The Beatbox Battle World Championship is no longer the most important beatbox event in the world. Is it still relevant?

In 2018, I previewed the last Beatbox Battle World Championships. I went category by category, marveling at the depth of talent. Every beatboxer who had won something of note in the entire 2010s was competing. It felt like I was preparing for a fantasy championship.

Five years later, with the sixth Beatbox Battle World Championships (BBBWC) in Berlin a week away, I'm feeling quite differently about the event that was once the standard bearer for beatbox battles. The competitor list is looking suspiciously weak. There is plenty of young talent, but not all the best new beatboxers will be there. And the veterans, they must have made a collective decision to sit this one out.

• 1/8 of the 2018 female battle bracket is returning and none of the semifinalists.
• 0/4 tag-team battlers are returning.
• 3/16 of the male battlers are returning, and none of the semifinalists.
• 1/5 crews are returning.
• 0/8 battling loopers are returning.

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This event used to be the biggest and best battle, and the long gaps between world champs only served to enhance the hype around them. But with so few of the best beatboxers in the world competing, and nearly half a decade of GBB hegemony behind us, Beatbox Battle TV and the BBBWC has a question to answer: 

Can the Beatbox Battle World Championship stay relevant when it isn’t the biggest beatbox event?

Beatbox Battle TV founder Bee Low told me earlier this year that he understood that his event will need to change.He hosted planning meetings with members of beatbox communities across the world in hope of creating an event that represents the global culture. 

“We are still nonprofit,” he told me. “It's still from the family, for the family. For the community from the community.”

This year, the men’s and women’s battles will be intertwined to encourage fans to stay in for the women’s battles. Bee Low has added a vocal scratch category to give emphasis to a section of the art that has fallen out of favor. And the early part of the championship is an expo, where there is not nearly as much competition. Instead, he hopes, there will be community building, jamming, and other sorts of collaboration.

At the expo, Bee Low says, no beatbox organizer will be charged to showcase their work. “I will give everybody a free place where they can show their organization.”

With the beatbox expo, it seems Bee Low is tapping into this desire for events to be more than just coronations. He even blocked off the entire Metropol Hostel Berlin, ensuring that the off-site lodging area can be an extension of the concert spaces. 

My friend and longtime beatbox historian Kazu of HumanBeatbox always tells me that his favorite world champs moment was the last night of 2015, after the winners’ ceremony, there was a huge jam session outside the hostel. DKoy of the Beatbox Community has also expressed to me an interest in building events around jamming. Last week I wrote about Hobbit, who built his career not from battles, but from day-long jam sessions.

(Considering the non-beatbox population’s negative response to beatboxers jamming outside the hotel at the 2021 Grand Beatbox Battle, Bee Low is wise to insulate the community away from people who might complain about late-night noise.)

These changes align with Bee Low’s vision for the beatbox community. He lamented that since 2015, “human beatboxing culture worldwide became more like Hollywood. Everything more bling, bling, just focusing on income and money.” Removing as much pressure from the event, Bee Low thinks, will allow fans and artists alike to dive deeper into the art form.

Bee Low lives as he preaches. When we spoke, he called from a side room in a house he shares with extended family. During the pandemic, he said, he emptied the room “and made it into a video studio,” so he could still host BBTV’s live streams. 

His austerity and artistic integrity are without question, but I am unconvinced, for now, that this philosophy lines up with the stated interests of the current crop of beatboxers. They want to be able to make a living off of their art. Beatboxing is no longer a party trick. It’s a profession.

For these beatboxers, a major event has to offer any of a number of things for it to be worth their time. A monetary prize, a reputable title to put on a resume, a quality recording to use when looking for new clients and contracts, or, at the very least, an opportunity to hone their craft with other devotees. 

In the structure of this year’s BBBWC, it is clear that Bee Low has leaned heavily into this final approach to draw attendees and participants. The event’s history of poor audio recording and subsequent promotion of its top battles and artists mean that for all but the winners of the championships, this will not be a boon to many resumes. 

This event exists exclusively to build up beatbox culture after a near decade, says Bee Low, of decay.

With all this information, I am excited to see what this event looks like. Who will find it to be a good career builder? Who will leave disappointed? And, most of all, will Bee Low’s commitment to culture be met with any commitment to him?

Community Notes

• I’ll be on site at the BBBWC reporting and enjoying myself. Come say hello! I’d love to chat, hear your favorite moments, and listen to your go-to beatbox rant. ESH.
• I’m partnering with the cool folks over at Lace Audio to create audio versions of these articles. You can download the app to listen to me reading them at this link.

Recent Event Roundup

A number of beatboxers have performed at music festivals recently, and I wanted to hear about one of them. Honeycomb, a beatboxer who I think is worth studying if you want to make a living as a beatboxer, has been performing at Electric Forest for years now, and this year he hosted a battle.

Vocodah went out to Michigan to judge the battle and he performed a showcase. He said the vibes were incredible. We spoke over the phone about the event and here’s what he told me:

The battle was open eliminations at the festival and people signed up. A bunch of the beatboxers were people I haven't seen at a normal battle, because it's at a festival, it feels more open than the energy that's at  a normal beatbox battle to be honest, because everyone's just like having a good time and vibing off music. So they're inspired. 

So it made for a good battle. The sound was really good because they put  a bunch of subs in the floor, and then all of the  trees had these like high end speakers pointing in different directions that were like perfect. So there was no clashing — the subs and the high end and sounded pretty good. 

The showcase, it was definitely the best experience I've  ever had performing, one of my bigger crowds. People were really receptive to the beatboxing because it was a live performance — a lot of sets at the festival were DJs — and especially because it was a 360 stage. They're gonna be doing those like every year now. 

Upcoming Calendar: Events

• Beatbox Battle World Championship: Berlin, Germany August 2-6.
• Rahzel and American All Stars at Afropunk: New York, USA. August 26-27.
• Beatland in-person final: Bali, Indonesia. September 16-17.

Upcoming Calendar: Wild Cards

• Beatbox Wild Cup (by Saarland Beatbox): open through August 8.

If I missed any upcoming events or Wild Cards, hit me up on Instagram, I’m @HateItOrLevitt or @SpeshFX.