Growing up, Rahzel was closely linked with some of the strongest forces of early hip hop. Idolising Grandmaster Flash, Rahzel was fortunate that his cousin, Rahim, was a member of The Furious Five, giving him inside access into witnessing one of the great hip hop mega-groups. Beat boxing came as a necessity to Rahzel.
“Growing up I didn’t have turntables and drums and other equipment,” he explains. “There was definitely a lot of training involved. You listen to various sounds and a lot of music and experiment. I practiced four or five hours a day.”
Rahzel first met ?uestlove back in ’92. “Back then there were a lot of open mics,” he says. “There were a lot of different artists coming together in New York from different parts of the country. You had a group of talented people coming together and it was kinda hard to miss that. The movement was huge with at least 50 to 100 artists coming together under the one roof.” During his time in The Roots he received a Grammy award and he says, “As a member of The Roots, it enhanced my vocal abilities as a musician.”
Rahzel made his triumphant beat boxing debut performance at the legendary Showtime at the Apollo. He stunned the crowd with a repertoire that stroked the memory of any true hip hop fan and the world’s toughest audience (they’ve booed at Lauryn Hill) loved him. Rahzel has since been officially inducted as an “Apollo Legend”. From then, his solo work, including his album The Fifth Element has boasted an impressive selection of collaborative work featuring Q-Tip, Pete Rock and Meshell Ndegeocello. “I reached out to most of the artists, but some of the time they reached out to me or we ran into each other and wanted to collab,” Rahzel explains. “It’s been that way since the beginning. It was how I met ?uestlove, how I met Ben Harper, how I met Bjork. It’s something that just happened.”
Given the choice, Rahzel says he would collaborate with the late Notorious B.I.G. or Stevie Wonder. “I met B.I.G. in passing,” he says. “It was a strange circumstance…[and]…it wasn’t a good one. The people running his show wanted me to beat box and he didn’t want that. Time went on and I ran into him in LA and he had given me a couple of compliments. I guess he kinda respected what I did but didn’t wanna say it. I also did a performance in DC and Stevie Wonder gave me a standing ovation.”
While hip hop isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, it’s hard not to admire the skill involved in such intricate vocal abilities. Rahzel argues it’s the purest form through which to express the genre especially when you’re not using any instrument or technical device. When asked whether he prefers rapping or beat boxing he says, “[Beat boxing] is kinda like spoken word. I prefer both. They are vocal qualities in a different capacity.” Despite his commendable efforts he still feels he has more work to do. “I don’t take it lightly,” he explains. “There is much more to learn and much more time to evolve.” If music didn’t work out, Rahzel jokes, “I’d probably be robbing banks. Nah, I’d probably be a banker. I’d be around money one way or the other.”
One area of his life the Godfather of Noise has tended to keep quiet about are the tough times he faced growing up. “Basically what you put out is what you get and I like to focus on the positive,” he says. “The negative has molded me, in some sense, to the person that I am. But I’d rather focus on converting negative into positive.” Further to this, his spiritual beliefs were consolidated when his mother passed away. “I am definitely spiritual,” he says. “It helps a lot and I believe in God. We didn’t come here by accident and there is definitely a higher power.”
Excited for the Aussie summertime, Rahzel says, “I just like Australia. There’s a different vibe and different cultures. You guys are way off in your own world and not near anybody which is kinda cool.” His upcoming projects include some work for TV and commercials, plus an album. “I have been working on an album forever now,” he says. “It’s been three years. Someone needs to pull me out of the studio!”
BY TAMARA VOGL
