Two nights ago, I did an opening beatbox performance for the Rock Your Body Fashion Dance Benefit at the SoHo Mixed Media Bar presented by National Dance Week Hawaii and Dancers Unlimited. Here I am rocking the Far East Movement x Subcrew cap, the O.W.W.L (One World With Love) shirt and my Radii 420 Top sneakers.
Jason Tom at Rock Your Body Fashion Dance Benefit photo by Tracy Chan of Nonstop Honolulu
I also met an AliveNotDead friend Sergio (Far East Movement and Subcrew also have AliveNotDead) who uploaded a mini clip here:
Now onto poetry slam. I want to give a shout out to @NctrnlBst of Nonstop Honolulu for covering December 2011's First Thursdays "No Rules" Poetry Slam (non-qualifier to the Grand Slam Finals) with ukulele virtuoso Taimane Gardner as the featured headliner hosted by Kealoha (also a TEDxHonolulu 2011 presenter) of HawaiiSlam. Turning back time some, on October 2006, I made my First Thursdays, the largest registered poetry slam in the world, Poetry Slam debut as a beatboxer (though I was first introduced to the slam in 2004 prior) and ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro was the featured headliner (also a TEDxHonolulu 2011 presenter). That was when Jake and I met and then we collaborated live the next month.
Here is Kealoha's TEDxHonolulu presentation "Science Poetry Life"
Taimane Gardner's First Thursdays performance with her back up guitarist Jazzy Jaz
Here is footage of my First Thursdays performance captured by @NctrnlBst
My former classmate Christopher from the MELE Program also captured footage of First Thursdays here
Jake Shimabukuro's TEDxHonolulu presentation "Peace Love Ukulele"
Jason Tom and Jake Shimabukuro
Jason Tom's TEDxHonolulu presentation "Vocal Groove"
God Bless everyone and I wish for everyone to have wonderful and safe holiday season!
Hawaii hip hop culture have pioneers in the art of writing (aerosol art), deejaying, b-boying/b-girling (break dancing), and emceeing. And Hawaii also had beatboxers in the early 1980's influenced by beatboxers Darren Robinson also known as Buffy (R.I.P) of the Fat Boys, Doug E. Fresh (who later influenced the Dougie dance), Biz Markie, the Godfather of Noyze Rahzel and the Human Orchestra Kenny Muhammad. There were Hawaii beatboxers who would perform at Hawaii hip hop jams and events, but the presence of Hawaii beatboxers remained unknown to most on the Hawaiian islands.
In 2004, beatboxer Jason Tom came into the performance scene, influenced by Bay Area California's Asian American beatboxer Elaine Chao after he caught her 2003 television appearance on the Showtime At the Apollo, and then he felt inspired with a vision of perpetuating the art, the fifth element of hip-hop and culture of beatboxing throughout the Hawaiian islands. He started with Oahu and helped to put Hawaii on the map with beatboxing on Kauai, Inner Mongolia, China, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhongshan, Guangdong, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Nyack, and New York City, etc.
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