SK Shlomo first began performing as a beatboxer in 2002 when they became the champion at the King of the Jam beatboxing tournament in London, winning a pot of
Bonne Maman jam. They became known for their original beatboxing techniques including their 2-mic trancebox routine which they debuted at the World Beatbox Convention in 2003. They first came to broader attention in 2004 when they collaborated with
Björk on her all vocal song
Oceania, which Björk later performed at
the opening ceremony of the Athens of the
2004 Summer Olympics. The song
Oceania was commissioned by the Olympic Games Committee and heard by an estimated 3.9 billion people around the world making SK Shlomo one of the most-heard beatboxers in history (although most would not have realised that the drum sounds were vocal). The performance was nominated for a
Grammy Award. They began touring the UK, Europe and Canada with London hip hop act
Foreign Beggars, before making a solo appearance on
Later... with Jools Holland in late 2005. Following a performance at London's
Queen Elizabeth Hall concert hall, they became Artist in Residence at
Southbank Centre in 2007. As part of their residency at Southbank Centre, SK Shlomo curated and performed in a collaborative concert series
Music Through Unconventional Means from 2007 to 2010 which featured a diverse range of artists including
Martha Wainwright,
Teddy Thompson,
DJ Yoda and
Jarvis Cocker. In 2015 SK Shlomo was named a BBC Music Ambassador alongside singers
Tom Jones,
Rae Morris,
Jamie Cullum and
George Ezra, producer
Mark Ronson, and conductor
Charles Hazlewood The Vocal Orchestra In 2007, they put together the world's first beatboxing choir, the Vocal Orchestra, to headline at the International Beatbox Convention. The original group consisted of a cappella ensemble The
Swingle Singers alongside beatboxers
MC Zani, Bellatrix and Neil Thomas. The group was created in 6 weeks, with their debut performance selling out before the group had even met. The process was recorded by filmmaker Colette McWilliams. Her documentary,
The Beatbox Choir, was awarded Best Documentary at the OS International Film Festival, and included in the official selection at the D Reel International Film Festival, Australia. In 2012 the film was made freely available on SK Shlomo's website. After the initial process in 2007, SK Shlomo adapted the line-up of the Vocal Orchestra to comprise eight people to tour at festivals.
Music festivals SK Shlomo has performed at festivals including
Montreux Jazz Festival,
Glastonbury,
Bestival, Wilderness Festival and
Lovebox. At
The Big Chill festival they appeared as a guest of
Nightmares on Wax in 2006, with their Vocal Orchestra in 2007, as a guest of the
Mighty Boosh in 2008, as a collaborator with
Hexstatic in 2009, and as a solo performer in 2010. SK Shlomo has performed at every Glastonbury Festival since 2005. At Glastonbury in 2007, SK Shlomo performed as part of
Africa Express and beatboxed on a live version of
A Message to You, Rudy accompanying
Terry Hall and
Lynval Golding from
The Specials with
Damon Albarn on piano. At the 2009
Latitude Festival they collaborated with
Jarvis Cocker as part of the
Cape Farewell presentation, performing "
Purple Haze". and in 2011 with
Ed Sheeran and Abandoman. In 2015 they created a Glastonbury drumming record with their guests
Lily Allen and
Rudimental. In 2015 SK Shlomo closed the Wilderness Festival with their Vocal Orchestra, the 50 strong Wilderness Orchestra and a 200 strong choir embedded in the audience.
Work in education and charity work SK Shlomo founded the first Beatbox Academy in South London, teaches and speaks at educational conferences around the world, and continues to tour their acclaimed shows for kids. In 2008, SK Shlomo co-founded a programme teaching beatboxing to young people called the Beatbox Academy with
Battersea Arts Centre. They developed a series of free learning resources in association with
Musical Futures which they published on their website. They hosted a Concert Against Knife Crime in 2008 at the
Queen Elizabeth Hall in an attempt to raise awareness of the benefits of working creatively with young people. Musical guests at the concert included
Jarvis Cocker,
Mutya Buena,
Ashley Walters and
Teddy Thompson. In 2008, they were commissioned to create a piece called "One Voice", bringing together four community choirs from diverse backgrounds including a Gospel Choir, a Brazilian Choir, a children's choir and a contemporary choir. The following year, they worked with
BBC Blast to promote beatboxing to young people in a series of short films. In April 2009 they created Urban Vani, a community project bringing together beatboxing and South Asian Dance. In 2012, they created a new Indian beatboxing orchestra called "Voctronica" in collaboration with the British Council. SK Shlomo's charity work includes hosting blindfolded gigs for RLSB with Imogen Heap and Basement Jaxx, and regular collaborations with
Cape Farewell, a climate change awareness charity. In 2005 they worked with the
Ubuntu Educational Fund to raise money for orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa. They have also made two charity collaborative albums with the proceeds going to
War Child and
Médecins Sans Frontières respectively. Through their company Nebula Productions, Shlomo launched the
BREATHE Academy, a programme supported by the Youth Music Trailblazer Fund. The project empowers marginalised young people (aged 12–25) to explore self-expression, identity, and mental health through music and technology. Shlomo is an active campaigner for mental health awareness. They delivered a TEDx talk titled "How social media saved me from suicide" and serve as an ambassador for the suicide prevention charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).
Concerto for Beatboxer and Orchestra In 2010 SK Shlomo performed the premiere of the "Concerto for Beatboxer and Orchestra" by
Anna Meredith, an acclaimed contemporary composer who had risen to critical acclaim after composing a piece for the Last Night of the Proms. The Concerto was commissioned by Southbank Centre and was the first fully developed orchestral work to feature a beatboxer as the soloist, as well as 5 more beatboxers embedded in the 21 piece orchestra. Anna Meredith and SK Shlomo spent 2 years developing a notation system to create the score, which SK Shlomo then made available for free via their website.
World Loopstation championships SK Shlomo incorporates a loop pedal into their solo performances to perform more complex original compositions and covers. In October 2010, they entered the UK heats of the World Loopstation Championships and became the UK Champion. They then flew to Los Angeles in January 2011 and was awarded the title of World Loopstation Champion by the judges
Dave Navarro,
Steve Stevens and
Dub FX. Since becoming the World Loopstation Champion, they have been in demand as an authority on technology and creativity. They have spoken at international events including
TEDx,
CDI in Mexico, ITV’s Big Think,
Roundhouse Rising,
Music Tech Fest, MGX (Microsoft USA) and
WIRED2014.
Theatrical work and the Edinburgh Fringe In 2011 SK Shlomo toured their first one-person theatrical show "Mouthtronica" which explored SK Shlomo's Iraqi-Jewish background and the story of how they became a beatboxer. In each performance, SK Shlomo improvised a spontaneous collaboration with a local guest artist, which were sourced via Twitter and Facebook. The collaborations were recorded for an improvised charity album which raised over £500 for medical charity
Doctors Without Borders. After the initial 22 date UK tour, SK Shlomo took Mouthtronica to the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival where the show received several five star reviews, was nominated for the
Holden Street Theatres' Edinburgh Fringe Award and sold out for the entire four-week run. While they were in Edinburgh, SK Shlomo performed a collaboration with singer
James Morrison for BBC Radio 1 and worked with their childhood hero
Michael Winslow to create a special one-off show called "Old Skool meets New Skool". SK Shlomo's theatrical work includes 3 full length one-person theatre shows, all of which have sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and toured the UK. They also created and directed a stage show entitled The Vocal Orchestra which for ran for at London's Southbank, Edinburgh Fringe and continues to tour internationally. In 2022, SK Shlomo created
BREATHE, a one-person gig-theatre show and accompanying album exploring suicide prevention, queer identity, and recovery. Described as blending "the energy of a rave with the storytelling of theatre," the show premiered at the Royal Albert Hall and won the Spirit of the Fringe Award for Theatre at the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Guinness World records SK Shlomo has twice held the record for the World's Largest Beatbox Ensemble, and is the current holder for directing a group of 2,081 Google employees at the Dublin Convention Centre in November 2011.
Work as a composer SK Shlomo is often commissioned to write for choirs, stage shows, films and adverts. Recent works include a score for the BFI's restoration of
Alfred Hitchcock's Downhill, a specially commissioned piece for the Royal Festival Hall's organ and a nomination for the British Composer Awards for their piece for the
National Youth Choir.
Beatbox For Kids Shlomo has often toured ''Shlomo's Beatbox Adventure For Kids'', an interactive show for families which features accessibility guides specifically designed for
neurodivergent children. == Personal life ==