Exclusive interview with beatboxer Rahzel: ‘The scene today is phenomenal and it’s growing to huge proportions’, Rahzel exclaims animatedly. ‘It has always been a showstopper, but over the years as people’s musical tastes have changed and hip hop has become more commercial, it has grown even more so’. Previously referred to as the ‘forgotten’ fifth element of hip hop (sitting alongside the more prominent elements of breakdancing, DJ-ing, graff-ing and MC-ing), it is thanks to the likes of Rahzel that beatboxing is now recognised as a legitimate art form. Inspired at an early age by Grandmaster Flash (Rahzel’s cousin Rahim was one of the Furious Five) and others such as the Fat Boys and Doug E Fresh, the Bronx-native spent his childhood building up his proficiency as a vocal percussionist. ‘When I first got into imitating sounds, voices and instruments, I basically did it for attention’, he recalls with a laugh. ‘Developing your skills back then was based on catalogue and repertoire, listening to anything that made a sound. And of course, practice, practice, practice’.
Joining The Roots in the mid-1990s as their beatboxer, Rahzel’s status rose over the years until eventually he parted ways with the group. The departure was amicable, he maintains, and he has mentioned elsewhere that it was based upon a decision to further evolve his artistic vision as a beatboxer. ‘My relationship with The Roots has and will always be a great situation. God has blessed me to be a part of one of the most influential groups in music. It has been an historic journey’, he says.
Successfully going it alone was seemingly effortless for Rahzel, largely due to an interpretation of Aaliyah’s If Your Girl Only Knew. Re-naming the track, If Your Mother Only Knew, Rahzel simultaneously sang the lyrics and worked the beats. At the time, it was considered groundbreaking and propelled Rahzel into a mainstream – and much larger – audience. And whilst he maintains that these days, he harbours no ill-will towards the much-maligned genre of hip hop, from the diverse variety of projects he has attached himself to over the years – with Mike Patton and Peeping Tom, and Bjork’s Medulla – it’s clear he’s been looking further afield for creative outlets.
‘Hip hop is hip hop and rap isn’t hip hop. I’ll be in love with hip hop until the day I’m no longer here’, he proclaims, before concluding that for him, it isn’t about the number of zeros on his bank balance. For Rahzel, beatboxing is a way of life. ‘All glory be to God for giving me the insight to see the importance of what the beatbox is to the world’, he explains. ‘It’s far bigger than what some corporate executive thinks, like how it can help sell a product. ‘To me, it saves lives and I’m a prime example of it. It inspires kids to be creative and motivated. I thank God for blessing me with this gift and I’m happy that it affects people all over the world in a positive way. That’s truly a blessing any way you look at it’.
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Also by NATALIE LIECHTI
Current UK beat-boxing champ, Beardyman, recently kept impatient crowds entertained between sets at London’s Lovebox Weekender. We spoke to the Brighton resident about his offbeat style: ‘I’ve been doing it since I was a baby, but I never knew it was called beat-boxing. I thought it was just a habit, like biting your nails, and people were always telling me to stop. Being a good beat-boxer is a mixture between being a good DJ, a cheesy street magician and a vocal athlete’.
Sydney-based artist, James Jirat Patradoon on his career defining moment: ‘If I could trace my artistic inspiration back to one event, it would have to be the Neo Tokyo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2001. I had never seen art like that before; I didn’t know you could be so playful with it. I vividly remember the Yoshitomo Nara sculptures made out of bandages, and Kenji Yanobe’s atom suit and Godzilla/Astro Boy sculptures that blew bubbles. It was just so fun. I think because a lot of Japanese art contains references to pop culture, it’s more accessible for audiences. They aren’t so intimidated by it because it can be quite light-hearted but still have a serious undertone to it’.
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Jessica Allan is working as a freelance illustrator in Shoreditch. Her work is a mixture of screen prints, etchings and mixed media, and she is inspired by dreams, narrative, meditation, Mexico, Japanese patterns, Aubrey Beardsley and M.C.Escher. Read more
Herzog and de Meuron, the Swiss architects, have led the way with this re-use of the existing building fabric of CaixaForum in Madrid. Rather than being slavish to the existing openings, the building has been cut away for a contemporary practicality. We think this is an example of heritage not getting in the way of progress. Check out a similar concept of a previous post re-using the city fabric, where we were dreaming of such thing.
Derrick R. Cruz has channeled his talent for creating densely detailed works into the creation of the brand Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons. Fuelled by the New York city art and fashion scene, Cruz’s pieces are timeless but relevant, and beautifully detailed in their imperfections. They combine gold, silver, resin and bronze to create dark but wearable art.
There’s something quite compelling about the intensity and intimacy in this portrait by Juliana Beasley. The kids seem coiled and ready to spring to action in an environment which is eerily stark and devoid of discernible character.
Since they blew up with the release of their debut album, All Hour Cymbals, Yeasayer have become the hottest thing to come out of Brooklyn since the $2.25 pizza slice from Luigi’s on Dekalb. We checked in with bassist Ira Wolf Tuton and asked him for a list of songs that are rocking his world right now. Read more
This clip had such an impact on me when it first came out, back in the day. There’s just something so poignant about the idea that some people you pass on the street everyday have a little bit more insight into their world — our world — than we could ever imagine. It’s beautiful and confronting, and it’s all set to the most wonderfully evocative music.
These very sweet folks from Seattle supported Broken Social Scene on our last American dates of the Spirit IF tour. Although they haven’t quite hit their stride as a live outfit, the tunes from songwriter Grant Olsen have some very lovely moments that fall somewhere between Velvet Underground and The Everly Brothers. I think Arthur and Yu could take over from where Grandaddy left off, though with better songs. No offense to Grandaddy.
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There is not a medium that UK illustrator Lizzy Stewart cannot wrap around her little finger to make the most beautiful, whimsical images. Read more
Forget battery powered vehicles. Cars made from ice are the future of transportation: no pollution, no honking horns, no painful rap music blasting out of souped up stereos. And if they melt, they melt. You just swim the rest of the way down the slipstream.
Charlie Immer’s pastel-pallete sometimes obfuscates the gory violence in his surreal images. At other times, it heightens the gut-wrenching and visceral effect of his work. Read more
With the recession still biting, it may be time to whip out the glue and the cardboard and make your next pair of cool kicks. Don’t know how they’d manage in the rain though? Read more
Italian-born, New York City-based photographer Paolo Ventura creates fairy-tale like pictures out of amazingly constructed, miniature dioramas that almost trick the eye into thinking he’s a tilt-shift photographer. Read more
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
This beautifully soft, handmade and dyed scarf is by the New York-based designer, Ryan Sullivan. They can be purchased through the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
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keaton cardinal said | 19 April, 2007
your the best beatboxer ever to live and u should make a bestbox and u should make a beat box of thta song one blood by the game iight
peace