What is a beatbox looper? Fresh of a GBB judging panel Kristóf ponders the nature of looping

If you blinked you might have missed Kristóf’s rise to the top of the loop scene. He appeared during the pandemic and, it seemed, fully formed. 

“A loop station wasn't new for me. I just wasn't part of the community because I didn't use only my voice,” he explains. “I'd been looping for five years back then. That's what I did for a living already, so I didn't want to slow down or anything.” 

A little older than the average looper, Kristóf Nagy, now 28, had been in bands, performed on his own, and rejected more than one type of music education only to self-teach by 2019, when he attended his first beatbox event.

His wildcard for the 2020 Online World Beatbox Championship made waves, earning him the top spot ahead of, among others, future loop stars Bizkit, M-Age, Matej and KBA. After an early exit from the OBWC, Kristof found his way into the online 2020 Grand Beatbox Battle, winning the small final over Rusy. A year later, The Budapest, Hungary native cemented his status as an online looping legend, edging Robin in the finals of the Swissbeatbox Kickback Battle, loopstation edition.

Kristóf’s songs spanned genre, and no matter the style, the songs all were internally consistent with the form the song dictated. No hints at genre just for flexing’s sake. “I’m a shapeshifter,” he said in the Kickback semifinals. “In the past months I’ve been dubstep, I’ve been jazzy trap, I’ve been midtempo, I’ve been house, and … drum n bass.”

But in the comments and video descriptions, Kristóf made it clear that, for him, structure and genre needed to be paired with impeccable sound choices and design. Ideas, in the Kristóf musical world, suffered when they were expressed in anything less than their purest form. And to achieve this perfection, Kristóf became the face of a growing movement in looping that called for a clean mix. 

“Robin, next time you’re making an album, please let me mix it” he taunted his opponent in the KBB finals. Kristóf and his fellow mix advocates called for good sound design, good EQ, and clarity of sound.

Kickback title in hand, Kristóf announced a break from competitive beatboxing that would last two years until he joined his first in-person competition, Vokal Total 2023. He had not won a national championship, live-GBB or World Champs to draw attention to his rise within the scene. 

Rather, his steady drip of winning wildcards and success in respected, but peripheral, battles built to a point where he was satisfied with his output —  why look to the GBB to prove your level when “the level of loopers [in] Kickback matched the level of GBB ‘21?” Next thing you know, Kristóf is a judge for the GBB in loopstation and producer categories. 

As with many of the Grand Beatbox Battle judges of the past, Kristóf earned his seat by dictating the terms of what the community values. Songwriting matters; variety matters; sound design matters; balance matters, mix certainly matters. For years, he has lived those values in his music, and this past year, Swissbeatbox tapped him to bring those values and priorities to the judging table, a cosign and implicit statement that they would like to be guided, at least in part, by those values as well.

And yet, when I asked him about the producer category being the natural conclusion of his influence on the looping scene, he corrected me.

Five years into his beatboxing career, Kristóf is at his most influential point. But rather than stay the same, he is shapeshifting again, and changing the parameters for what it means to loop, but this time, he’s working from the judge’s chair.

Tani: You don’t have any of beatboxing’s most eye-catching titles, like some of the past GBB judges. When Swissbeatbox brought you in to judge the loop and producer categories at that GBB, did they specifically bring you in because of the things you value in music?

Kristóf: They told me “you're the past KBB champion,” and that I have a musical background — I know quite a lot about producing and music theory and music in general. They said that they value that and would be happy to have me on the panel. 

I like my mix to be as clean as possible. I think that it's a good way to transition from beatbox listeners to not beatbox listeners. But when I'm judging or when I'm in a competition, I really do believe that the mix is [only] one aspect.

We were chatting about this with Bizkit during GBB23, that I voted for him. And [in] the first battle I definitely didn't care about the nuances that I care about in my music, because the battle is a battle. There are so many other factors and It's not a mixing competition. 

I also wanted to give you this point: how I thought about me being a judge. Imagine, if anybody would ask MB14 to be a judge, would anybody complain? Hell, no! Look at Inkie. He never won a GBB. He got second place, though. He knows what he's doing. He has his style. He has his knowledge. I think that maturity in music, and then looping is the most important thing. Maybe even more important than titles. 

[Note: MB14 judged the GBB loop category twice; in the 2019 and 2020 online editions.]

You’ve mentioned that seeing Inkie at the 2019 GBB pushed you to get involved in beatbox looping. He’s also particular about his mix and about his sound design. Have you had the chance to speak to him about your musical philosophies?

Yeah, I went to GBB 2019 with my girlfriend. And when I saw Inkie using the big Helix, I was like, Whoa, that's if that's allowed, I should be participating, because I'm good with effects. That's what I said to my girlfriend, and she was like, “Okay, I dare you.”

Last year, [Inkie and I] were judging the French Loopstation Champs, and we had a lot of time to talk. Interestingly, despite how similar our views are in the same thing, we still have our differences. And that's beautiful, because it shows me and I think everybody that there's no such thing as objectivity [in music]. 

There are some objective things about mixing. But you can achieve them in one of a million ways, and that's also the same thing in producing. So we had some nice debates about Loopy Pro, because we both use that now, instead of the RC505. I learned some stuff from him, he learned some stuff from me. But I wouldn't say that I didn't have just as good a talk with Bizkit when we talked about looping and how we approach it. I happily say that I have no idea half with what Bizkit does in the MK one. At the end of the day, we're making music.

After the first year of the producer category at GBB, how do you think that category compares to straight looping in terms of the music it encourages competitors to make?

It's a really interesting category, because it's not as defined yet. Syjo, who won the category, is also a big name in one device looping. So I really do think that these two things translate to each other. It’s just about approach and if you want to go really into the rabbit hole, or you're happy with the more limited options. 

I've already had a little bit of doubts and questions about the category, although I'm a big advocate for it. So it's a little paradox in my head. As much as it was a success, there’s stuff that needs to be clarified. And Swissbeatbox already did it with the new rule lineouts [for the 2024 GBB]. People showed up [in 2023] with basically a fully automated set. And people in the crowd didn't necessarily understand why they got ranked lower. 

There was a point that wasn't emphasized enough, that the more you're doing live stuff, the more ranked up you're getting. So you can automate your whole set, like Oxygenic or Antrix did, where you basically just press play, and the whole thing just plays itself. But you're going to lose points, because it's a live competition. And I think the more the participants for the producer category understand and try to take advantage of this and try to blend the automated stuff with live stuff, then the categories start to shine more. Then we get to this hybrid realm where you sound like a DJ, but you put your live elements through your voice in there. And it's easily seeable and hearable. 

I am really looking forward to next year where maybe we're going to have more participants realizing that adding that live element, that imperfect perfection, is going to bring more to the table for the viewers and judges. 

Presumably when a beatbox artist is trying to go out and perform for a broader audience, like you regularly do, having a live beatbox element is a good thing for them to market themselves and to differentiate themselves from other DJs and live performers.

Yeah, this is a really interesting thing that you propose because I have spent my recent days thinking about this. If you're a looper or a beatboxer, and you sound like a DJ set, is that a good thing or not? 

I have a monthly gig, where I play in a nightclub instead of a DJ. And I can give a little bit more than DJ can, because I'm doing it live. But I can give a little bit less than a DJ can because they can bring out any song, they can bring out any vibe, they can bring out changes so fast that you cannot compete. So finding the real meaning of looping for me right now is a big focus.

There’s a problem with beatboxing when you sound like a DJ, but you're less entertaining than a DJ. But if you sound like a DJ, but at the same time, people understand that you're looping, they don't care that you sound like a DJ, you sound like you. You sound like a looper. You sound like something else. That's where the magic starts to happen.

Beardyman does this. And DubFX. He sounds clean, he sounds powerful. But you can definitely tell that this is not a DJ set. But when people come up to me, for example, after the DJ sets that I'm doing, and say “whoa, this was a killer DJ said, bro,” that's a compliment. But in the past couple of months, I'm really into this idea trying to somehow separate myself from a DJ. For a while, I thought my goal was to sound like a DJ. And then I realized no, my goal is to sound like a looper. 

Something that caught my eye last year was KBA’s judge showcase at the East German champs. It was like a DJ set of all of his tracks. Similarly, the Japanese Loop Community had a couple loop cyphers. This kind of listening experience where it's a set of songs that meld together into one extended mix is quite new in looping, and I wonder if that's something that you think about too. 

If you want to sound like a DJ, be one. If you want to do it live with looping, I think the rougher you can get, the better. Loopers underestimated this, in last year's producer category, that sometimes it's okay to stop a song and let the people applaud while you're preparing your next song. 

And here comes the word again that I like to use a lot in the scene: maturity. Because great ideas are flowing everywhere. The Japanese community is rising up in loopstation, but the one thing that I feel is still lacking in the Japanese community is maturity, but that comes with time and space in years. You have to put in time, create good songs, bad songs. That's all what we do. You know, we create our stuff. We try it out live and you know, realize that oops, I failed. 

For example, I got into the 2020 OBWC. First place wildcard, and I got eliminated in the top eight by Enhance. I was ready. I thought, I'm good. And then he was just better. And that's what the Japanese community is doing right now. And, you know, in a couple of years, it's going to result in maturity in the sense of like, musical wisdom, and the same thing for Kba. 

You're somewhere between a solo performer, a band, and a DJ. You're all that in one. And I think sometimes it would be cool for loopers to get inspiration from bands. Listen to a Red Hot Chili Peppers live session and see how they do transitions between songs. Sometimes, song’s over, people clap, and I'm starting a new song. That's okay. But it has to be planned.

Upcoming Event Note

The vast majority of beatbox events are battles. Even the new beatbox festivals that are supposed to offer something new can’t help but offer wildcard competitions and battles (more on that soon). But this weekend, New Zealand Beatbox is having a workshop, and I wanted to hear about the why of it from Alex Armstrong, one of the organizers. So here, in his words, is why New Zealand Beatbox chose to host a workshop instead of a battle. (Okay, there will be a 7-to-smoke, but it’s not the focus of the weekend event.)

This weekend, we have an event. It's a free community event run under my non for profit organization, and which will see three international beatboxers, Bass Ventura from UK,  FootboxG from Belgium, the world beatbox champion and D-Low from UK, the GBB champion. And at this event, it's going to be a seminar. 

The boys are going to be teaching our local arts community not just beatboxes, but producers, singers, anyone that's involved in that space, how to be professional within the industry, how to network within the industry, some of the tips and tricks that they have learned through there come up as be boxes on a world stage. They're going to be passing on the knowledge that they've gained throughout their careers. We're also in attendance having a local funder who's going to be speaking on pathways for financial support for creatives in the area. 

What we want to do is help share that wisdom with our local creative communities within our city and wider communities. And the reason for this is we wanted people to upskill but we also wanted to see our creative arts community to collaborate with one another because we know that creatives are stronger together, whether that's artists working with producers or producers working with beatboxers or bands working with beatboxers. So part of it's a collaboration event and it's also an event to collaborate on the vision of the future of New Zealand beatbox and the future of our creative communities. 

After that day event, which is free free for the community, all ages is over and done with and the evening we have a ticketed event where we have the guests performing showcases as well as a 7-to-smoke battle for the local beatbox scene. It's going to be a fun night finishing off with a local DJ who's going to close the night out with some EDM, sketti bangers. But we're really happy that all of our friends from overseas are here and we're really happy that we can help upskill our community whether that's beatboxing or just artists in general. 

Upcoming Calendar: Events

• Beatbox Royalty Talk Event: Hamilton, New Zealand. February 24, 2024.
• Astronef Beatbox Battle: Toulouse, France. February 24, 2024.
• Josh O at Sanford Porchfest: Sanford, FL (USA). February 24, 2024.
• Etude Op.1 Battle: Seoul, South Korea. February 28, 2024.
• Dub Phizix Strategy: Vienna, Austria. March 1, 2024.
• Beatbox of the Month: Berlin, Germany. March 3, 2024.
• Jam Session Beatbox: Nantes, France. March, 8, 2024.
• Italian Beatbox Championship: Venice, Italy. March 9-10, 2024.
• Saarland Beatbox Championship: Saarbrücken, Germany. March 16, 2024.
• CUBE UNITE: Tokyo, Japan. March 31, 2024.
• Florida Beatbox Battle: Agen, France. April 5-6, 2024.
• Jairo at Dance Alive Japan: Tokyo, Japan. April 14, 2024.
• Beatcity Japan PRE: Tokyo, Japan. May 3, 2024.
• German Beatbox Championship: Berlin, Germany. May 10, 2024.
• World Wide Beatbox Festival 2024: Maggie Valley, North Carolina (USA). May 16-19.
• Yamori at Hakuba Yahooo! Festival 2024: Nagano, Japan. May 26, 2024.
• Great North Battle: Toronto, Canada. June 1-2, 2024.
• FlowCase 10: Cardiff, Wales. June 22, 2024.
• Boice Less Festival: Shikoku, Japan. July 13-14, 2024.
• Vokal Total: Graz, Austria. July 16-20, 2024.
• Haten World Championship: Yokohama, Japan. July 25-28, 2024.
• Circlejam Beatbox Festival: Ferlach, Austria. July 26-27, 2024
• Solar Storm Festival: Location TBD, August 29, 2024.
• Beatcity Japan: Tokyo, Japan. September 7, 2024.
• Beatbox Battle of the Year: Ghent, Belgium September 21, 2024.
• Grand Beatbox Battle: Toyosu PIT, Japan. November 1-3, 2024.

Upcoming Calendar: Wild Cards

• Etude Op.1 Battle: Open until February 28, 2024.

• Mad Twinz remix contest: Open until March 6, 2024.

• Grand Beatbox Battle:

  • Solo and Loopstation: Open until March 9, 2024.

  • Tag Team, Crew, Producer: Open until March 23, 2024

• Haten World Championship (Solo, Tag-Team & Loopstation): February 2nd - April 30th, 2024.

• World Wide Beatbox Festival: dates coming soon.

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