How Indian beatboxing is evolving, and why you need to know these beatboxers

Beatboxing began as a streetborn vocal art form in the 1980s hiphop scene in the United States where artistes imitated drum machines and turntable rhythms using only their mouths throat and breath Over the years the art evolved far beyond percussion Today beatboxers layer melodies basslines and even instrumental sounds into performances creating music that feels orchestral despite coming from a single body In India beatboxing grew through YouTube tutorials underground hiphop communities and reality shows eventually carving space within college festivals and fusion performancesIncreasingly artistes are blending beatboxing with classical and folk instruments creating sounds that feel both global and deeply rootedCharu SinghAmong them is Charu Singh a beatboxer who merges vocal percussion with the flute and harmonica The 25yearold engineering student discovered beatboxing on YouTube and instantly knew she wanted to pursue it ldquoI texted my best friend the same day and said ldquoI want to become a beatboxer I want that labelrsquordquo she recallsWhat followed however was not instant applause For nearly two years Singh says people mocked the sounds she practised But experimentation became central to her style Having always loved music she began combining beatboxing with instruments creating performances that move between melody and rhythm seamlesslyBenjamin Arockiaraj who has been in the hiphop scene for five years points out that beatboxing is still finding a platform in IndiaSingh also pushes back against being boxed into the label of a ldquofemale beatboxerrdquo ldquoYou are a beatboxer Thatrsquos itrdquo she says arguing that gendered tags often overshadow the craft itself Yet she acknowledges the limitations women performers still navigate While male artistes may freely travel for gigs Singh says safety concerns and family restrictions constantly shape her decisions ldquoIf I was a guy I would have travelled the whole worldrdquo she saysEven within the beatboxing community fusion styles like hers are sometimes criticised as being ldquotoo easyrdquo or audiencefriendly Singh disagrees ldquoI love beatboxing because yoursquore just creating more music out of yourselfrdquo she saysFor Pranav Gupta beatboxing began with a film After watching Gully Boy in 2019 at 14 Gupta became fascinated by rap culture and was encouraged by a neighbourhood rapper to learn beatboxing for collaborations What began as curiosity soon turned into obsession ldquoDuring the lockdown I spent nearly eight hours a day on Discord servers learning techniques from beatboxers across the world and practising relentlesslyrdquo he saysToday the 20yearold performs as part of a trio called Aarambh alongside flautist Jay Chavan and singer Gauri Mishra Together they experiment with vocal percussion melody and live instrumentation creating performances that move beyond conventional hiphop collaborations Gupta himself has expanded into playing the flute harmonica and jaw harp alongside beatboxing ldquoPeople around me thought beatboxing only meant rap culturerdquo he says ldquoAnd with rap came assumptions about smoking drinking or drugsrdquo But Gupta wanted to break away from stereotypes and create something unconventional ldquoRap and beatboxing together had become common Alag se kuch crazy karna tha I wanted to do something crazyrdquo he saysOne of the biggest challenges according to him is that beatboxing still lacks a defined path in India ldquoThere is no roadmap for thisrdquo he says To sustain himself Gupta teaches beatboxing in addition to performing at events While there are months without gigs teaching has become both financial support and a way of building awareness around the artform ldquoPeople know what beatboxing isrdquo he says ldquobut they still donrsquot realise it can exist as a complete art on its ownrdquoBeatboxing has always existed between two worlds mdash competition and performance mdash as Benjamin Arockiaraj explains The 21yearold who has been practising the artform for the past five years says most beatboxers are deeply competitionoriented because battles and championships are where the real adrenaline lies ldquoA beatboxer gets this kick when performing in an actual competitionrdquo he says Yet outside the community audiences rarely follow championship winners closely ldquoInstead performers who adapt beatboxing into stage acts and musical collaborations often gain wider recognitionrdquo he saysArockiaraj believes Indiarsquos beatboxing scene is still in the process of finding its footing Referring to Gully Boy he says the film popularised rap culture but did not fully spotlight the wider hiphop ecosystem that includes beatboxing ldquoWe still struggle a lot in bringing up the artformrdquo he says He credits organisations like The Dharavi Dream Project for helping create visibility by integrating beatboxing into music events across Mumbai ldquoPeople are hustling everywhere just to bring this artform onto bigger platformsrdquo he says