Paris Reed, Competitive Beatboxer. (Documentary) | Mass Appeal

The power of hip hop lies in unleashing raw creativity. With two turntables and a microphone it’s possible to explore an infinite variety of musical adventures. And some people don’t even need turntables. All they need is one mic.

Remember that record “Make the music with your mouth Biz”? The art of beatboxing has been part of hip hop from the earliest days, perfected by masters like Doug E. Fresh, The Human Beatbox, and Rahzel. Over years and decades beatboxing culture has grown into a thriving underground battle scene—mindblowing competitions that are like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

Our latest MASS APPEAL documentary takes us to Riverdale, a residential area just outside Chicago, home to competitive beatboxer Paris Reed. The documentary follows Reed, one of the most gifted young spitkickers in the world, as he travels from Chicago to NYC to do battle for the chance to represent the USA in an upcoming world beatboxing competition.

Paris loves winning competitions, and he could definitely use the prize money, but whatever happens in the battle he knows beatboxing has already made him a winner. “Growing up i just felt like an outcast a lot,” Paris admits. “I would get angry at little things—music is meditation for me. It’s a therapeutic thing. It makes me feel good.”

His family had to get used to his new passion. “It was irritating,” says Paris’s brother with a laugh. “I’d be playing the game he’d just come in and start beatboxing—but after a while it started getting catchy.” Since then he’s never looked back. Check out his one-of-a-kind story on our new doc ‘PARIS REED, COMPETITIVE BEATBOXER.”