Swissbeatbox is creating Beatbox Videos with the best artists in the world We at Swissbeatbox showcase video clips and music from some of the best and newest beatboxers from all across the globe. We organise, promote, and film some of the biggest international beatboxing events. The name swissbeatbox stands for quality in Beatboxing. If you enjoy our work, and would like to see more content with increasing quality productions, more events, and a greater outreach, than please feel free to help us in any way you can.

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Power Couple | Kaila Mullady & Mark Martin

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The Human Orchestra | Kenny Muhammad

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We would like you to send your shoutout to Beatbox Culture SA and the South African Beatbox Community. Your shoutout has to be between 30 sec to 1 min doing your thing. Send in your high quality recordings with good sound. Please do not use microphones with sound systems. Upload your video to www.wetransfer.com and email your link to beatboxculturesa17@gmail.com We will select the best shoutouts to feature in our up and coming editions!!!



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Q2

truly inspirational pair of unique As beatboxers your work branches individuals who found themselves out into many fields of entertainment. through the art of human beatbox. Which would be your favorite and why? Never would the world have thought... a beatbox that couple would have It’s hard to choose because we love infusing accomplished such heights to the likes beatboxing into as many different fields as of LightShip. possible. If we absolutely had to choose I think theater and comedy would be our favorite. We Kaila Mullady and Mark Martin both American love using sound effects and music to enhance Champions in their respected divisions, left me scenes and emotions. full of smiles and overwhelmed with the amount of knowledge they shared. Sharing similar Personally, you are the Power Couple philosophies and concepts I came to quickly to the beatbox world with both being realize that through our passion for beatbox we immediately connected. American Champions, will we be seeing you guys

Q3 compete?

Curious to find out more about their work I learned that their outreach programs and time We hope to compete in the tag team division in spent with the local community had my full the world championships. attention. I’ve been blessed to interview this amazing couple as they are currently traveling through Europe.

Q1

As a male/female duo you guys inspire and push each other with style and technique. How do you work out routines as there is such a big variation from Kaila’s high pitches and sounds to Mark’s deep bass lines?

Many people still have the misconception that women can’t hit low frequencies. Kaila has over four basses that hit the same low frequencies that mark can hit. In lightship, this is our strength. The fact that we both have such a wide vocal range allows us to switch and create richer compositions that reach the full spectrum of sound. We do this by focusing on balance and complimenting each other. When we compose together, we focus on melody and song structure rather than technique. This allows us to experiment and add our flavor to the mix.

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With your outreach program I’d like for you to give the readers an idea as to what it is that you guys do? We work with several educational organizations, reaching out to diverse communities throughout the world. We developed a curriculum teaching beatbox as a tool for speech therapy, as well as anti-bullying and confidence building workshops for youth. We believe that beatboxing is a powerful way to connect us with ourselves and each other. Beatboxing teaches us that we already have all of the tools and knowledge we will need to grow and create powerfully.


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ince his first appearance at the Apollo in 1991, Kenny Muhammad has truly influenced and inspired beatboxers young and old with his crisp, clean and unique sound and style. Personally I am a huge fan of the Human Orchestra as he is known for his strong vocal percussion and well calculated technique, without a doubt he was considered ahead of his time. Looking back over the past two decades at his phenomenal career he has shared stages across the world performing along side artists across all genres, Steve Wonder, India Arie, Public Enemy, The X-ecutioners and the list goes on...

Every beatboxer looks to break new grounds raising the bench mark, however Kenny continued to evolve the art breaking barriers with a incredible collaboration performing along side The New York Symphony Orchestra under the conduction of David Eaton. It is an honor and blessing to know that I have been granted the opportunity to interview such an amazing individual, and I truly look forward to meeting him in the near future. This is what he had to say...

Q1

With only a few beatboxers who surfaced in James Brown & His JB’s Band, So that was my cultural the 80’s such as Biz Markie and Doug E Fresh, “hooked on music phonics”. where did you draw your style and sounds? With being raised on the amazing musicianship and

It’s Interesting That You Said..” With only a few Beatboxers who Surfaced”, The Human Beatbox Artist That Surfaced into the public eye are always influenced by those who are “under the Surface” And you may never find out who these unknown Human Beatbox giants are and the names of these unknowns who pushed the ones that we know of today, to the surface Of The Public Eye.

high spiritual soul of Earth Wind & Fire and James Brown it instilled a lot of musicality in high frequencies all throughout my very being as well as timing and the spiritual feel of music & melodies from out of the ether.

So here comes “Darren Robinson aka “Buff Love” from the Iconic HipHop Group “The FatBoys” Formally known as The Disco Three, Man I was Blown away when I heard The God Power of Buff Love’s Human Beatbox That’s why it is so important to do the grueling research Magic Thunder! I said to myself....”Man!! That’s what I and get all the facts and the proven data, to get to the want to do! roots of the History of The HipHop Universal Cultural Evolutionary Art Called The (((Human Beatbox))) and Darren Robinson aka Buff Love was the womb that I was Expose it To the World in a Film/Movie/Documentary birthed out of into the Human Beatbox Universe! The & Hardcover Book Form and even a Documentary TV Main influence Buff Love had on me, was the natural Series that deals with the Science & Quantum Physics Of Explosive Bass Sound and harmonic Sound Power & HumanBeatboxing. I believe One day this will manifest the natural frequency and power of self amplification into reality and when it does, it will be eye opening, naturally with out a mic, let alone projecting that 10 mind blowing, scientific and supremely educational on times more through a microphone.(And How to Use many levels. Now let me answer you question.(LOL) Your Body as a Sub Woofer) Well as a Child when I was Growing up along with my two sets of twin brothers, my Mother (Armetra Victoria Herd) raised us off of mainly Earth Wind & Fire &

Right after that of-course came one of the Human Beatbox Pioneers (Dougie Fresh), who’s influence


on me was, to venture out and experiment on new sounds that you “already” have buried within you. But to “unearth” them and at the same time, let it support the foundation of your style and increase your Human Beatbox signature sound, which is your Human Beatbox (((Fingerprint))) of Originality, that know one in this world, nor in the Universe has but you. Secondly Dougie Fresh, He Master The Art Of Communication and Entertaining The Crowd with ease! That’s why he is called the Greatest Entertainer, Not just because of His Human Beatbox Skills, But For how he is able to “Move & MasterThe Crowd”. That was my major Influence I got from him and I’m still getting it today! All Human Beatbox Artist must Study Dougie Fresh if they want to control and master the Crowd & have them eating out of your hands from the beginning to the end! Because after you do all of the best stuff you know how to do, you lose the crowd because you have no crowd participation communication skill to build a constant High Affinity & Reality With your Audience to keep the energy high and constant from the beginning to the end of your performance. If your Communication is weak, you will have no Affinity & Reality with the audience! Mastery of the Crowd as a Human Beatbox Artist takes you beyond their attention span and they will never leave you!(Smile) :) But Also there was another major influence on me and he’s one of the Legendary Unknown Human Beatbox masters, His name is “Little Man”(King Of The Beats) From 40’s Housing Projects In Far Rockaway Queens N.Y., He Influenced me to be more well rounded, Little Man Did House music, Salsa, Merengue he was a Master at HipHop breakbeats(which was his specialty) He had this enormous Dope Phat “Weird” snare that he did with his lips & tongue at the same time(I could never figure out how he did it! lol), Little Man Influenced the Famous Kenny Muhammad “Snare” and it’s many Variations in Which I Focused more on the full manipulation of the muscle of the tongue, using both left & right sides of the tongue to produce the snare sound, literally the whole tongue. (Snare sounds produced with oxygen & without oxygen) Now add all Of that with my Mother Raising Me On Earth Wind & Fire and James Brown & The JB’s, Mariam Makeba, Al Jarreau & Bobby McFerrin as well as a plethora other genres of music and You Get “Kenny Muhammad The HumanOrchestra!

P.S. One Important (Note) of Human Beatbox History that Nobody Knows, In The 80’s, That Unknown Human Beatbox Legend Called “Little Man”(King Of The Beats) I told you about earlier in the interview, Was Known For His Battle With Rahzel (The God Father Of Noise) And to Put It Bluntly Rahzel Was no match for Little Man(King Of The Beats) That Battle Got So heated that Rahzel had To Double Team “Little Man” By Bringing Another Unknown Human Beatbox Artist with him to battle little man. And This Unknown Human Beatboxer Was DOOBY “B”! DOOBY B was known as the Beatboxer With the most Powerful Bass Kicks! He Would Blow you Away! That’s All He needed To do, was a Funky Bass Kick Beat Swinging Back and Forth and he would have the concrete Crumbling and the crowd would wild out! So Rahzel came back at “Little Man”, Double Teaming Him with DOOBY B, DOOBY B Layed Down this Colossal Funky Ass Beat and Rahzel Did That Harmonic Melody By “Art Of Noise” Called (Moments In Love) And The Crowd Lost Their Minds! But Rahzel Knew In His Heart That He Didn’t Beat Little Man In The One On One Battle Cause Clearly He Was no Match for “Little Man”. Little man was just too Much for Rahzel! Lol! This Is True Human Beatbox History Yo! Hahaaa....

Q2

Were there beatbox battles happening in the 90’s and did you compete?

There Were beatbox Battles happening (from what I remember ) from 1987 into the early 90’s, But it was “Underground” and very vibrant and they all took place at outside park jams in the black community, Street Basketball tournaments and in the Housing Project Community centers, As well as in the stairwells and hallways of the Housing projects where we had a natural acoustic delay & echo! There were more “surprise Human Beatbox cameo performances than battles, (that blew away the crowd and drove the block crazy, because they never expected it), they never saw it coming! Battles also took place in subway stations and after High School hours on the street Corners and each beatboxer would bring their crew with them and the crowd and energy would get so big that the police would come and break it up and threaten us with arrest! (That’s a whole other story of the Hiphop Cultural Suppression and the fear of The Revolutionary Spirit of Black youth.)


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But to stay on course, the Human Beatboxers Back Then, Were the “Secret Weapons” Used by All Emcee’s who were tactical & clever when they Battled each other in The Hood! Whoever that Emcee was, who brought that Human Beatbox “Secret Weapon” With Them, Always Won that Battle! Every time with Know Fail!(This showed how critical Human Beatboxers Were, when it came to Winning MC Battles!(Think on That!).

“Little Man”. Little man was just too Much for Rahzel! Lol! This Is True Human Beatbox History Yo! Hahaaa....

But yes, these battles did take place and they were serious! I mean serious! Because, those Human Beatboxers Who Battled, had the support of their hood behind them and they would bring their Whole hood with them and whoever had the strongest hood Support Won, it really didn’t matter if you were better than the other guy “Sometimes” Lol! Man!!! Those days were like “HipHop Wonderland Heaven!”

“THEY PAVED THE WAY FOR ALL OF US! I WILL NEVER FORGET THEM!”AND THE WORLD MUST KNOW WHO THEY ARE! FOR THEY ARE THE BEDROCK & FOUNDATION OF THE TRUE HIPHOP HUMAN BEATBOX CULTURE!

**One Important (Note)** of Human Beatbox Battle History, that Nobody Knows about! In The 80’s, That Unknown Human Beatbox Legend Called “Little Man”(King Of The Beats) I told you about earlier in the interview, Was Known For His Battle With Rahzel (The God Father Of Noise) And to Put It Bluntly Rahzel Was no match for Little Man(King Of The Beats) That Battle Got So heated that Rahzel had To Double Team “Little Man” By Bringing Another Unknown Human Beatbox Artist with him to battle little man. And This Unknown Human Beatboxer Was DOOBY “B”! DOOBY B was known as the Beatboxer With the most Powerful Bass Kicks! He Would Blow you Away! That’s All He needed To do, was a Funky Bass Kick Beat Swinging Back and Forth and the concrete would crumble and the buildings would sway & the crowd would wild out! So Rahzel came back at “Little Man”, (Double Teaming Him) with DOOBY B, DOOBY B Layed Down this Colossal Funky Ass Beat and Rahzel Did That Harmonic Melody By “Art Of Noise” Called (Moments In Love) And The Crowd Lost Their Minds! But Rahzel Knew In His Heart That He Didn’t Beat Little Man In The One On One Battle Cause Clearly He Was no Match for

Now, you must understand that these Battles were mostly, the battles Of Thee “Unknown” Human Beatbox Legends” that none of these so-called new-school cats have a clue about! They were the real legends that paved the way for the rest of us.

Q3

If yes, who were the beatboxers you considered a challenge?

I was Mostly That “Secret Weapon” At The Park Jams & Community Centers, But when I did battle, my battles took place in High-school lunch rooms, after school on the city block corners and in the subway stations underground where human Beatboxers from different high schools in the city would schedule secret meet up locations so we could out smart the Police to keep them from breaking up our battles and arresting us, so by the time the police came the battle was over and we broke the hell out, cause they would try to chase us down and we always had our secret escape route & we would always celebrate our escape with joy & laughter and brag about how we out smarted the police and got away! Those were The good old days!(LOL) And Yes They’re were many Human Beatboxers that gave me a challenge and some of those challengers put some Human Beatbox “Fire” on my Ass!(Lol) Man! I wish I could remember their names! These Battles I had, were like Human Beatbox Beings who came from other planets to a central location Called Earth just to Battle, the reason why I say that because back in those days every battle I had, Human Beatboxers had all types of



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Different Galactic Sounds, Totally Different Styles! These Social Oppression! It was Culturally Liberating! Human Beatboxers, were doing sounds way beyond, what you see these so-called new-school beatboxers are Currently there are so many beatboxers doing today! surfacing around the world with platforms

Q4

(Sometimes I would Wonder If the cat that I just battled was a Angel in Disguise passing information on to me “telepathically” through our Human Beatbox Battles!), They’re were some strangely Dope human Beatbox Close Encounters! One Of my biggest challengers that I Battled, was the great “POOKAH PEE”, He was definitely from another Human Beatbox Galaxy & Dimension! Mind Blowing! I tell you bro truly, There is nothing new under the Human Beatbox Sun! We were speaking a High Frequency Mathematical Human Beatbox Language.

like Swissbeatbox bringing them to light, this gives new beatboxers the chance to absorb and progress a lot quicker. How did you develop your technique as your breathing, clarity and production quality was (personally) ahead of its time?

I am Still A Baby In This Human Beatbox Musicianship Universal game and I’m still learning, I will always remain a student in the culture until I depart from this physical plane of existence. The way I Developed my Style Is Simple, I Listen to every genre of rhythmic beats & melodies, I study Master Drummers! Studying Man Everybody! I mean “EVERYBODY” was different! Drummers is the key & Secret to Human Beatbox No one Sounded the same or even had similar styles. Mastery! No one battled each other doing the same style of beats like you see with”Dubstep Beatboxers”. That’s what When you Master Drum technique as a Human Beatbox made the Battles crazy as hell! And We always Stayed Artist you can do any genre of music, no matter what True to the foundation and purity of the Art(Which is the mathematical rhythm is. Weather It be 4:4/5:6/6:8 Pure HIPHOP) and we made sure the art had freedom or 6:7 rhythms.You are free to fly where ever you want of advancement! There were no Biters and Clones back to go in the music rhythm universe! I would work on Then. NONE! Everybody was free to be themselves as my timing by going to jam sessions at the Blue Note Jazz Human Beatbox Artist! Everybody had their own official Clubs and other band jam sessions & open mic nights identity! in the city. Man, back then in those days, these Human Beatbox Battles Were like the “Smack Rap Battles” That you see today! They were so Intense Bro, it was not a game! For real! The Cool Thing back In those days, was when we would have battles, after we battled, no matter who won, we would reschedule a rematch at another secret location and we would have a Human Beatbox & Emcee Jam session together to keep the peace & love for the culture between us before we departed! Squashing All Beefs! It Was our Cultural revolutionary way of freely expressing our selves “socially” against Government (Tyrannical)

I would sit in with a full band and play along with the band and study how they play with each other, study their timing techniques with each other, how they musically tune in with each other to mathematically get back on the “One” rhythm foundation that keeps them super tight as one band! I would battle Drummers at these band Jam sessions and constantly do 2, 4, 6, 8 Bar Exchanges with the Drummer Until we exploded! I would Study The Circular Breathing of Dope Horn Trumpet & Saxophonist. One Saxophonist who I studied and jammed with, was the Great “Mike Phillips”!(Look


Him Up On Youtube Y’all, He’s Bananas!), By studying him I was able to (naturally) develop my own Human Beatbox Circular Breathing Techniques, that gave me unlimited longevity on stage without getting tired, it would give me the ability to do a 20Minute, 30 minute to a 1hour-1hour &1/2 “paced” performance with ease. What I Also learned from Brass/Horn players was “saliva control” and keeping your mouth lubricated from going dry, cause “Once you go dry you Die” on stage!(LOL) For Real Son It’s Embarrassing for your vocals to go dry in the middle of a performance. By studying them I discovered that there is a saliva producing mechanism right under the tongue that constantly produces saliva or water to help you masticate your food so you can digest your food better. Once you as a Human Beatbox Artist Master that mechanism under your tongue it will keep you from going dry on stage. What makes most artist go dry on stage is more than not having enough liquids to drink & dehydrating, it’s stage fright and getting real nervous before you go on stage! That will dry you up quick but if you master that mechanism, you can pull yourself back together in seconds and continue your performance without the crowd noticing!

your craft & routine when preparing for a show or a performance. Discipline & Structure Is The key to everything in life, if you don’t have that you will not be successful at living and conquering life, whether it be on stage, in family life, Marraige Relationships, Education, The Sciences, Business, Nation & World! So you must structure your performance! Yes! Have a blueprint of how your going to rock the crowd! Have a set list, That’s what I do all the time! Now, By doing this, it frees you to feel the crowd out and do spontaneous things off the head and you can fly all over the place and come back to your structured blueprint which keeps your show together and tight! In Society today people have the false belief that “Practice = Burden”. When you have a strong intention for what you do, It’s never thought of as practice. Practice is healing. If Your Depressed? Practice! If Your Feeling Anxiety & Grief? Practice! If your suffering from lack of strength? Practice! If Life is getting too overwhelming for you? Practice! If your restricted by “Fear”? Remove your Fear with “Practice! If You lost your Mother to battle with cancer? Practice your “Ass” off! Practice is a powerful healing mechanism! Don’t merely see it as Practice, See it ass “PRAYER!”(Smile)

Q6

Mastering This Mechanism also gives you spit reduction As one of the first professional beatboxers control, because a lot of Beatboxers go dry on stage and in the world what would you say was one can only perform for 10 to 15minutes the most if any highlight of your career? because they have no control over the saliva they need to give them longevity on stage, they’re spitting it out all One of the biggest highlights of my career was doing over the mic, all over the floor and all in the crowd!(Lol) nearly a half hour jam on stage with the Legendary Spiritual Angelic Master Of Music & Song(STEVIE These are just some of that ways I developed my craft WONDER!!!) I have to briefly tell you the whole story but it’s an on going process towards perfection and it from the beginning! really teaches you life lessons!

Q5

I was on tour with R&B Legend Angie Stone and we was

How many hours a day did you practice and did on our tour stop in Chicago at the “House Of Blues”, you have a structured routine? after that performance that evening, Angie Stone told us

When You Love what you do, time and hours of practice doesn’t exist! When you love what you do, you don’t even see it as practice. It becomes a therapeutic release for your heart mind & soul! It Becomes Your Whistle. When you love what you do, and you have a “purpose” & “mission” for what you do, practice Becomes like breathing! Well For “Kenny Muhammad I call practice a “fun mastery exercise process that leads toward perfecting

that Stevie Wonder was here trying out a new band that he was planning to take on tour with him at the “House of Blues” Private Juke joint That was In The Basement lower level and Stevie Invited the whole band! Man we were excited! When I Got The The House Of Blues Basement “Juke Joint” Stevie Wonder was already on stage jamming with the band he was trying out and Man, He was Creating magic on stage right on the spot! While enjoying this




B E A T B O X whole experience I noticed Stevie Wonder’s Security Guy on the side of the stage whom I was Good Friends With, So I went over to greet him and we were so happy to see each other, then he tells me... “Hey Man, go up on stage and grab the mic and jam with Stevie. I was Like What! For Real? And he said Yes Man, He needs to hear you, don’t worry cause he can’t see you any way,(LOL) I will cue the band and let them know what time it is,(As he smiled with excitement.)

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Now while all of this is taking place the audience is going wild and the band is holding down the Groove in the pocket! Stevie Wonder, Then pulls me closer to him and tells me to do it again but this time do it right on my ear, close to the point where your lips are almost touching my ear. (Stevie Wonder had me do this because he wanted to feel the vibrations of my beats and sounds, so he could visualize how I was actually doing it.) I’m saying in my head.. Like WOW!! MY GOD!!! I can’t believe this is happening! So I took the microphone So, in a smooth quiet manner I Slid on stage as Stevie with my right hand and held it up in the air and turned Wonder and his band had the place jumping, on fire, it upside down in a slant while pressing My lips against I grabbed the mic and made eye contact with his the mic and closely right up against Stevie Wonder’s left drummer and caught him on the “one” while he was ear. inside his rhythm and he smoothly transitioned out, as I took over the Whole Band While Stevie was Still Then I took Stevie Wonder left Field and Did Every singing and creating a song right on the spot about HipHop Breakbeat and Original Beats I Knew, the “money”(Amazing Stuff) So I’m Standing Right behind crowd ignited as they watched Stevie Wonder Explode Stevie Off to his left, Laying some fiery beats down and and Jump Un and Down Like a Little Child Again and the rest of the Band is getting Lit and the Groove is getting He Stopped Again, turned his face toward me and said Crazy, Stevie is going In and i’m Right There with Him, it again(with Extreme Excitement) And You Teach me The Crowd Explodes but the Crowd Is also Laughing, How to Do That??? I just looked at Stevie With a big Because Stevie had no Clue that It was a human being Smile on my Face! I was Stuck With Elation I didn’t Holding Down the Drums with His Mouth standing off know what to say, Then Immediately he got me right to his left side right behind him. back on his Ear and I went in even harder and Stevie Started making making up songs right on the spot to All of a sudden Stevie Stops and motions to the band every beat I laying down and when I changed rhythms behind him to bring it down a notch and he says to the he changed right with me and started singing different audience... “why are y’all laughing?” And the crowd bits of his songs from different Stevie Wonder Albums immediately responds(in a barrage of loud voices) Simultaneously!! It literally was the Stevie Wonder/ ...”that guy, that guy, he’s standing next to you, he’s doing Kenny Muhammad Live Mixtape performance right on it with his mouth. So Stevie Finally Realizes it’s me stage!!(Explosive) It was Like me and Stevie Wonder had Standing next to Him and he says to me, do that again! a Musical Outer-Body Experience Right on stage and we And man I went into this “James Brown Funkadelic” like were Flying All over the House Of Blues Basement Juke Funky Drummer Rhythm, The Crowd Exploded and Joint, Flying Above the crowd & audience as we were Stevie literally Jumped Up and down Like a little 5 Year looking down at them! We were like two free birds flying old child as he had his left hand on my right shoulder musically into different universes and dimensions. and said... “can you teach me how to do that!!!? I replied Like a little 5 year old child right back at him and said.... Now, this Went On none stop for over 25 minutes and “Of course! I would Love to!!! Then Stevie said... “Man when we finally landed that plane we were literally I never heard it like that before and Iv’e heard it all! We soak and wet from our heads to our toes, our clothes gotta go into the studio!! With excitement I said...” Yes! were drenched as if we jumped into a pool and we Yes! Yes! were buzzing and popping like two electrical live wires!


I mean there was so much power and energy on that stage that we produced, it permeated the whole atmosphere of the House Of Bluesand all you saw was Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy, Unlimited Happiness Everywhere! Everybody had the biggest Smiles on their faces! It was like we created the Happiest Heaven on Earth In present Time! This Was The biggest & Most Impactful highlight of my career because this Master Musician (Stevie Wonder) Who has one of the Most powerful Angelic Voices In the World, Confirmed the GOD given Gift that Almighty God blessed me with. Which truly Inspired me to start the process of Conquering the world, With a true Cultural Evolution Of The revolution, To Uplift & Inspire Humanity, to do the “impossible” in their personal “lives” through the Universal HipHop Art Called “The Human Beatbox!” Lastly I must mention that, The Second Highlight Of My Career was Being The First Human BeatBox Artist In Human Beatbox “HipHop” History, To Perform With A 40 Piece Orchestra, “The New York Symphony” With Conductor David Eaton, at the Famous Hammerstein Ballroom In New York City! Doing an original piece that we wrote together called “Kenny’s Joy” Mixing HipHop, Funk, House Music, Break Beats & Drum-N-Bass With Classical Music. It was a supremely proud moment for me because My Mother “Armetra Victoria Herd” (Who 10 years Later, Lost Her Battle With Cancer In 2010) Was There To Witness This Historic HipHop Moment and it Was One Of The Proudest Moments Of Her Life! May God Forever Be Pleased With My Angelic Mother! I made My Mother So Proud of Me on That Day! Tears of blissful joy...... I Miss you Mommy.

Q7

With a life time of achievements as a beatboxer is there any advise for those who are working to make a career out of it? Well, I don’t know About A lifetime of achievements cause I’m Still Living on This Physical Plane of Life and I am just Getting Started and I still have much to do, to Fulfill my purpose and God given mission in my life!(Smile) :) But I will Say This to those who are working to make a career out of the universal art called the “Human Beatbox”. First of all get out of the Human Beatbox [BOX] You Must “THINK” out of The Human Beatbox (((([BOX]))))!


B E A T B O X You have to first have the attitude of knowing(not Believing) that you are the Master & Ruler over the Art Called The Human Beatbox in order to Master it! You are a Master Musician, writer, composer, arranger, visionary and orchestrator! You are A God! You represent the First Instrument In Creation called the Human being!

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Human Beatboxing and manifest it into reality By first saying “BE AND IT IS!!” Put Your work force in motion and it will be!!! Be An Original Artist! Create Original Thoughts Musically! Do What has never been done with the art of Human Beatboxing! Don’t get caught up in gimmicks, Trends and Fads! Create & play on your own Universal Stage! Don’t Play on Someone else’s stage, doing what somebody else has done and accomplished The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad Taught me already! Find your human Beatbox Fingerprint that that The Religion Of GOD is MUSIC, COLOR & nobody in the world has, but you! Write Your own MEDICINE! That Is You Man! That Is The Human Human Beatbox History! Change The Game of Human Beat Boxer! The Art Of Human Beat Box Has Healing Beatboxing! Master & Conquer Your Craft! Innovate & Powers! Develop New “Technologies” that Will help To Advance & Expand The Art Of Human Beatbox! Think as a Learn The Science Of The Business of The Cultural Arts! Master Artist & Think as a Master Business Man Or Learn About Intellectual Property! You Are Obligated Woman! to protect and own everything that you do! Get yourself a intellectual property lawyer to help you protect and You are like the Universe As and Artist Controlling the control you Artistry! Business of his art, you are like the Sun and you have all of your 9 planets revolving around you and you give all Ask your self...”Why am I doing this? What Is my of your planets your sun light energy that sustains them “intention, Motive & Mission For wanting to be a with life, one Planet does all of your Marketing, another Human Beatbox Artist? HipHop Is a cultural expression Planet does your “tour, road or personal (management), that Gives a voice to the voiceless, HipHop Fights For another planet does your merchandising, the 4th Freedom, Justice, Equality & Liberation For All of The planet is your entertainment lawyer, the 5th planet is Oppressed & Suppressed Of Humanity! The powerful your entertainment accountant, your 6th planet is Art of HipHop Speaks Truth to power, Speaks Truth your “publicist”, your 7th Planet is your Social Media Against Tyrants to free and liberate the minds of the Manager, you 8th Planet protects your “Intellectual people from the mind controlling deceptions of tyrants! Property”...... Do you get the idea? Do you see where I’m going with this? Good!(Smile) :) The Mission of your HipHop Human Beatbox Art Must Be In Service to Humanity! Your mission Must Thank You “IMRAN aka “BEATBOX IMO” For This Be To Heal Humanity with your powerful vibrational Wonderful Interview! Thank You for this Amazing frequencies of your Human Beatbox! Don’t Worry ,Humble & Grateful opportunity to be interviewed about Money,(Money Is Energy! You Are Energy! You By ***BEATBOX SA***, I hope my words by Gods Are All Light! Your Are Money!) It Will Come along Grace will be of Inspiration to my Universal Brothers the way in Overwhelming Abundance Through your & Sisters Of South Africa! And most of all, I hope my Consistency and dedication, hard work & Smart work words inspires my South African Brothers and Sisters to and you will have one of the most loyal fans world wide Continue to Fight For The Freedom, Justice, Equality, everywhere you go! True Independence & Liberation of South African’s Through A Human Beatbox Cultural Revolution! Peace Think Big! Think Big! Never think small! Vision What Be Unto You All! you see yourself accomplishing through the art of



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he First

time I heard about beatbox was about 8 years ago, I was watching a lot of random videos on YouTube from Britain’s Got Talent. I kept noticing videos of Poolpo beatboxing in the recommendations list, finally clicked on it and I was instantly amazed by how humans can create music with their mouths. At times I still watch those videos…

My first major experience was on Romania’s Got Talent in 2012, I made it through to the final round where I placed 5th. Two years later, in 2014 I won my first wildcard entry ever for the first edition of the Shootout Beatbox Battle. I’ve attended every year since making this my 2017 my fourth year. Shout out to Nexor!! In 2018 I won’t try again. I was really inspired by Alem, he’s still inspires me up till today. I remember I was trying to copy his routines, placing myself on a beatbox battle against him and countering him, haha. Beatboxing is growing every day, that’s obvious! You can do a lot of unimaginable things with it, from my point of view and what I want to do in future with it is to create music and make a living through it, at least that’s what beatbox is supposed to be, music. I know this might sound a bit cliché, but just do what you feel guys. Feel free the passion!


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i, my name is Matthew Whiteman, otherwise known as Cheez bbx, and I am 17 years old. I have been beatboxing from a very young age and have encountered many other talented beatboxers over the years. The person who introduced me to beatboxing was actually my father, who at the time, had a very old school technique or style of beatboxing and taught me the basics. At a stage, I was only left with the basics until a few years ago, when one of my friends amazed me with a video that Swiss Beatbox uploaded onto their YouTube channel. After that, I started following up on beatboxers worldwide (namely: Napom, D-Low, Alem, Reeps One, Gene, Slizzer, Alexinio, Skiller etc.) to better my style & technique. I have since encountered a few beatboxers, who taught me a few techniques, and I have also taught ways of the art to people. I have never entered or participated in a beatboxing event or competition but I am surely excited to do so in the near future. Beatboxing in South Africa was never on the map, which to be honest was a bit sad. It wasn’t until the early stages of this year when Imo bbx, founder of bbxcsa, put a great deal of effort into starting this Beatbox network in South Africa and bringing beatboxers Nationwide together, to share their talents amongst the rest and influence newcomers, like myself when I first became a part of this beatbox culture. I am truly blessed to be a part of this network or culture and to know that I am a part of a Beatbox family and that I am teaching and learning new styles/techniques every day.


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ve always had a love for art and music. I was never really able to sing or draw like most of my friends and family members, so I found other ways to learn the arts. As a kid I always loved doing different impersonations, accents and sounds. I tried learning piano here and there, and when I was around 13 or 14, I was introduced to digital music production. Here I could unleash my creativity without needing to play instruments. I tried making everything, from dubstep to house and now even orchestral music. This gave me a sense of rhythm and even bigger love for music. Later on, I also started learning graphic design, coding and 3D art. I’ve seen a few beatboxing videos over the years and I always wondered how they were able to make those sounds. In 2015 I watched Pitch Perfect 2 and I was absolutely intrigued with the scene where 80Fitz battled Reggie. At that moment I knew I had to learn this new artform. That following week I jumped on YouTube to find some tutorials, and to my surprise I found 80Fitz’s channel. He had just released the first video of his tutorial series, so I started following it and learned a new sound every week, as the tutorials came out. Later I started following other tutorials from The Orthobox and other Youtubers. By this time, I was addicted to beatboxing and could not go one day without doing at least one beat. After a while I started searching for other beatboxers on Discord, TeamSpeak and Omegle. There I learned a lot of new sounds and techniques, and engaged in quite a few battles. For this I decided to use my producer name, STEAMY, as my beatboxer name. As time progressed I tried developing my style to resemble beatboxers such as Napom, Codfish, Kenny Urban, Inertia and Reeps One. Now I wanted to share my love of beatboxing with others a bit closer to home. To my surprise I couldn’t find a community, so I decided to make my own, Beatbox Africa. I posted on all the South African beatboxing videos I could find and even found some SA Beatboxers on Omegle. Eventually we were well over 15 beatboxers in the community and it lasted a good few months, before I came into contact Jo-Beat. He informed me about another community, Beatbox Culture, that just started. We eventually merged the two communities together and now we just keep growing. At this time, I am one of the only known beatboxers in Namibia. I hope that we will reach more beatboxers in Namibia and even inspire some to start. I can already see some kids in my town starting to beatbox now that they have heard me and I am absolutely thrilled. Beatboxing is a part of me now. I feel it brings people together and above all it’s a ton of fun. I would recommend anyone and everyone to try it out.


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Where did you first hear beatbox?

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When was Beatbox Battle Zim founded?

i first had beatboxing at a poetry slam here in Zimbabwe BBZ started as an idea 2years ago but decided to put from a guy named Aerosol he’s a spoken word artist it into action this year in 2017 and am happy a lot of and he fuses beat boxing with poetry he’s retired now young beatboxers are interested. beatbox wise but still doing poetry

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Have you run Zimbabwean championships and what are your future plans moving forward?

How long are you beatboxing for and were there any Zimbabwean beatboxers at the this is actually our 1st year to run such an event and it’s time who taught you or influenced you?

working accordingly Planning on taking Zim Beatbox to the world

I started beatboxing long back but professionally i started in 2009,there were a few underground beatboxers back As the main driving force to BBBZ what would then who never went commercial,i can’t say anyone taught me because i started beat boxing before i even be your words of advise to those in Africa knew what it was called,my situation at home made me and around the world be who are starting up their own fall in love with beatboxing even more i would imitate beatbox communities? a dead WRS radio to entertain my family and friends when there wasn’t electricity. I would say if you have something you want to do, go for it.

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Q3 Zimbabwe?

As a beatboxer where did you learn and do you know of any old school beatboxers in It might take years but if it’s your destiny noone can stop

well I did my high school at Oriel Boys high and later on went to persue my education at the Zimbabwe College Of Music where i got my certificate in Sound Engineering,i only know of one Aerosol.

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How many languages do you speak and what are they?

we speak many languages here In Zimbabwe but i only speak 3 namely Shona,Ndebele and English

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Do you think that your mother tongue allowed you to learn certain techniques or sound quicker than others? I actually think my mother tongue played an important role in my career

you from taking your goals.Beatboxing is not an easy art to introduce to the world but as soon as you do trust me people will appreciate.


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oiz is a Young,Ambitious and Patient Kenyan musician and Entrepreneur with a passion to positively influence and develop African youth to realize their individual untapped potential.

Coming from a humble background of 6 in a small town in the western part of Kenya called Webuye; He has and still is overcoming a lot of challenges as he diligently pursues his dreams. His inspiration comes from a past of negativity where almost everyone around him barely believed in themselves to do greater things and those that did gave excuses not to and ended up giving up. He just wants to live a life showcasing possibilities and inspiring the next generation to believe in their dreams from a strong point of spiritual standing and purpose to effect the world with their gifting, offering value to humanity and the world at large, making it a better place. “I never loose, if I don’t win I learn, greatness is bound to those who believe and give up everything within them towards attaining it� - Noiz


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n 1993, Ammar Dafri aka Power beat begins the beat box in Algeria. He discovered the discipline via actor Michael Winslow in the Police Academy movies. From 1997 to 2005.Power Beat skimmed the performances in M.J.C, the break battles where he created a duet with bboy, beat box, dance as well as FM3, FM and DJL FM radio waves. Frequently, he is invited on the TV show “Bonjour Algérie” to perform beat box demonstrations. In 2006, at the showcase of the festival of rap “DZ” organize in Algiers, Ammar discovers a unique technique mixing the harmonica beatbox. He then animates interplateaux as a beatbox presenter as part of the “Algeria Capital of Islamic Culture” campaign. During a trip to Europe in 2012. He won the street artist card in Brussels. During a trip to Brussels in 2013, Power Beat enrolled in O.N.D.A (Algerian copyright) as a writer / composer / performer. He took part in the creation of a multidisciplinary group called “Dzyri style” composed of a beatboxer, a freestyle footballer, two freestyle basketball players and BBboy. They will be invited to the “Breakdance Festival” of Tunis. He participates in the “Redbull BC ONE Break Dance” Algeria. Power beat is an artist who switches between Belgium and Algeria. He worked a duet with Jungle Baboo in a more energetic world of beatbox harmonica ...


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i family, My name is Abraham Doumbia, DOOMBEATZ on the scene, and i’m the founder of “BEATBOX IVOIRE” the beatbox community of Ivory Coast, West Africa. My beatbox trip started in 2010, when I first saw someone reproducing “I can transform ya” instrumental for a rapper at a school. I was like “wait wait … where is it coming from ?? ”. Then, one of my friend told me that it was called Beatbox.

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That’s when I registered BEATBOX IVOIRE as a beatbox community on HumanBeatbox website. In 2013, we organized a 2nd beatbox champ (BBC 2) with 10 competitors, then a 3rd champ (BBC 3) in 2014 with 8 competitors. The level was getting better but there were no new artists coming out. We were around 10 active beatboxers in the city.

I run at home, went through youtube to be sure my friend wasn’t lying to me. I found some videos of Joseph Poolpo, Felix Zenger, that were just impossible to imagine. Honestly in 2010, I thought beatbox was a natural gift.

During those years, I also found Swiss Beatbox, and had a chat with pepouni in order to make bigger things, but it wasn’t easy to provide video content and find good internet access to upload it. At least, we tried to always film parts of our competitions for memories and communication.

Then In 2011, I decided to go for the challenge of reproducing Felix Zenger video. I got stucked for a while on the click roll sound fx. And, the day I reached that I knew I would do beatbox for ever !!!

After the BBC 3, we stopped doing champs for 3 years. Instead of doing that, we decided to make beatbox tours in 5 townships of Abidjan. That activity made us meet around 1500 people, sharing love and music with them.

Then I kept practising and spending all my free time on youtube watching videos again and again. That’s how I found Rahzel, Kenny Muhammed, Roxorloops, Joel Turner, Zede. I realised that they was international organisation pushed by Bee low that already did 2 world champs. I had a chat with him, and that motivated me to organise the 1st ivorian beatbox champs in 2011 called BABI BEATBOX CONTEST (BBC) - Babi is a short of ABIDJAN, the biggest city in Ivory Coast. The goal was to find the first beatboxers of the country and start building a community. Hopefully, we found 8 artists to compete. That was the beginning of a long story.

After this tour, and with the used of social media (mostly facebook), we reached many people and got new beatboxers. The 4th competition “BBC 4” took place in 2017 and today our community counts about 20 active beatboxers that are very young (mostly attending high school). We had plenty ideas for our country and africa for 2020, but hopefully this year 2018 I met IMO from BBXCSA. I was so happy to know that other african communities were thinking the same about the future of beatbox in our continent. We’re now doing our best to represent Ivory Coast at the African Champs 2018.

After that first event, the beatbox game changed a lot with new school. Reeps One, Babeli, Alem, Dharni and Meanwhile, we continue our trip in Ivory Coast with many others, brought technicality, dubstep, musicality, the 2018 beatbox tour, in order to touch more and more new sound fx that revolutionized beatbox culture. people and meet new artists. And, by the year 2019 we’ll host the 5th ivorian beatbox championship “BBC But with the lack of internet access, I used to be the 5”, where we want international artists to join us, share one who download Gavin Tyte’s tutorials available on culture, judge and showcase. That will be a very big step HumanBeatbox website and youtube videos, in order for our community. After such an event, will make it to share them with the community using USB drives or possible to do succeed doing annual competitions and bluetooth... Everything was simple but great memories. send ivorian beatboxers to international events.



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veryone loves a funny joke, because laughter is the best medicine for the soul. Besides being an all-round entertainer, Lunga Tshuka has grasped onto the funnier side of life – not to slander everything that crosses in his path, but to simply make people happy. This 30-year-old comedian from Mitchells Plain has come a long way in a short space of time, and he hasn’t even reached the peak of his growing career.

extra in international TV Series called Dominion season 2 – to name a few.

When it comes to raw talent, Cape Town is filled with it, but very rarely do we come across a comedian like Lunga, who is also an MC, Breakdancer and a beatboxer.

In Lunga’s opinion, a respectable comedian works hard at what he/she does, and actually puts in the time and effort to think of new things and to make people laugh and feel Happy.

With a flair for mesmerising an audience, Lunga is the perfect choice. Being a jack of all trades offers a winning hosting opportunity, with a refreshing approach to each performance.

In 2012, Lunga’s friends told him to do stand-up comedy. He decided to give it a shot, and entered his first comedy gig at an open mic session. The feedback was positive, and continued to progress. Another comic, Gino Fernandez, saw him perform and gave him a slot at Southfield’s Chilli Bar.

Lunga’s best description of himself is crazy, with a very weird imagination – a person who tends to make things up, and when he finds them funny, it is brought to the table. His idea of comedy is a combination of the funny thoughts in his head, his life experiences, with a very Growing up, Lunga had many Hip Hop influences, small hint of politics and race. resulting in him following a similar lifestyle, starting with breakdancing. All of these qualities add heart to Lunga’s comedy career has officially taken flight. his stage presence, giving his spectators a mix of talent, His comedic experience includes winning local charm, music and dance. If that’s not enough, those competitions, performing at corporate events such as who see Lunga on stage can also witness him holding the Nando’s Comedy Festival in Johannesburg, and harmonious notes, with spot-on imitations of singers festival appearances at Rock the River and Synergy. such as Maxwell, and old school legends, like Louis Armstrong and well-known rock band The Darkness. At school, he was always classified as the class clown. The stories of his daily life were accompanied by something original, and funnier than usual. Lunga has been MC-ing at various events. Some of his gigs included hosting the SA Hip Hop Cup - a platform where South Africa’s dancers and crews battle to take home one of the most sought-out dance titles. He has also hosted the Renovatio Dance Company launch, Spades Youth Development Agency’s Annual Night to Remember, Cape Town’s Most Wanted Show, Hybrid Crew’s dance competition and Steenberg High School Talent Search, The South African Sports Aerobics Fitness Federation(SASAFF),Currently The face RAW (Real Art Wednesdays) open mic platform for various types of talent and He also was a co-present on a pilot of TV show called Trojan Warriors, Stared as a Featured



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orn in the great Mother City Cape Town but grew up in a small town on the west coast (Lutzville). Growing up, I had a lack of interest in the more academic subjects but yet thrived in the more creative subjects such as music and the arts. Throughout high school I formed part of many different youth bands, poetry, song writing groups and when I matriculated the only calculated option for me was to study music, (well it was either that or marine biology) let’s face it maths wasn’t really my strong point. While studying at COPA (Campus Of Performing Arts) for a degree in contemporary guitar and vocals, I slowly started working my way into the music industry by taking on as many gigs as possible (some paying and some sadly for free). In my second year I branched out a bit and set my mind on becoming a thriving working musician and artist in the industry. I formed part of various established bands at COPA, where I had the opportunity to perform at many corporate and well established venues and events. In my final year at COPA I took it upon myself to start a band (Classic Revival), where we have focused over the last 6 years in becoming a band that’s completely capable and fully diverse and can cover all spectrums of the music industry. Classic Revival has enabled me to have longevity in this industry. We have played many corporate events for clients such as Investec, Komatsu and Maserati International Yacht Racing. We regularly play at well-established venues, such as River Club, Blue Peter Hotel, Roote44 Market, Birkenhead estate, La Parada etc. As Classic Revival has grown we have found ourselves performing at private events, festivals, studio session work for artists and studio work for BNS studios and Pressure Cooker studios. Although Classic Revival has truly provided for me and I’m without a doubt truly grateful, I cannot put aside my passion to write and create my own music. I have written and recorded and have over the last few years established myself as a singer song writer. To be able to perform and record my own music is the greatest and most humbling experience of my career. With all the grinding, blood, sweat and tears, one night, while hosting a small open mic event, I met an old friend by the name of Chad Isaacs and we had a long discussion of how we could possibly create the biggest and greatest open mic night event that Cape Town would ever see. With our expertise and help from RAW team members Lunga Chuka and Julian Schouw, RAW (Real Art Wednesdays) was created. RAW has truly been an amazing journey and to provide artists of known and unknown a great platform to perform and become better artists is what we strive for. RAW has grown substantially and is now one of the greatest live shows in Cape Town, even after only being established just over a year ago. I am grateful for the team that we have. My Goals and future movement for years to come will always be to have an impact on the growth of music, for the music industry to grow and to uplift those with talents beyond measure. I will continue to grow musically in my own capacity and continue to plant my footprint in all corners of the industry.


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vibrant and fresh Cape Town based band. The band has been in existence for 4 years and has seen a few changes in band members along the way. The current members are Simon Van Harte on bass, Bradley Prince on lead guitar, Barry Box on keyboard and backing vocals, Keanu Harker on lead vocal and guitar, and Matthew Fischer on drums.

The Pedestrians is a multi genre band catering for any event. They perform an array of popular music that audiences love as well as contributing to local music by performing their original music. The Pedestrians has performed at various venues and festivals in and around the Western Cape. These include a residency at Jou Mase Comedy Club (now renamed to the Cape Town Comedy Club) from June 2014- October 2014, Jazz on the Rocks in Tieties Baai, Suidoosterfees talent search (where they won best act in their category as well as overall winners of the talent search), The International Kite Festival 2014-2017, The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival in Johannesburg in 2015, Battle of the band’s at the Quay Four restaurant (which they won in 2016), Taste of Belgium festival, Champaign and Oyster Festival 2016-2017, Jazzathon 2017-2018 and various corporate and private events. The Pedestrians also staged their very own production called Viva D6 Queens where they wrote all the music for the production which was directed by Quanita Adams. They were also the band for the Boogielicious Theatre Production in 2017 where they were in charge of the musical arrangements. Plans for 2018 include the exciting release of their original music, their very own production, tours locally and internationally while continuing to entertain and wow audiences with every performance.


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"Everyone who knows me, knows that all I ever wanted was to one day become an international star."

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ezz’s determination pushed him through Cedar High School of Arts and entering the National singing competition, SA Idols. Coming home after Idol’s Theatre week did not discourage this performer. He decided that nothing was going to stop him. “I just continued with what I do best. And that is my music.” Even though his family got tired of his constant singing and no tangible success, he did not lose heart. “I just kept on.” When suddenly an opportunity for him to go to Greece appeared, he went for it! The six months in Europe motivated him to take his music career to the next level. He returned to South Africa where he met “amazing people that decided to help me.” All that he is currently prepared to reveal is that his single, Running, is just the start. They are planning many great things in future, so better watch this space! Vezz is also opting to be a model and have a great passion for fashion and the camera.



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axine Ceasar is an upcoming 25 year old singer-songwriter from Cape Town, South Africa. Her vocal abilities span the genres of Jazz, soul, pop and R&B. She has performed on a variety of stages, and has her heart set on contributing to the South African and worldwide music industry with her unique sound.

Growing up in a family of musical greats, such as Tony Schilder, Hilton Schilder and Richard Ceasar it was inevitable that Maxine would have a great passion for music, and always new that this was her destiny. The Schilders are known as one of the most prolific musical families in Cape Town, as well as her father, Richard Ceasar who has made his mark in the jazz music industry. Maxine has studied music at COPA (Campus of Performing Arts), and in 2015 graduated from Cape Music Institute where she majored in vocals and the Keyboard as her second instrument . In 2016 Maxine had the opportunity to write the music for a play called, Tipex (Written by: Lauren Hannie) at the Baxter Theatre, as well as perform in the play. Tipex won , Best production at the Zabalaza Festival, and had a full two week run at the theatre. Zabalaza is a Baxter Theatre Centre Development Programme that develops theatre practitioners from in and around Cape Town. This is achieved through mini festivals in target communities, script readings, showcases and a theatre festival held at The Baxter Theatre Centre annually in March. Since then, she has continued singing and immersed herself in music by performing any chance she gets, from open mics, to hotel gigs and corporate functions; as a soloist, part of a duo as well as full a band. You can catch her performances around Cape Town at venues such as Mojo Market, The One and Only Hotel, Winchester Mansions and Westin Grand. Her latest project started at the end of 2017. Maxine started recording her first single, “White noise” , which is a sound that is quite different to anything she has written before but life experiences are interwoven in her music and writing and this project challenged her to “sing” outside of the box. In every aspect of music, Maxine strives to explore, learn and grow. “How could you get enough of the love of your life, there is always something new to learn”- Maxine Ceasar Maxine Ceasar’s passion revolves around expressing herself through her art, and lighting up the music industry with her soulful sound.



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orn Micaela Zanelle Kleinsmith on 3 April 1996 in Bellville, she has emerged as a talented entertainer in the music industry. Micaela’s interest and passion for music emerged at an early age. She started out as a singer at the age of six, singing in church and at Gospel concerts. Her favourite song she would sing on stage were Twinkle little star. At that age she already predicted that she will be a star. At the age of 13 she developed an interest in playing the guitar and begged her parents to buy her one and sent her for lessons. Micaela attended school at The Settlers in Bellville where, when she was in grade 8, entered the school’s Idols competition. She did not place but that experience was the start of her entering a few more competitions. Micaela auditioned for and was accepted into the school choir, where she distinguished herself as a soloist and were always involved in all singing activities in school such as “High School Jam” which were held every year in the Grand West Grand Arena and which they won on more than one occasion. Her involvement in the school choir led to her sharing the stage with such South African stars like Danny K, Loyiso Bala, Karen Kortje and others when they were invited as the only school to participate in the Rocking The City Festival at the Grand Arena. As a member of the school’s jazz band called the Dynamics, they entered and won the annual band slam competition held at the Waterfront Amphitheatre. This resulted in the band taking part in Jazz On The lawn where they opened for Judith Sepuma. The school participated in a number of other competitions and won most of them and it is safe to say that Micaela’s solo performances had a great deal to do with that. She also had the opportunity to tour

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with the choir in Stuttgart Germany where they travelled to different places to sing. After completing high school she continued to pursue her music and to this effect, she entered SA Idols Season 12 in 2016 where she received the first golden ticket for Cape Town. In that season she was nominated as one of the best auditions for that season. She proceeded to theatre week where she made it to the group rounds. Micaela also entered a talent search competition in Parow where she not only competed against singer but dancers as well and won. Micaela also performed at the West Coast Festival in Saldanha Bay as the headline act. In 2017 she was invited to participate in the inaugural KFM singer/songwriter competition where she was chosen as one of the top 10 singer/songwriters in Cape Town. Her First single, “Smile” was released through this competition and she performed it live on KFM Radio and the Grand Arena Stage. Currently she is partnering with Blue Room Records on a collaborative EP called the Blue Room Series. The EP consists of five songs, the first, “Looking at you”, of which is released and play listed on Heart 104.5 FM and Hot 919 in Johannesburg. A music video of the song is due to be released soon along with rest of the EP throughout this year. Micaela started performing at open mic nights around the city and landed up performing at RAW where she quickly became a regular and a fan favourite.


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J

ean Citto 24, is a musician, singer and songwriter who found his gift in church, much like many other singers and has been on numerous big stages. After Matriculating from Bergvleit High School in 2010, he’s passion for music grew in the midst of studying sound engineering at Cape Audio College and he is now not only proving himself as a graduate of sound engineering, but as an artist in his own capacity. His passion revolves around his love for live entertainment and he has made a name for himself as a well-rounded ballad singer. As he gains more experience in other avenues of the industry, he’s craft has grown substantially. The significant moves within his career, has made him become versatile in all aspects of the music industry. He has participated in South African Idols season 10 (2014), as well as the Voice Season 2 (2017) and has now progressed in building his own personal brand. He has found great success whilst performing headlining at the infamous Real Art Wednesdays (RAW), headlining on the main stage at the Mitchell’s Plain Festival hosted by DSTV, also, winning the first ever KFM and High School Jam Singer/Songwriter challenge held at the Grand Arena, Grandwest, in Cape Town. His next move is to release his first single early in 2018 followed by performing at some of the biggest events in Cape Town and South Africa. Jean Citto brings a vibrant sound that captivates any audience, and is looking to break barriers and perfect his sound so that Cape Town, South Africa and the rest of the world experiences not only his voice, but his life through his music.



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Swakhile S I N G E R

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Swakhile is neo-soul/pop singer, songwriter and pianist based in Cape Town who is greatly inspired by sounds of the past. His music infuses soulful vocals inspired by artists such as John Legend and Sam Smith with Old-school rhythms inspired by music from Stevie Wonders and Lionel Richie. His debut EP “Not Alone” was released in 2017 featuring his song “You and I” which was playlisted on Onefm 94.0. He is currently working on an album and has released the first single titled “Mean to me”.


Mario S I N G E R

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ario Julie is an upcoming singer/songwriter from Delft, Cape Town. His singing ability has always been a part of who he is and officially kicked off later on in his teenage years as he started his high school career. Performances in his church, sunday school nativity plays, as well as at school have all contributed to the increase and improvement of Mario’s confidence and stage presence. Positive feedback from family, friends and other audience members has also had an impact on his career thus far and has given him the hunger, courage and drive to persue and continue in this amazing career called music. Mario has had the opportunities of performing as a backing vocalist for local, national and international artists such as Salome Damon, Candice Thornton, Genevive Williams, Camillo Lombard, Sasha Davids, Mujahid, Don Vino Prins, Tebogo Louw, London Louw, Robin Pieters, Karin Kortje, Can Skylark, Elwira Standili, Loyiso Bala, Danny K, Lloyd Cele, Da Ballies, Dawnay, Winston Siljeur and MarcAlex to name a few, as well as for upcoming artists Daylin Sass, Envic Booysen and Kirsten Ashlee. It always gives him great pleasure working with and meeting new artists. As an artist, he does gigs all around Cape Town to expose and establish himself. Mario is a music graduate from the Cape Music Institute, where he was trained in several genres, including pop, soul, and RnB to name a few, thus making him a more well-rounded and versatile vocalist. Off stage Mario loves spending time with family and friends, as well as meeting new people. He is known for having a bold, friendly and humorous personality. He has a great love for animals. “Before I discovered my passion for music, I dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.”


Ethan S I N G E R

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Born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa - Ethan Young (21), is an acclaimed R&B/POP singer, songwriter and composer. Ethan has been recognized as one of the City’s best up and coming artists starting at the age of 7 when he picked up his first guitar. His artistry is yet to be matched and he has quickly become the one to watch on the local music scene.


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