MTV Hustle BeatBoxing Starting Tonight 7 pm MTV India
MTV Hustle BeatBoxing Starting Tonight 7 pm MTV India
1. India ke behetareen Beatboxer @beatboxdcypher will help you understand Beatboxing better with @raka_vee. Toh kal raat 7 baje dekho #MTVHustleBeabox, LIVE on @mtvindia‘s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube & @voot. #TheMusicInYou
2. Get hyped to explore #TheMusicInYou 🔥🔥🔥 with @kunalmuzic and @raka_vee. LIVE tonight on @mtvindia‘s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube & @voot. #MTVHustleBeatbox
3. Kunal ke saath Beatboxing seekhna hoga kamaal ka experience. Seekhne ke liye dekho #MTVHustleBeatbox, kal raat 7 baje LIVE on @mtvindia‘s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube & @voot. #TheMusicInYou
4. Nagesh hai taiyaar to teach what he preaches- Beatboxing.
Watch #MTVHustleBeatbox, starting tonight at 7 PM LIVE on MTV India Facebook, Twitter, YouTube & @voot. #TheMusicInYou
MTV Hustle BeatBoxing Starting Tonight 7 pm MTV India
In your opinion, where is beatboxing as a profession, and what needs to happen in order to make beatboxing in India mainstream? Or do you think it’s better off as a niche profession?
Raka Vee:
“Beatboxing is niche and it will be a niche for a few more years. But, as a beatboxing artist, I think everyone in the community shares a responsibility to change the scenario in a better way. For example, it’s been 2 years since I’ve quit my job and I’m doing this full time and I had to prove it to people that beatboxing is not easy, not something that everyone could pick up. If someone is doing it passionately, they deserve something good. Here, the artists play a very important role where they have to position and improve themselves as a musician on a whole where every performance has to have a story, it has to have a meaning and it has to connect people. So, if Beatboxers are going towards a direction where they become better performers, musicians & do better creations, that is going to change everything. It will definitely become mainstream. I’m glad MTV has taken up this initiative to give this genre its due credit and provide a perfect platform to the artists to showcase their talent and groom themselves into becoming better.
Personally, I have been surviving by doing LIVE shows, LIVE workshops, and I do presentations for corporates. Moreover, I’ve been educating beatboxing and taking classes. For it to get into the mainstream, everyone has to turn into a musician first, and people will then understand that beatboxing is a catalyst that will enhance creativity in a musician.”
Ajinkya:
“Over the last 2-3 years, beatboxing in India has grown and evolved. It does have the scope and might pay you back. All you need to do is consistently practice and learn the right techniques. Once people come to know that someone Is making a living out of beatbox, through live performances and YouTube, things will change. I would suggest to just believe in yourself and keep on exploring.”
Shivaraj:
“At present, beatboxing is essentially confined to stage performances or public gigs at malls or corporate events and parties. Those are the outlets where beatboxers are connecting with consumers but as a mainstream profession, there is still a long road ahead. Usually, to make an instrument like guitar or keyboard mainstream, collaborations with bands or music groups work really well. But integrating beatbox, which is mostly a solo act, is not easy. It means having to add a solo section in the middle of a group piece in between percussions and other performances. But once that starts happening, the possibilities of performing commercially increases vastly. However, the good part is that currently there is a lot of demand for classes on Beatboxing. When we started off, we used to learn it from YouTube but now online classes have a lot of potential. So, that is emerging as another way of widening the scope for this profession.”
Who are your top sources of inspiration? And who should budding beatboxers be listening to, apart from yourself, to improve upon their style and craft?
Raka Vee:
“An artist from the UK, Reeps One has been a great inspiration for me. After a few years, what I’ve been personally learning from each and every person that I see, from all kinds of artists. So, after some time, I started working on my individuality, where I speak Tamil and the Tamil language has its own way of communicating. I try to use that and create my routines. I turn my strengths into music. I think if everyone focuses on their own originality that is going to create a lot of unique output and unique artists. All the artists will have to listen to every kind of music. I listen to all kinds of music, I don’t have a specific genre. Even though hip-hop as a genre is dear and close to all the beatboxers, but they should go out of that circle and learn from every artist, everything that we see, get inspired by everything, and stay inspired and work on their own strengths. That will definitely mould them into a beautiful, unique, and a wonderful artist.”
Ajinkya:
“Every budding artist teaches you something. There is a lot I am learning from the beatbox community. Beatboxers like D-cypher, Twinztagram, Sowbarnika, Immortal, Arjun, Anil, DVK are my personal favourites. I met them during the lockdown and started following their work. They motivate me in every way. But initially, when I started beatboxing, I use to listen to Tom Thum and NaPoM. I found them very impressive.”
Shivaraj:
“It depends. For me, KRNFX was the first beatboxer I listened to and he was simply amazing. Later I moved towards this beatboxer called Skiller who has a lot of technicality in what he does. I am in favor of that style because I work a lot with Mathematics and Complex Rhythms which are technical. Alem is another beatboxer I really admire. So, it depends. If you want to learn how to make new sounds and all, I may not be the right person to comment on whom to follow but if it’s about complexity, grooves, and working with rhythms, I think Skiller and Alem are really good. Besides them, there are a lot of new Beatboxers who have come up and are really good. Any beatboxer who has won these championships or even Loppstation winners and its finalists are also good at what they do. People should be listening to them.”
The complete beatboxing rendition of Rahman’s ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’ releases on August 15, 2020. But that’s not the end of it because this is just the first of many beatboxing projects that MTV India will release via MTV Beatbox Hustle. It will be an extension of its flagship property, MTV Hustle. And through this project, MTV and BBX India (Which is founded by Raka Vee) will provide a platform for talented individuals to show their expertise, create awareness about this vibrant yet niche subculture and give it the push that it so rightly deserves. So, keep your eyes peeled.
