Canadian Beatbox Championships return to Toronto with old school vs. new school clash

The first post-COVID Canadian Beatbox Championships hit the Rec Room on March 11.

VINO competes at the 2019 Canadian Beatbox Championships at the Rec Room in Toronto. (@shooteverything.ca)

Canada has been a sleeper country for beatbox talent over the past decade. Until recently, only Scott Jackson, KRNFX, BBK, and Elisii — four national champions from the 2010s — had gone on to make waves outside their national borders. But since the Canadian championships were last held in 2019, a host of new talent has gone on to international success.

Now, finally, the old school and the new school will meet for national bragging rights.

After three years away due to COVID-19, the Canadian Beatbox Championships are returning to Toronto from March 10 to 12. The main event, the 11th championships themselves, will be at the Rec Room on Sat., March 11. The competition runs from 3:00–11:00 p.m. with an after party until 2:00 a.m.

In addition to that main event, the weekend will kick off with a “Beat and Greet” mixer on Friday at 8:00 p.m. at the Redwood Theatre, and come to a close with a beatbox workshop — in conjunction with Unity Charity — on Sunday.

Whether new champions will be crowned, or the returning champions add more titles to their resumés, the 2023 event is chock full of talent, and should stand as a reminder that Canada is a top-10 beatboxing country in the world.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of championship weekend.

How does the competition work?

Over the past two decades, beatbox compositions have evolved from replicating drum sounds to creating full songs with melodic elements, complex percussion, and even singing — all with the mouth. During the Canadian championships, fans can expect to see the full range of genre and musical expression across a variety of competition types.

There will be three different championship titles awarded during the vent — solo, tag team (two on two), and loopstation. Each competition will be decided by a bracketed single-elimination battle, which is judged by a panel of three experienced beatboxers:

Elisii, the 2018 Canadian beatbox champion;
HerShe, the 2022 American tag team champion; and
DKoy, owner of Beatbox Community.

The solo competition — just a performer and a mic — features 16 beatboxers ranked and placed in a bracket. Each battle features two two-minute rounds per contestant with the battlers taking turns in an ABAB format. On the rare occasion the judges vote for overtime, each battler will get one additional one-minute turn.

The tag team competition follows the same format as the solo battles, but the bracket is smaller. Just four duos will compete for the 2023 Canadian title.

The loopstation battles, where beatboxers make on-the-spot musical tracks with sanctioned voice-triggered loop machines, also has a four-entrant bracket, and rounds are longer. Each round in the ABAB battle lasts three full minutes to allow the beatboxers time to input their sounds as nothing may be pre-recorded.

The Wookiez vs Fresh Boys | 2019 Canadian Beatbox Champs | Tag Team - FINALS

Who’s competing?

For beatbox heads, the Canadian Beatbox Championships will be full of familiar faces — including longtime host and 2012 Canadian champion Scott Jackson, who will play MC.

In the solo category, 2019 Canadian champion and 2020 Online World Beatbox Championships winner VINO returns. Among his competition will be 2014 and 2015 Canadian solo champion BBK, the only competitor to feature in all three categories. BBK is also part of the reigning tag-team squad, Fresh Boys, along with C-Fresh.

Those two former champs will be competing against Den and Jordox, top-four finishers in last summer’s international Beatbox United Online competition; Rayn, the Vancouver Beatbox Battle 2020 champion; and six more returnees to the Canadian Beatbox Championships stage.

In tag team, both teams from the 2019 final — Fresh Boys and The Wookiez (VINO and CiMaX) — are back. Meanwhile, Blue Mountain Beatbox (JordoX and Scribbly Doodle), breakout stars from the 2021 Grand Beatbox Battle Tag Team competition, will make their first pass at the Canadian title.

The fact that Team Avalanche (Den and Camsun), a duo of solo competitors, are longshots in the category speaks to the depth of talent.

The loopstation title, however, might be less competitive, with 2019 reigning champion RIME facing off against three newcomers, Lake, Realije, and BBK, who said in his audition video that he is “not a looper.”

With at least a third of RIME’s competition just there to fill out the ranks, he faces by far the easiest path to another championship.

Rime Judge Showcase Part 2 | American Beatbox Championships 2022

What’s at stake?

In August 2023, the Beatbox Battle World Championship will happen for the first time since 2018. Each of the three Canadian Beatbox Championships winners will earn an automatic entry into the competition, an enormous opportunity for Canada’s talented-but-unproven group of beatboxers.

At the top end of the competition, this prize will surely be on the minds of the battlers.

But the Canadian Beatbox Championships will be an important event on its own. For the first time in years, all three battle categories will include internationally relevant beatboxers, and they will all face stiff competition, which will make for great theatre.

Combine all of that with the gap between national championships and the bragging rights up for grabs, and fans should expect to see fresh new material from all of the competitors, and fierce battles throughout the event.

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