Blip

About this episode

Breath Control is a documentary about making music with nothing but the human voice. The human beat box is one of the key elements in the develop- ment of Hip Hop culture, alongside Dj-ing, Graffiti, Breakdancing, and MC-ing. Unfortunately, its contri- bution has been largely overlooked, as has the fun, expressive, human, and spontaneous dimension of Hip Hop that it represents. As the first documentary of its kind, Breath Control: The History of the Human Beat Box uses interviews, live performances, archi- val footage, and animation to bring to light this impor- tant and neglected ingredient of Hip Hop’s identity. With the help of Beat Box pioneers DOUG E. FRESH, BIZ MARKIE, and THE FAT BOYS, Breath Control traces this art form from it’s basic beat beginnings in the Eighties to it’s present day multi-layered, poly- rhythmatic figurehead’s RAHZEL and SCRATCH of the Hip Hop group THE ROOTS. But Breath Control isn’t limited to Hip Hop. Musician ZAP MAMA posits that human beat boxing is an artform practiced all over the world and has been refined by many differ- ent cultures. Breath Control is a half historical, half tutorial look at humans as actual instruments.

• Category

  Learning

• Release Date

  Nov 7, 2007

• Runtime

  01:01