WATCH: A drum roll for local beatboxer

TALENTED beatboxer, Mike Mathaba, who lives in Durban North said he won the best singer award at the Mzanzi Art competition in 2017 and has performed on the Playhouse stage as well as the Absa stadium, where he performed before the Sharks played. Mathaba said he tries to keep up with the latest songs and often performs covers, fascinated by how fast the tongue can move.

“I never see beatboxing as a competition, but by the grace of God, every time I have gone into a competition, I’ve won,” he said.

Mathaba attributes his gift to a spiritual encounter when he prayed for a special talent as a teenager.

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“I went to a youth camp when I was in matric. I was the odd one out at the back while everyone else was singing and dancing. So I prayed that God would give me gift that I could use. Beatboxing came to mind, but I didn’t think God even knew what beatboxing was, so I ignored it. Then I heard God clearly again say I should beatbox. So I started beat boxing. It started really slow with a low percussion and then it started getting louder to a point that I couldn’t contain it,” he said.

Mathaba said that ultimately he would like to represent South Africa as a beat boxer.
“I just want to put a simple message out there, that everyone has a gift and they can use it for good things. Don’t listen to those voices that pull you back or tell you that you look stupid or aren’t good enough, just go for it,” he said.

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The beat boxer said  he overcame negativity to pursue his dream.
“I always had a passion for music growing up as a child and I’d keep up with the latest music trends. I was bullied in school a lot, I remember once, in Grade 8 telling everyone in the class about this new song that I liked and they spurred me on to sing it,” Mathaba recalled, “when I sang, my classmates told me not to sing and not even to beatbox because it was not for – immagine if I had listened to those voices?”

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