BY KIMBERLY KARIATI MUSIC has always been governed by genres to which an artiste subscribes to, but beatboxer Mtandazo Raheem Vengesa believes the new age of technology requires modernised type of music which helps young talent showcase their abilities. The 25-year-old Vengesa told NewsDay Life & Style yesterday that he seeks to break new grounds in the music industry through his unique beatboxing craft that fuses the mouth, lips, tongue and voice to create a unique sound. “There is more to beatboxing than what meets the eye. Beatingboxing is the fifth element of hip-hop, which incorporates infusing the mouth, lips, tongue and voice to create a unique sound that has brought the youths together as they come to agree on one thing despite social differences and perceptions,” he said. “I started beatboxing way back in primary school, where I would entertain others pupils from my class. Growing up in the ghetto, people would refer to me as mukomana anoridza muromo, as I would go out and start beatboxing when we had no electricity.’’ Having performed at BeatBox Battle South Africa in 2017, at music guru Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi’s send-off at the National Sports Stadium in 2019 and at several other arts festivals, Vengesa believes that beatboxing is gaining popularity in Zimbabwe as people are appreciating the art. “I was inspired by how I saw different people vibing and realised beatboxing was not only a music genre, but a way to unite that makes people happy. It was such an honour to work with artistes such as Sulumani Chimbetu, Beatbox and String, ProBeats and also collaborating with international artistes such as Jora from Uganda and Imo from South Africa, he said.” “I have also done commercials for Coca-Cola, Dairibord Zimbabwe and Econet Zimbabwe and I would say beatboxing is an easy way to penetrate the corporate world. I am now working on perfecting my craft, doing more commercials and currently I am working on a new sound called AmaBeatBox singles collection which will be a fusion of amapiano and beatboxing. This will be a banger project indeed”.
