Beatboxing – this is an art with unlimited possibilities attracting more and more fans in this country in recent years. This year Bulgaria became world number 1 in this musical genre after two young Bulgarians won the third edition of the Beatbox Battle World Championships in both the men’s and women’s category – these are Adriana Nikolova aka Pechenkata and Alexander Deyanov aka Skiller.

Beatbox is a vocal performance reproducing most often percussion instruments, scratches or other musical effects. It emerged in the 1960s in America, becoming popular as "the instrument of the poor" because it replaces the role of rhythm in rap songs performed in the ghettos. Today it is called the "fifth element of hip-hop" and combines different sounds and techniques. “Beatbox for me is music and I’m trying to prove that constantly. I want beatbox to be recognized as a musical style”, young Adriana Nikolova - Pechenkata says in her interview for RB’s Elena Tsvetkova.

“My first encounter with beatboxing was four years ago. I liked it and started looking for tutorials on the internet. When preparing for the World Battle in Berlin, I was rehearsing eight to nine hours a day. This championship is held every three years in Berlin. I won in tough competition with over one hundred participants from over seventy countries. It was a great experience. The best in the world currently are the French and Bulgarian beatboxers. Perhaps the language in which it is performed has an influence. Especially Bulgarian has characteristic sounds like sh, sht, the schwa ... It is imperative that everyone has their own style of beatboxing. You usually grow your own style after the second year of doing this. In these circles the style of every beatboxer is well-known and imitations are unacceptable. My style is related to opera singing which I studied at the music school in Pleven and now in Sofia. I am spint soprano. I prepare to apply for admission to the Academy with opera singing. But I will continue with beatboxing, of course. I am combining them, I hope I will succeed with both. I have yet to be on the jury of the next beatbox Battle World Championship in Berlin”.

The debut song of Adriana Nikolova Pechenkata entitled "That beat" is pure beatbox - it uses no musical instruments. She performs all sounds on her own with the help of a loop station - a machine that records her beat. “I can wrap countless sounds and thereby create music”, she says. The singer is working on new songs now. 

Recently Bulgaria saw the launch of its Beatbox Association. Its creator is Skiller. This is another step in the development of this art here. Soon the first beatbox school is to open doors, Adriana says.

"The fast mouth of the East" is the nickname of Bulgarian Alexander Deyanov-Skiller. He was among the first to bring the art of beatboxing in this country. In his biography he has the prestigious Icarus award for best musical performance. It was given to him by the Union of Bulgarian Artists over authoring the project "Nocturne - from dust to glow”.  Skiller was beatbox champion of Bulgaria in 2007.  Hee won the audience and jury awards at the Beatbox World Championship in Berlin this year with his clean sound, speed, good technique and stable stage psyche. One of his major performances presented traditional Bulgarian unequal rhythms - 9/8. This is the second world championship title in a beatbox battle for Skiller, as the first time was 2011 when he won the tournament in Basel, Switzerland. He performs on stages throughout Europe, Japan, Russia/ This fall, Sofia hosted the biggest European final in beatboxing for the first time. The winner was once again a Bulgarian - Christian Popov aka Sprita who will represent the country at the next Beatbox Battle World Championship in Berlin.

English version: Rossitsa Petcova