Crossroads Beatbox Battle brings serious competitive ‘unrealness’ to a mouth near you

Beatboxers Waferboi and Shield compete against each other during the solo segment of the 2024 Crossroad Beatbox Battle at recordBar. // Photo by Beth Lipoff

If you like to feel a strong beat but might not be into instruments, the Crossroads Beatbox Battle could be your scene. This year’s competition at recordBar drew local competitors in addition to many who traveled across the country.

The person behind it all is beatboxer Asher O’Connor, who started the competition in 2018 while trying to build up Kansas City’s beatboxing community.

“It’s just like being any other musician. You’re essentially just making mouth music. A lot of the basics of beatboxing is imitating drum noises, but it’s really evolved into much more than that,” O’Connor says.

There’s a lot more to it than you might think, as the sector of music-making has transitioned and grown over time.

“People have kind of been evolving it over the years, so people are really doing full routines. They’re doing the drums, they’re doing the melody. They’re probably working in some singing or lyrics into their beatbox somehow and imitating all sorts of synthesizers and other things,” O’Connor says.

Winning a competition like this can help beatboxers book future gigs. And while the competition is serious, the community itself is a friendly one.

“As competitive as it is, it’s actually smiles and hugs afterwards. Everybody is very accepting of each other. Aside from competition, beatboxers tend to jam with each other and hang out. A lot of it is building community and networking with likeminded people,” O’Connor says.

Styles at the battle can be all over the place, from hip-hop to electronic to more of a jazzy feel.

Beatboxers Clutch and Shield compete against each other during the solo segment of the 2024 Crossroad Beatbox Battle at recordBar. // Photo by Beth Lipoff

“People are really playing off of each other, freestyling in the moment, trying to one-up each other. It might be fast techniques or just more bass. There’s a lot of ways you can win. The loudest sound or the most bass doesn’t necessarily win you the battle. Originality is very important,” O’Connor says.

Though anyone can beatbox, typically beatboxers tend to be men in their late teens and early 20s, he says.

“I think beatboxing is for everybody. It challenges you mentally, physically, and musically. You can beatbox with other people. There’s that community aspect to it,” O’Connor says.

Kansas City resident Coleman Stanton, who goes by the beatbox name of Clutch, has a special place in his heart for the Crossroads Beatbox Battle, having been part of it multiple times since 2018.

“It hits close to home, because I’m from here, and it’s really cool I get to have this outlet, this group of people that are all into the same thing I am,” Stanton says.

It takes plenty of practice to be ready for the stage—and not just with music itself.

Beatboxers Clutch and Shield compete against each other during the solo segment of the 2024 Crossroad Beatbox Battle at recordBar. // Photo by Beth Lipoff

“The most challenging part about it, at least initially, was being comfortable in front of a large crowd like that. Now, what’s more difficult is making sure I’m fresh with new material, that I’m learning the sounds that are popular,” Stanton says.

Creativity is a big part of being successful in a beatbox battle, and O’Connor agrees that it’s not easy.

“You don’t necessarily need to come up with crazy unique sound to be professional. I would say, one of the best ways to develop originality is to go to beatbox battles. You hang out with other beatboxers to learn as much as you can. I tell other beatboxers whatever genre you listen to, you enjoy, is probably going to come more natural to you,” O’Connor says.

Stanton likes that meeting up with other beatboxers at the battle gives him time to appreciate what other people do on the stage.

“It’s a lot of the sounds and the unrealness—How does this person make this noise? That feeling has never gone away. The more I’ve learned about it, that feeling, when you hear something really cool, has never gone away,” Stanton says.

The competition attracted competitors like Eric Amaya who came in from Fayetteville, AR.

“Asher does a really good job making it a safe event. The vibes and sound are great,” Amaya says.

First-time spectator Laney Bevins enjoyed the sounds and vibes as well.

“It gets intense. There’s a lot to it. There’s a lot of different flavors of beats,” she says.

After an initial elimination round at Lifted Spirits Distillery, the competition settled in at recordBar for its final two days. Winning the solo category was Shield, with Mouthguard taking the tag-team title, and Waferboi leading in loopstation. Each winner received $500.

Beatboxers Waferboi and Shield compete against each other during the solo segment of the 2024 Crossroad Beatbox Battle at recordBar. // Photo by Beth Lipoff