Shodekeh: The Human Beat Box

From: Aaron Henkin
Length: 04:57

An audio portrait of Shodekeh, master of vocal poly-rhythms Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Shodekeh: The Human Beat Box
From: Aaron Henkin

Shodekeh_small "Sometimes people say, 'How's he doing that? Wait, I don't even want to know how he's doing that because it'll lose its mystique.' I can definitely dig that." -Shodekeh Remember the days of Dougie Fresh and the Fat Boys, when 'human beat-boxing' mesmerized us fans of early hip hop? The old art form is still around today, some 25 years later. And vocal poly-rhythm masters like Baltimore's Shodekeh are continuing to stretch musical boundaries with the technique. Shodekeh is a cool guy and a great performer, and he actually inspired me to pursue a series of stories about the idea of 'rhythm' and its importance in our lives. (There's no multi-tracking or any other production magic in this piece, by the way. Everything you hear comes out of Shodekeh's mouth in real-time.)

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Piece Description

"Sometimes people say, 'How's he doing that? Wait, I don't even want to know how he's doing that because it'll lose its mystique.' I can definitely dig that." -Shodekeh Remember the days of Dougie Fresh and the Fat Boys, when 'human beat-boxing' mesmerized us fans of early hip hop? The old art form is still around today, some 25 years later. And vocal poly-rhythm masters like Baltimore's Shodekeh are continuing to stretch musical boundaries with the technique. Shodekeh is a cool guy and a great performer, and he actually inspired me to pursue a series of stories about the idea of 'rhythm' and its importance in our lives. (There's no multi-tracking or any other production magic in this piece, by the way. Everything you hear comes out of Shodekeh's mouth in real-time.)