Shlomo Motion

Music by unconventional means is my manifesto. The most obvious thing to do is not always the most interesting”.

So says Simon Shlomo Khan, Britain’s prime exponent of hip hop culture’s most underexposed face, beatboxing. While rap, turntablism, breakdance and grafitti have all cemented their position in the mainstream, beatboxing remains an underground arcane art, which – thanks to its low profile – has become more interesting and complex with time. Shlomo’s stunning one-mouth performances have made their way to the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury (“the highpoint of my career so far,” he grins), where he joined Terry Hall and Damon Albarn in a radical rendition of The Specials’ ‘A Message To You Rudy’. It’s seen him on a world stage duetting with Bjork at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympics. In between, he’s been involved or created numerous groups, projects and performances pushing the art of voice-as-instrument. And all because his parents wouldn’t let him make noise after 6pm.
“I started learning drums at the age of eight-years-old because my parents were sick of me banging on the pots and pans,” he recalls. “I loved drumming, and all I wanted to do was drum on Top Of The Pops, but that was on at 7pm and I wasn’t allowed to practice my drums after 6! So I had to find other ways to practise my rhythms, and sort of invented my own style of beatboxing, almost by accident.”
He went on to become a classically trained percussionist and jazz drummer but, bitten by the hip hop bug, his pastime of beatboxing saw him rocket to recognition on the UK scene over the last decade, catching the ears of Jools Holland, who featured him on Later With... at an early stage.
“When I first got properly into beatboxing, it was all about( ’90s pioneers) Rahzel, Killa Kela and Click Tha Supah Latin.”
But although he quickly transcended their hip hop styles, he still keeps an ear out for the current traditionalists.
“These days I’m always astounded when I hear what people like Reeps One, Beardyman and Roxorloops are doing!”
And also Dublin champion White Noise.
“He’s amazing,” enthuses Shlomo, “Dublin’s finest.”
His break with traditional beatboxing is very evident on his epic performance of The Prodigy’s ‘Out Of Space’, but in particular his ‘Part Time Dropout’ routine where ping-pong modern R&B beats dexterously intertwined with rapping suddenly explode into a pop trance riff worthy of Tinie Tempah.
“Beatboxing is not actually a style of music,” he explains. “It’s ultimately just a way of making music, which means you can make any music you want. This can be a mixed blessing as people can be expecting a certain genre. Personally, I love the that there are no rules.”
His arts leanings (including being Artist-in-Residence at London’s prestigious South Bank Centre for a year in 2007) have taken him far beyond the classic arena of the art – the competition battle – but he still finds time to effortlessly pick up some B-boy silverware.
“Although I just tend to do what excites me. I’m not against battling and competitions. In fact I recently took part in the World Loopstation Championships (with an astounding one man, five-effect pedal tour-de-force) and won!”
He also seemed to win the heart of Christine Brinkley with a recent performance on ITV’s Daybreak, where his improvised routine around her name had the Belfast TV presenter and WAG literally squealing with joy.
“Ha, I don’t actually have a telly so had no idea who she was.” he recounts. “But hanging out with Dame Helen Mirren was funny. She said to me, “Shlomo, that’s a very silly name, what’s your real name?’”. She was quite embarrassed when I explained that it’s my middle name.”

The Red Bull BC One Cypher Event runs from May 8 to May 15 in the Ulster Hall, Belfast.