Singaporeans taking over the stage and streets
Published: 29 Nov 2024
By: Cherie Wong
Time taken : >15mins
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Unorthodox at heart and a born performer, 24-year-old Muaaz Bin Samat or Kambing, as he is known professionally, is one of several in Singapore redefining the boundaries of beatboxing.
One of the most attention-grabbing of vocal music forms, beatboxing is all about producing beats through one’s mouth, lips and vocal chords. Coming out of New York’s bustling underground hip-hop subculture, beatboxing gained popularity when The Fat Boys won a talent contest in 1983 with Stick’ Em, in which Darren Robinson (popularly known as Buffy) swept the floor with his ability to create rhythms and sound effects using his mouth.
Beatboxing came about when the drum machines and synthesisers that hip-hop artists were rapping over grew too expensive and inaccessible. Taking matters into their own hands, artists resorted to producing the beats themselves, giving rise to “old school” beatboxing. In the 1990s, the internet revolution breathed new life into the art form, forming “new school” beatboxing, which is inspired by various musical forms, from electronic dance music (EDM) to dubstep.
It wasn’t long before beatboxing landed on Singapore’s shores, with notable local beatboxing champions Dharni Ng and Kernabalan Piratheeban citing the television and the internet as their first foray into the art form. In Piratheeban’s case, it was a YouTube video by beatboxer Esalaah that sparked his interest. Enamoured by the art form, Piratheeban recounted in a 2018 interview with beatboxing site Human Beatbox that he “didn’t watch anything but [that] video for three months [straight]”.
Today, many other local beatboxers are sprouting across the island, each with their own unique styles and genres. From participating in global competitions to acing Kahoot impressions and loop station mashups, here are some musicians to check out.
“My experience at GBB was…where do I start? Goodness…it was like a dream. I’m not sure how to describe a dream”.
Softspoken and self-reflective, Rocales Clark Cedric Margallo pauses for a moment each time a question is posed to him, tilting his head up ever so slightly, pondering over the right words to use.
And yet, for all his quiet contemplation, it is one thing to speak to Clark in person, and another to catch him on stage. Best described as an alter ego, Clarkceds possesses a phenomenal skill set that sets him on par with beatboxers much older than him.
Just shy of 18 years old, Clark has already graced the world stage at the Grand Beatbox Battle (GBB), the biggest and most coveted beatbox event in the world.
This was almost like a full circle moment, as it was a 2018 GBB battle between beatboxers Bataco and Codfish that inspired Clark to start beatboxing.
An avid drummer in the past, Clark was mesmerised by how beatboxers could produce drum-like sounds with just their mouths. A self-proclaimed “sucker for rhythm”, he watched YouTube tutorials to learn how to beatbox, using his technical knowledge in drumming to arrange different patterns.
But perhaps what sets him apart from others is his unique way of producing his beatboxing sounds. Curious and adventurous by nature, Clark experiments with different ways of manipulating his vocal cords, producing a sound arsenal that’s special to him.
When asked to give his advice on beatboxing, Clark deliberates for a moment. “This might be controversial”, he chuckles. And then he continues.
“The beatboxing world is suffering from an identity crisis”, he proclaims. “Everyone kind of sounds the same nowadays. If you want to succeed, focus on your identity, not just skill. I will always choose a fresh and new beatboxer over one who is skilful but generic”.
Underneath the layers of introspection is a heart of individuality and a daring need for self-expression, which guides Clark’s refreshing approach to beatboxing.
Google the phrase ‘beatboxing at prom’ and you will find a video of a girl in her prom dress, beatboxing to Armani White’s hit song BILLIE EILISH.. That girl is 19-year-old Rae Toh, also known as Raeve.
Amid a male-dominated scene, female beatboxers like Rae are creating new spaces for themselves.
Due to physiological differences, women may find it more challenging to produce certain bass sounds, such as throat bass or inward bass, which are heavily dependent on the beatboxers’ vocal cords. But where others see obstacles, Rae sees opportunities to stand out.
“I wouldn’t say that [being unable to produce certain sounds] is a disadvantage”, she asserts. “There’s actually so much a woman can do that people don’t even know about. For example, we can do a lot more high sounds than guys, and we have an advantage with that”.
She goes on to add that she trains herself to produce clean sounds. “If you compare a guy who does a variety of bass sounds on a muddy sound system versus a girl who does less bass but cleaner sounds, I think that the clean sounds will come through better”, she explains.
Rae hopes to create a supportive community for female beatboxers and inspire more to join. She shared that a recent video of her beatboxing at GBB, which she attended as a spectator, amassed over 27,000 views on X, with many commenting on how cool her performance was.
“I was like, damn, I didn’t know I had this ability to inspire all these other females”, Rae admits animatedly. “This is something that drives me. I want to be able to inspire other females to do what they think women cannot do”.
Clinching top spots in beatboxing battles such as The Capital Beatbox Battle in Malaysia, Rae’s indomitable stage presence is proof that gender is not a limitation when it comes to beatboxing. In the future, she hopes to participate in international female beatboxing competitions, representing both Singapore and females worldwide.
Muaaz Bin Samat beatboxes wearing his heart on his sleeve.
In fact, it’s not hard to catch the self-professed drama king in action. Busking around the Somerset and Orchard area, Muaaz entertains the crowd there almost every other weekend. Known for his “light-hearted and comedic” beatboxing, he covers songs that no other beatboxer would think of doing, such as Baby Shark and Coffin Dance.
He cites world-renowned French beatboxer Alexinho as his main source of inspiration. An eccentric character, Alexinho brings goofy props to the stage when performing. Dubbed “the Alexinho of Singapore”, Muaaz’s unconventional approach to beatboxing has allowed him to make a name for himself within the community.
For starters, the rookie performed a rendition of Kahoot during his debut stage performance for the Escension Beatbox Battle, his first-ever beatboxing competition. Despite it being his first time on the playing field, Muaaz placed top 8th overall, standing out amid the 30-odd beatboxers who competed.
Muaaz could hardly contain his excitement, beaming that “before the Kahoot, nobody ever saw me beatbox before on stage. And [after the performance], everyone was really blown away. The moment I started, everybody was like ‘Oh s***!’ It was the battle of the night”.
He is also a fan favourite. Muaaz recounts how an elderly lady reached out to him mid-performance to request a Happy Birthday cover for her husband. He had just turned 72, and she wanted Muaaz to do a beatbox version of the song.
You can tell that the moment was special to Muaaz, who can’t stop grinning. “I’ve never seen anything like this before”, he says. “They were holding hands, dancing in circles…it was kind of romantic…and I’m like, bro, I'm not even playing something melodic like a piano or violin or anything. I’m just beatboxing!”
It is moments like these that remind him of his love for beatboxing and busking. Beyond being a “fun way to destress”, busking is Muaaz’s way of bringing beatboxing to the streets, allowing him to connect with new people and showcase his love for the art form.
While the violin might have been 21-year-old Jonathan Chew’s first love, it was beatboxing that captured his heart.
Known for emulating arpeggios and chords on the violin with ease and finesse, Jonathan’s unique beatboxing style was inspired by well-known musicality beatboxers RIVER’ and Gene Shinozaki, who incorporate melodies and singing into their beatboxing, giving it a more emotional and artful slant.
Deciding to marry his love for both art forms, Jonathan is best known for the inward polyphonic voice, a sound that allows him to emulate the playing chords on the violin.
“It was actually by accident”, Jonathan chuckles, recalling how he found his signature sound. “I was experimenting with something else and gasping for air when I accidentally discovered it”.
With a strong background in music, Jonathan incorporates his knowledge of music theory into his beatboxing routines, a helpful tool given his niche sound.
“Most of my songs are original. I have a very small sound arsenal, which means that I don’t have access to a lot of other sounds [and this] limits what songs I can cover”, he explains. “That’s why for me, it’s easier to make originals, and because of my background in violin, it’s easier to compose my own music.” As his beatboxing routines are inspired by his violin experience, Jonathan is also able to recreate his original beatboxing routines on the violin.
Unlike other beatboxers with a wide range of sounds under their belt, Jonathan chooses to take a minimalist approach to beatboxing. For him, “less is more”.
“[All you] need is a good idea of how to pitch, good sounds and good structure. It needs to flow well, and that’s about it”, he admits.
With a minimalist and unique style, Jonathan redefines traditional approaches to beatboxing.
When asked to describe what freestyle beatboxing meant, 22-year-old Muhammad Kabir Bin A Wahab decides that showing is better than telling.
Without missing a beat, Kabir or ChiBear starts beatboxing on the spot, spitting out sound after sound, as though performing a heavily practised routine. He later admits that this was all done on the fly.
While other beatboxers prefer to perform routines that have been practised beforehand, Kabir leans towards improvisation, choosing to let the rhythm guide him instead.
He breaks down his thought process when freestyling, distilling it to muscle memory. “Fundamentally it’s not much different [from creating routines]”, he explains. “It’s just figuring out the structure of a song, the introduction and build-up, what the different parts of a beat are and then running with it. The more you do it, the more it becomes natural to you”.
While Kabir makes freestyling seem almost easy on the surface, he later reveals that certain beatboxing sounds and patterns can take months to master, such as the TKK pattern, which involves a sequence of sounds done in rapid succession.
Reflecting on his journey as a beatboxer, he adds that beatboxing has taught him to be more resilient. Many assume that beatboxing is too difficult to learn, and he wants to debunk that myth. “There’s nothing you can’t learn to do”, says Kabir. “Anything that you want to learn, you can learn. It is more of a choice really, and less of an inability”.
Today, Kabir sharpens his skills by busking around the Somerset area, occasionally sharing a spot with fellow beatboxer Muaaz. There, he freestyles his beatboxing, producing hard-hitting sounds inspired by hip-hop, dubstep and trap.
An improviser at heart, Kabir shows that there are no rules when it comes to beatboxing.
Most beatboxers can pinpoint the exact moment that inspired them to start beatboxing. For 22-year-old Ian Sin, who goes by the monicker of Minian, the lines are a little less clear.
Beatboxing has always been in Ian’s blood. He recalls how he used to make sounds with his mouths when playing with his action figures, thanking his younger self for laying the foundation for his wide sound arsenal, which he now uses when beatboxing.
Inspired to pick up the art form after watching movies like Pitch Perfect, Minian soon found himself going down the rabbit hole of beatboxing videos, poring over TED talks, talent shows, battles and competitions. He would play these videos in the background while he worked, losing himself in the richness and variety of sound textures.
Over time, he realised that his ears would perk whenever a loop station performance played. He admits this sheepishly. “I like what pleases my ear more than what tickles my brain, I guess…and the loop station stuff just sounded a lot fuller and better.”
Most popularly used by pop artist Ed Sheeran, the loop station is a hardware device that allows musicians to overlay and loop their vocals in real-time, as well as add various synthesisers and textures to their vocals.
Eager to try his hand at looping, Ian started experimenting, creating beats using an app on his iPad. He eventually committed to getting a loop station in 2020, but by that time, Ian was “already hooked”.
For Ian, looping is a way to showcase his musicality. “The best thing about the loop station was that I felt like I was creating something that I would actually listen back on”, he beams. “I felt like I started to make things that sounded fuller”.
Through his looping, Minian hopes to inspire others to “just have fun”. He asserts this throughout, as though slipping into character as a looper, repeating that “people want to watch someone have fun”.
But perhaps his insistence is not without reason. A jovial and bubbly character, Ian recounts his most memorable performance at SUPERNOVA 2024, an outdoor music and dance event held by the National University of Singapore. There, he performed one of his favourite routines, The Nights by Avicii, ending the session with a special house remix. “It was an instant rave”, he recalls, a sparkle in his eye. “And even though I wasn’t paid for that, and there was no award or anything, the sheer enjoyment of doing it made it extremely satisfactory”.
Furthering his love for performing and interacting with audiences, Minian will be hosting beatboxing performances and workshops at Voices – A Festival of Song 2024.
Three things shine when seeing Singapore’s first official all-beatbox crew Obelisk perform on stage–their passion, their prowess, and their rapport.
Taking a leaf from its name, Obelisk prides itself on being a pillar for the beatboxing community. But if the walls could talk, they would tell a tale of brotherhood and friendship.
The story starts in 2019 when Luke Chong invited beatboxers Ryan William Thomas, Varen Tan and Pang Jing Hui to his house to beatbox and jam. Over time, the quartet became close friends, sharing a dream to participate in GBB.
The opportunity presented itself in 2022 when GBB added a crew category to the tournament. This meant that beatboxers could now perform in groups of three to five. Seeing this as their chance to realise their dream, the quartet formed Obelisk. One year later, they roped in up-and-coming beatboxer Rocales Clark Cedric Margallo, completing the crew of five.
But like sparks, while dreams can ignite new beginnings, they rarely last forever. Today, Obelisk has chosen to focus on performing instead of competing.
A crew under Singapore’s largest beatboxing community 555Beatbox, Obelisk made their debut performance at the Escension Beatbox Battle. Since then, they have performed at various locations, including public events at Gardens by the Bay and closed-door showcases for brands such as MINI.
“We want to focus on building Obelisk internally in Singapore, and make a name for ourselves”, explains Luke on Obelisk’s new direction. Ryan agrees, adding a tongue-in-cheek comment that the crew now aims “to become like an acapella group. But on steroids”. While GBB is no longer the main dream, Obelisk still hopes to improve as performers, with a new goal to “manipulate [their] voices in a way that people aren’t very familiar with, such as imitating sounds like trumpets, with different textures”, adds Ryan.
While the dream has shifted, the band of brothers remain steadfast.
Luke paints a passionate picture. “At its core, Obelisk is a group of friends. Knowing that the five of us have the fire and passion…to see Obelisk succeed as a group, and sharing the stage with like-minded people allows me to feel confident that we’re on the right path”.
Through waning dreams and waxing goals, Obelisk is proof that at the end of the day, all that matters is having a community to call your own.
Catch THE VOICES BEATBOX BATTLE by 555Beatbox on 6 Dec 2024. and Voices Originals: Minian featuring loop station beatboxer Minian happening 8 Dec 2024.
Don’t miss out on these upcoming shows at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay as part of Voices – A Festival of Song 2024.
Contributed by:
Cherie is a writer whose life revolves around music—except, you know, playing it. Beyond her day job, her life is segmented into three parts: listening to music on the MRT to work, attending gigs after work, and reading music-related articles at work (during lunch, obviously). Ask her for the lore on any band and she’ll give it to you. Just don’t ask her to sight-read.
