In about Year 7 or Year 8, my music class at high school was asked to pick a piece of music and give a speech about it, using pros and cons to explain what made particular tracks significant. I’d just been given a CD by my older brother, and it included ‘If Your Mother Only Knew’, by Rahzel. I will never forget the moment when the man who calls himself ‘The Undisputed Beatbox Champion Of The World’ breaks into his version of Aaliyah’s ‘If Your Girl Only Knew’, simultaneously singing the lyrics while playing the beat and the high-hat, with his mouth. It’s a live recording, and as the crowd erupted I turned around and saw the looks of wonder on the faces of my classmates; the crusty old dean still made me explain why it was awesome, but no one needed convincing. After that we all spent weeks passing contraband white earbuds around at lunchtime, trying to replicate the wizardry ourselves.
It might strike you as a bit odd that the master of the technique doesn’t really like introducing himself as a ‘beatboxer’ anymore. As it turns out it’s not a semantic distinction but a tactical decision, after spending years trying to explain what he did for a living… “To the average person, or someone who isn’t into urban music, ‘Human Beatbox’ throws them a bit, and they don’t really understand what you do,” Rahzel tells me over the phone, on the eve of his upcoming trip to Australia. “So to get over that I coined the phrase ‘Vocal Percussionist’ – and people totally get it… Plus, if you meet the wife’s parents and they ask what you do for a living, you need something a little more professional”.
It makes sense that Rahzel wouldn’t want to be defined by a label that someone else came up with. Throughout his career his creative output has been extraordinarily varied, working, performing and touring with artists including The Roots, The Who, Jay-Z, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins and BB King. He brought beatboxing to acoustic chillout mixes the world over on Ben Harper’s ‘Steal My Kisses’, and features prominently on Bjork’s weird and wonderful a capella album Medulla. (“When I realised the album was becoming a vocal record, the musical fascist in me decided using any MCs or vocal percussionists would be too cheesy,” Bjork said in a Popmatters interview at the time. “I changed my mind when I saw Rahzel freestyle a whole Kraftwerk track without pausing for breath.” He’s been known to have that effect on people.)
His approach is similar in many ways to that of Mike Patton. The Faith No More frontman always had eclectic influences, and his countless projects – including Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, Tomahawk, his bizarre hip hop lounge album Lovage, and his album of orchestral Italian pop songs from the 50s and 60s – serve as an inspiration for Rahzel, who collaborated with him on the Peeping Tom project. “Yeah, Mike Patton’s a very good friend of mine,” Rahzel says. “I love the guy. That’s a really strong bond, built over the years, and he’s been a big supporter of the beatbox. And he puts his own spin on the beatbox – so for me, hats off to Mike Patton.”
Rahzel explains his affinity with Patton as a philosophical connection; both keep moving forward like a shark, constantly seeking out new ideas and new things to try. It doesn’t always work, but it’s always interesting. “What he does with his label, and the different artists that he works with, and the different bands that he’s involved with, and the different collaborations and genres that he participates in – for me, we think the same. I think that’s why our bond is so tight, because we think the same way,” he says. “We don’t want to be stuck in one situation, we want to be able to move around and feel free.” This isn’t just true of Rahzel’s music – he also has ambitions to become the first beatboxer in the world who owns his own label. And it sounds like a pretty interesting setup. “I want to focus on people with incredible talent,” he explains. “At the end of the day it’s their vocal ability, whether that’s speaking, singing or imitating instruments… I want to focus on the vocals, but it’s going to be a wide range.”
Rahzel is coming to Australia for the third annual Platform Hip Hop Festival – this year expanded to a month-long celebration of all things hip hop, running at Carriageworks from March 12. He’ll be performing as The Magnificents, with two titans of underground hip hop – DJ JS-1 and Supernatural. The latter is widely recognised as one of the best freestyle MCs around, and also happens to be the Guinness World Record holder for continuous freestyling. His time? About nine hours. And no, that’s not a typo. Even Rahzel doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into. “It’s always a surprise,” he says, of working with Supernatural. “Most of the show is improv – I’m looking forward to it because I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
For all his relentless forward impetus, Rahzel is always quick to recognise those who paved the way for him when he was starting out. For him, a large part of his role as the chronicler of hip hop involves continuing the legacies of Biz Markie and Jam Master Jay. “I want to be that beatbox encyclopaedia,” he says. “When you see me on stage, that’s what you’re getting – not just Rahzel beatboxing in to a mic; you’re getting history. I’m like a time capsule – I was there! You were a little baby, or you weren’t even born, but I was there!”
“It’s like, y’know, Back To The Future,” he continues. “I’m like a time machine. I was there in the beginning, and I’m here now, so that you know what was happening even though you weren’t around.” For a trip through the past, the present and the future of hip hop, head down to Platform Hip Hop Festival.
Originally published in The Brag, Issue 403
