Jflo was ranked number one at the 2011 American Beatbox Championship, which was held in New York City on August 13 and 14. It was a two day event that spanned Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Brooklyn’s Nova Bar Garden & Lounge was the location for the August 13 event and the Grand Finals were held on August 14 in the heart of New York City.

Le Poisson Rouge, a venue in the West Village, hosted the evening as it turned into a beatbox extravaganza. The annual event showcased rising stars in the beatboxing world, who are able to use their own vocal percussionist talents to energize the audience.

The Grand Finals featured legendary musicians and world renowned beatboxers, including Swiss Chris, KRNFX, Colin Dean’s Roots and Grooves, and DJ Johnny Juice of Public Enemy. Rahzel from The Roots and Rakaa Iriscience of Dilated Peoples were two popular icons who headlined a post celebration concert.

Lovers of music and the art form of beatboxing gathered in Le Poisson Rouge for a night of vocal wonderment, as the top beatboxers from around the United States battled for the title of 2011 American Beatbox Champion.

Beatboxing is a type of percussion that is heavily influenced by hip hop culture. As in the majority of hip hop music, the strong presence of drums, rhythms, and beats, are characteristic of the music. Beatboxers are able to make the sounds of the heavy drums and bass by only using their vocals.

Aside from mimicking the sounds of beats, many beatboxers also sing and create the distinct sounds of other instruments in their performances. The founders of the World Beatbox Association, including Chesney Snow, Kenny Muhammad, and Jim Wilde, are all prominent figures in the beatboxing world.

With their passion and dedication to the art in mind, they created an organization where beatboxers on the international level can come together to share their talents through battles and performances.

The unique talents of beatboxers can be seen through the first three rounds of the competition, which were all done by video submission. The national scale of the competition allowed beatboxers from around the country to upload their videos onto the internet for judging. The categories for the online video submission were solo performance, covers, and backing a vocal.

The different types of beatboxing highlights the competitors skills in various ways. The judges were able to score the contestants based on their technical skill, musicality, creativity, and how original each performance was.

Judges of the online rounds included the three founders of the World Beatbox Association, along with guest judges and world renowned beatboxers Masai Electro for the solo round, Tim Barsky for the backing a vocal round, and Fat Tony for the covers round.

Out of all the competitors vying for the title, only the top 16 were invited to New York City for the Grand Finals.

The top 16 online scores were unveiled in May 2011, sending front runners like sYgYzY, FriScO, and HeaveN to the championship round. Other favorites like Beat Rhino, The Orthobox, and Fitz were invited to New York City, along with Brian Bernstein, Jflo, SwiZZ, CWEST, audiotrak, DrC, Sung Lee, Musical Mammal, Track IX, and Von3s.

The Grand Finals compromised of one on one battles between the selected finalists, which produced an awe inspiring night of music with intense rhythms and beats.

Hailing from New York and winning the title in his home state, Jflo ranked in the middle of the leader board during the initial three online rounds, but jumped to the top of the finals with rhythmic beats and creativity. After rounds of battles and eliminations, Jflo was crowned the the 2011 American Beatbox Champion.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.americanbeatboxchampionships.com

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About the author

Sarah Dayan
I'm a Brooklyn native with a strong love for New York City, traveling, photography, writing, and music. I have my Bachelors degree in psychology and communication, and my Masters degree in school counseling. Through my writing, I want to share all my fun experiences in New York City.