Keanu Lee Chip Sao, a junior majoring in computer science from Tahiti, found his niche for making beats during a bed-ridden surgery recovery. Soon after, Sao was receiving widespread praise from various sponsors for his newfound talent.
Beatboxing, the practice of making drum and machine-like beats with the mouth, lips, teeth, tongue and voice, has long been acknowledged as a musical art form, reported openculture.com.
While practicing for a Tae kwon do competition at the age of 14, Sao cut his foot on glass, which resulted in an abscess. The following surgery confined him to bed for a month.
“I didn’t want to waste my time,” he remembered. After finishing all his homework, he decided to learn how to sing. “It was one of my life goals, but it was hard lying down.” On YouTube, he discovered professional beatboxing and immediately fell in love with it.
“I practiced every day for six hours. After a month, I impressed people so I wanted to learn more. My first performance was two months later on a stage in front of everyone. After that I had sponsors and managers calling me to do shows,” explained Sao.
Fellow beatboxer Joshua Beijerling, a freshman majoring in graphic design from Washington, said, “I don’t think most people learn it from videos on YouTube but just happen to pick it up. I was just making sounds with my mouth and eventually it turned into what people would call beatboxing.”
He talked about the difficulties of beatboxing as well. “It’s not for everyone. You need a certain control over your mouth and lips to be able to do it. It is hard to learn and you need to practice a lot.”
Beijerling said, “People like beatboxing because they don’t usually hear this out of a person’s mouth. It is pretty unexpected. You are making sounds with your mouth that normally machines make.”
Beatboxing is also a talent of Jeff Mellor, a freshman majoring in biomedical science from Washington.
Mellor said, “I am not a pro, but I can beatbox. It started out of having lots of extra time. Beatboxing was something to pass time. I would always be whistling or beatboxing around the house and practicing different beats. On my mission, whenever I would ride my bike around, I would keep the beat to what I was peddling.”
Doing something in an artistic field so long came with challenges that led both Sao and Mellor to keep their talents at a hobby level. After two years of performances and concerts, Sao abruptly decided to stop. “I didn’t want to do it for money,” he said. He said he focused on developing his programming skills instead.
However, he maintained his beatboxing ability during his mission in Madagascar.
Sao explained how the rigors of being a full-time musician can negatively affect his life. “Right now I am getting calls from musicians in Honolulu inviting me to perform in Waikiki and some other places around the island. The only problem is as an artist it’s very time demanding and you need to be healthy all the time physically,” he said.
“From time to time, I am glad to perform for little local performances, and I don’t do it for money.”
Music always has been a big dream for Mellor, but keeping it as a hobby, which he said is more realistic, is also what keeps him happy. “If it was just solely a career, it would lose its meaning to me. The biggest challenge is competition. There are so many people who are good at the arts.”
Sao concluded, “ You have to develop your own skills. Everyone is different. Find out what your purpose here on Earth is. Why weren’t you born earlier in the world?
“You have to discover your mission, by looking at your natural skills and talents, passions and your patriarchal blessing. When you develop one talent, you automatically develop others. We have talents everywhere, but what is the best combination for you?”