Here is the first article from our newest contributor to the writing team Naboth ‘RIZLA’ Rimayi. Naboth lives in Zimbabwe and will be keeping us up to date with all the goings on, on the great continent that is Africa…….

A lot of people seem to forget that Beatbox is a part of Hip Hop just as important as rapping and dj’ing. One such crew that has taken it’s talent to share with Africa and help spread awareness on this important Hip Hop element is France based Beatbox crew Under Kontrol. Now if legendary De La Soul are gonna say “These guys are like the human Beatbox Temptations” then who are we to not pay attention.

Under Kontrol are 2009 World Beatbox Champions that are on an African tour that will see them performing at 24 concerts, across 28 countries in just 75 days. Their tour dubbed #justamusicaltrip docked in the City Of Kings for 48 hours from Namibia on their way to Zambia. We managed to catch up with Fire Braz a member from the crew before rehearsals to their Bulawayo show in Zimbabwe and this is what he had to say…

Who is Under Kontrol and where did they meet?

Under Kontrol is a 4 member Beatbox group that met 10years ago. It’s basically Tiko, Mr Lips, MicFlow and (me) Fire Braz.

How did you come up with the name Under Kontrol?

We chose that name because we wanted to master the music, stage game and time. As beatboxers we are time players as everything has to be done at the right time hence the time has to be in control, the music has to be in control, the stage game has to be in control etc. So that’s one of the main reasons why we named ourselves Under Kontrol.

What does Beatbox mean to you?

Beatbox to me means life. This is my life. Beatbox has helped me to do so many things. I’m here (in Africa) because of Beatbox and I have met so many people because of Beatbox. This is undoubtedly the thing I respect the most in my life.

Briefly tell us about the French Hip Hop scene?

The French hip hop scene is so huge. I grew up in it and it has given me so much. There’s so much happening in it like rap and beatboxing. I think France is one of those countries together with UK and Germany that you will find lots of beatboxers. There’s lots of parties and events for the different art forms. In short, France is full of Hip Hop!

Fill us in on your African Tour thus far?

The tour is too crazy and so nice. We have discovered so many countries and met new people. Right now we are in Zimbabwe and this is the 18th country we are in and this is life. I like Zimbabwe because it’s so chilled, it’s a quiet place and all the guys we have met have a crazy vibe, work hard and are into their thing so we love to meet such people. In each country we met crazy people like in Gambia, Togo and Cameroun which undoubtedly has the best African raps I’ve had. We’ve been to Mozambique and South African rap is crazy too. Actually Africa has crazy rap. Unfortunately we don’t have enough time to see more of it but there definitely is a lot of crazy rap here!

What have you learnt from your travel around the continent so far?

I don’t know if I will be able to put it all out but firstly Hip Hop is everywhere. This is one of the things that impressed me the most. We met people from all over Africa and even if you got African and European cultures meeting you’ve actually got one culture meeting in reality and that’s Hip Hop. Same clothes, same people, same energy and same things. So what I have learnt is that Hip Hop is everywhere and music is everywhere. I have also learnt that there’s so many ways of living life and so many ways of seeing life and there are so many ways of doing your thing. It’s really some food for the mind.

Any last words to aspiring artists out there?

Don’t lose the piece of meat you got. It means that trust your thing and do your thing. Don’t think about money just trust in what you are doing and in some way it will pay. It might be through energy or experience but just keep trust in yourself and what you do. It might be rapping or producing you are in just do your thing and don’t mind people that think differently from you too much. Just trust in yourself and think your way so you can do your thing. You’re the only one who knows your mind so keep your mind, that way you will always lead and not follow. The key thing is to be different and most importantly be you!

For more info on Under Kontrol please check out:

https://soundcloud.com/under–kontrol

www.underkontrol.net/

http://fr-fr.facebook.com/pages/UNDER-KONTROL/27142389335#_=_

https://www.youtube.com/user/UNDERKONTROLVIDEOS#_=_

https://twitter.com/BeatboxAndMore#_=_

Written by: Naboth RIZLA Rimayi

Visuals by: Trevor Ncube