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Who is Kid Beyond?
Singer. Beatboxer. Live looper. Songwriter. One-man vocal band.
Kid Beyond is now represented by the Progressive Global Agency. Kid Beyond released his debut EP Amplivate this year, and has since been featured on NPR's "Day to Day," and named Best Oral of the Bay in the Bay Guardian. He is sponsored by Ableton and a video featuring him was one of the Top 20 downloaded films on iFilm this year. He was also recently brought in by VH1 directors to replace Jason Bonham in a Supergroup episode, drama ensued.
Looping and multitracking his voice live onstage to create his own backing tracks, Kid Beyond layers his soulful, spiritual lyrics over his own beatboxing and vocal instrumentation - creating an evocative, infectiously funky brew of hip-hop/techno-flavored alt-pop.
A "fiercely charismatic… truly mesmerizing" performer, armed with a powerful rock-soul singing voice and the jaw-dropping skills that earned him the title "San Francisco's Best Beatboxer," Kid Beyond has rocked sprawling festival crowds, huge warehouse parties, and jam-packed venues from the Fillmore to Carnegie Hall.
Kid B has shared the stage with Keane, String Cheese Incident, Spearhead, BT, the RZA, the Wailers, Blackalicious, KRS-One, Sage Francis, Digital Underground, The Coup, People Under the Stairs, the Mutaytor -- and in his previous career, James Brown, Ray Charles, LL Cool J, the Neville Brothers, Run-DMC, even President Bill Clinton. He has played festivals such as SXSW, NAMM, Summerfest, Earthdance, and Symbiosis.
The first thing you'll notice is the beatboxing. A beatboxer for over 20 years, Kid Beyond can produce drum kits, hip-hop loops, techno beats, turntable scratches, violins, synthesizers - all with his mouth.
Once he grabs your attention, layering his voice line-by-line, he then hits you with his powerful singing and songwriting - from haunting trip-hop epics to sweaty dancefloor jams, all with the aim of moving your heart, soul, and booty.
As SF Weekly puts it, "He is amazing…something this jaded music writer couldn't entirely understand, much less put into words." You'll just have to see him - and hear him - to believe it.
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