, better known as Gene Shinozaki and formerly GVSBeatbox, is a Japanese-American

beatboxer Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

, singer-songwriter, street performer, multi-instrumentalist, and music producer. He is currently a member of the beatbox crew

Beatbox House The Beatbox House is an American beatbox crew based in New York City originally consisting of six beatboxers. The Beatbox House has since its formation helped many beatboxers along their journey. Formation The Beatbox House began as a residence ...

and half of the world-champion tag team ''Spider Horse''.

Career

Shinozaki was originally from California but soon moved to Boston to attend

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

before dropping out due to disinterest in the program. While touring with his band "DC Wonder" he decided to pursue a career in beatboxing after watching an interview with Reeps One. Over two years he started street performing, began gigging and eventually was featured on the TV show

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...

in the beatbox/dance duo "Movement Box". Shinozaki started beatbox battling in 2013. In 2015 he won the

Grand Beatbox Battle The Grand Beatbox Battle (commonly abbreviated GBB) is an annual international beatboxing competition hosted by Swissbeatbox. The competition holds multiple tournaments for different forms and categories of beatboxing which include: Solo (or Showc ...

in Switzerland He then became sound engineer for Beatbox television and joined the group

. In 2017 Shinozaki released his debut album, "Sound and Human". Shinozaki has been ranked among the top 8 beatboxers in the world.

Musical style

Shinozaki is well known for his signature brand of beatboxing which involves performing the role of an entire rock band using

vocal percussion Vocal percussion is the art of creating sounds with one's mouth that approximate, imitate, or otherwise serve the same purpose as a percussion instrument, whether in a group of singers, an instrumental ensemble, or solo. In Western music Recent ...

, singing, and lip oscillation techniques. He is one of the first beatboxers to pioneer musicality (over technicality) in the world of beatboxing, focusing on emotional melodies and singing in addition to solid technique. He cites

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American folk and jazz singer. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rap ...

as a direct and primary influence on his sound. He also often performs as a singer songwriter, and electronic music producer.

Performance in competitions

Discography

Albums

Mixtape

Singles

As lead artist

As promotional singles

Filmography

Television shows

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinozaki, Gene American beatboxers Living people Musicians from New York City Musicians from Boston 1991 births Berklee College of Music alumni Beatbox Battle World Champion