The UK Beatbox Championships (UKBC) are hosted every year in London, England. This historic annual all-day event, which brings together the country's top beatbox artists for gladiatorial knock-out of face to face beatbox battles, in five different categories solo, female, team, loopstation and under-18. The 2019 UK Beatbox Championships was held on 23 and 24 November 2019.
The UK Beatbox Championships are one of the major tournaments in British Hip Hop music scene, and has been held at various venues in its history that include the Scala at Kings Cross,[1] the O2 Academy Islington,[2] the Garage, Highbury [3] the Grand Theatre, Clapham, London and the Battersea Arts Centre[4] The first ever UK Beatbox Championship took place in 2005 in London, England, hosted by UK Beatbox Championships.[5]
Qualification for the UK Beatbox Championships consists of geographical heats held around Britain, which are contested from February through to June in London(South-east), Bristol (South-West) (Bristol heats), Nottingham (Midlands) and Liverpool (North).[6]Beatboxing is the art of producing percussion, rhythm and musical sounds using only parts of the human body, namely the mouth, lips, tongue, vocal cords, nasal passage and throat.[6] The event attracts around 1000 spectators and is live streamed to around 90 countries globally.[1]
A panel of highly respected judges include former winners and international judges from the beatboxing fraternity.[6]
The judges listen for originality, musical composition, technique, clarity, complexity, timing, rhythm, flow, and performance. They look for witty response in battle, ingenuity, endurance and intelligence.[7]
In 2020, because of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the UKBB championships were successfully held online, the judges included Chiwawa, Chris Selez, D-Low, Kim, Sizzler, Frosty, Inkie and Rythmind.[8]
2012 - A solo event for ladies was introduced and was won by Grace Savage. [5]
2012 - A team event was introduced and was won by Illbits.[5]
2013 - Loopstation was introduced and was won by Hobbit.[5]
2014 - An Under 18 tournament was introduced and was won by D-Low.[5]
2015 - Ladies event was abolished, as they can supposedly compete equally against males, although this has not been the case to 2021, with very little representation of females reaching the final of the Solo.[5]
2020 - Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, only the Solo and Loopstation events went ahead and were held online.[8]
UKBC Historical results 2005 to present[]
Beardyman - UK Beatbox Champion 2006 and 2007
Ball-Zee - UK Beatbox Champion 2011, 2012 and 2013