How to survive an elimination marathon

At the world champs, you should worry about your ears when you begin to notice your feet. 

The very best part of the world champs is the sheer number of competitors that walk across the stage. By the end of the competition, over 100 beatboxers will have performed in six different categories, some as many as five times if they are competing deep into their brackets.

But during the marathon Thursday day that is solo eliminations, your ears can be numbed by the many routines that you enjoy/endure back to back to back. Even as this is a great strength of the event, it is hard as a crowd member, judge, battler, or MC to maintain your energy.  

So I say that when you start to feel your feet hurt, it's time to give your ears a break.

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Yesterday, I made my own breaks while about 70 beatboxers performed showcase eliminations in women's, men's, and vocal scratch categories. Stepping out to the smoking area, I was far from alone in this regard. Fans and competitors alike excused themselves, with no disrespect intended towards the performers, but a healthy respect for the taxing nature of the elimination day.

From the competitor perspective, there is a range of options for how to stay sharp. Demellow from Israel was around 40th on the elimination list and split his time between sitting backstage and watching his competition.

"Out of 40 [eliminations], let's say, I watched about 20," he said. "I wanted to hear the sounds, what gets picked up on the mic, but most of the time I was sitting."

Demellow acknowledged that there are other beatboxers who prefer to insulate themselves away from the competition entirely, and BMG from France, a judge and former World Champion thinks that insulation is a wise choice. 

"Listening to other beatboxers, it requires a lot of energy. So on the day of the showcases, the most important thing is to focus on the performance you have to give."

As a judge though, BMG refused to give himself that space. You have to be present, even if three competitors in a row use similar routines. "It's your job! You have to."

I never envy the judges at beatbox battles, but at world champs, they truly have it rough, ranking so many world-class performers. At least they have chairs!

On the organizational front, we saw the best and most perplexing from Bee Low and his team. For a second day in a row, Bee Low's ambitious new category was an unmitigated success. The dozen vocal scratchers who performed elimination showcases for the first-ever Vocal Scratch category at a beatbox battle were greeted with raucous applause. 

Bee Low, always a beacon of excitement and support on stage, was joined by crowd members and artists from other categories in cheering and complimenting the pioneering record scratch artists. 

The vocal scratchers spanned generations. Some of the scratchers were middle aged OGs, participating in their first competition in over 15 years, their talent no less sharp after the passage of time. By their side were a few new-school beatboxers, who mixed the classic turntable style with newer techniques.

With two days of warming up together in the green room, the scratchers all knew each others' routines, and eagerly congregated by the side of the stage after each passing elimination, congratulating and supporting each other in solidarity. They all know that this year's competition is different from what has been and what will yet be.

As the eliminations were finishing, scratcher Kut Masta Scutt (Scott Medinger) pointed to Napom, Slizzer and Alexinho and told me that he knew this might be his one chance to compete at Worlds. At the next world champs, the beatboxers who don't specialize in vocal scratch but know how to scratch will pursue this relatively uncompetitive avenue to the title of world champion.

Indeed, that same group of beatboxers and a handful of other legends ate up the vocal scratching, and vowed to compete in this category in the future as Kut Masta Scutt predicted. 

For myself and those around me, the vocal scratching and sound effect categories were the first time in years that we had no idea what was coming at a beatbox event. After hours of solo eliminations, the vocal scratching was a breath of fresh air. 

As long as I've been into beatbox, I've been hearing young beatboxers openly reject beatboxing's hip hop history, with the old heads lamenting the loss of connection. This purposeful injection of hip hop tradition would never have happened at another beatbox event, and Bee Low, a man who lovingly addresses his audience as "party people," was just the man to lead this hip hop renaissance.

On the other hand, there were a few moments when Beatbox Battle TV's shortcomings were plainly obvious.

It was clear that the organizers had little idea which qualified beatboxers would be competing. The MC called names of qualified beatboxers who never intended to participate  in hopes that they might be in the crowd. 

Despite advertising over 120 men, women, and vocal scratchers on the event’s website, less than half that number performed showcases. Some artists I spoke to attribute this to communication issues between BBTV and qualified artists and others to lack of interest, but for fans, it was disappointing to hear names called only for the artists to not appear. 

Under 2005 vice-champion Roxorloops' supervision, the judging has been managed with sincere integrity, but they have been using pen and paper, which inevitably led to confusion when they tallied votes. At the end of night 2, Bee Low was on stage ready to announce the brackets, and told the crowd as such, but only the women's bracket was ready.

After an hour of jam sessions on stage while waiting for the results, Bee Low got back onstage and announced that the results would be posted online late in the night. The judges needed more time.

Ultimately, this transparency is a testament to Bee Low and his team's integrity, but the communication could have been better, and the crowd near me grumbled about waiting for results that didn't come. 

Tonight, with the battles beginning, the world champs are moving to a bigger venue, and will be live streamed on the Beatbox Battle TV YouTube channel. I loved the live stream in 2018, so if you couldn't make it, definitely check it out. They had interviews backstage with artists and all the performances as well. 

More to come tomorrow, but get excited. This is the main event. 

One group of veteran beatboxers (who shall remain nameless) made a drinking game of the showcases to pass the time. Here are the rules in case you want to try it at your next battle! (Please drink responsibly.)

1) If a beatboxer names the genre of music they are performing, drink

2) If a beatboxer says SWITCH, drink

3) If a beatboxer uses the generic PF snare build up, drink

There are definitely other good things to add to this list, so hit me up on IG with your suggested additions. I'll pass them on to our friends who inspired this segment.

I’m @HateItOrLevitt on all socials. See you there.