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| Photo by Debbie Davies |
Fricka-fricka-frrresh! Yes, it’s time once again for the spittle-fest that is the Vauxhall UK Beatbox Championships, and stepping up to the mic in the first regional heat were the Midlands hopefuls.
Now in its sixth year, hosting responsibilities at the ‘X Factor for B-Boys’ were again handed over to beer-loving Geordie MC Stig of the Dump. The self-proclaimed “sexiest fat man in showbusiness” could certainly give Dermot O’Leary a run for his money in the presenting stakes, but his X-rated patter would probably not translate to a tea-time slot.
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| Stig of the Dump - Photo by Debbie Davies |
Overseeing the competition in a Simon Cowell/Louis Walsh judging capacity were producer and owner of humanbeatbox.com Archangel and the people’s champ Foz – Nottingham’s own vocal chord contortionist. To show these young bucks how it’s done, Foz kicked off the guttural gala with a demonstration involving crooning Nina Simone while spitting some snappy snares.
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Another of Nottingham’s favourite sons – Dealmaker Records’ Emcee Killa – dropped in to warm up the crowd. After the hard-as-hell anthem War and a set of typically conscious and rousing tracks, it was time for battle. And it went a little something like thiiis…
Playing like an 8 Mile-style rap battle, each contestant had one minute to impress before handing over to their rival. In the first round Subsonic, Griff, 24/7 and Pengtung bowed out to strong competition from LucasTheBeatbox, Kenzi, Bass6 and MotorMouF, who Stig was already grooming as his favourite to win.
The semi-finals saw him go up against Kenzi and narrowly edge him out thanks to a beatbox impression of Optimus Prime from Transformers. Bass6 then took on Lucas for the second spot in the final. Lucas won, but Bass6 scooped third spot from Kenzi which meant a wild card entry to the national grand finals.
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| The winner! - photo by Debbie Davies |
The now favourite 18 year-old MotorMouF scored serious points in the final with beatbox versions of La Roux and Sidney Samson, but fellow newcomer LucasTheBeatbox’s proficient delivery and controlled breathing over Gary Numan and Grandmaster Flash saw him kill the competition and walk away with top spot. He goes on to represent the Midlands with Bass6 and MotorMouf.
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The crowd - photo by Debbie Davies |
What was an explosive night was capped off with an energetic performance from Stiggie Smalls and Brighton-based rapper Dr Syntax. Erupting into a spot of Roni Size ‘karaoke’, the duo closed proceedings with more material from their Beer & Rap label, leaving the crowd with a thirst for more of each.
Check out the full gallery for this event.
All photos by Debbie Davies (c)
The East Midlands heat of the 2010 Vauxhall UK Beatboxing Championships took place at the Rescue Rooms on Friday 19 February 2010.
Vauxhall UK Beatboxing Championships website
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