Grand Beatbox Battle 2021 Wildcard Competition

The Grand Beatbox Battle 2021 will take place in the Expo Hall in Warsaw, Poland, on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of October 2021, with the 7toSmoke Battle and Afterparty happening on the 25th October (Location TBA).

Event & Ticket Informations

Wildcard competition

Due to the many unfortunate events and the resulting necessary restrictions during 2020, we at Swissbeatbox decided to postpone the event to 2021. As such, we have decided to keep all qualified participants from 2020, while also opening up the event to a limited number of new participants in 2021. We have also been working hard to secure the best possible date and location for the GBB21 edition, taking into consideration the current situation regarding Covid19 and travel restrictions. 

Watch Wildcards

Make sure you check out all the wildcards submitted to this competition. If you are one of the participants, your video will appear here as well after it has been reviewed successfully.

Watch All Wildcards

General Info

To deal with this expanded event, we have made some significant exceptions to the 2021 edition that will be exclusive to this version of the event. The 2022 event will then resume as normal, which we will explain in 2021 when we announce the 2022 edition.

To allow for new participants to enter the GBB21, we will be holding another round of wildcard competitions. Below are some of the more significant outlines and changes to the event that everyone should pay close attention to for GBB21, as well as information for the new wildcard competitions.

1. The event will be one day longer, to account for the new categories and additional participants.
2. The GBB21 main event will be on Friday the 22nd, Saturday the 23rd, and Sunday the 24th of October 2021.
3. The 7toSmoke and Afterparty will be held on Monday the 25th of October 2021 (this will be a limited capacity event due to the size of the venue, tickets will be sold separately for this event exclusively to GBB21 ticket holders at a later date).
4. All qualified participants of GBB 2020 will remain qualified for the 2021 edition.
5. The winners of the two categories from the GBB 2020 Online Edition will be qualified to do eliminations in their respective categories (Solo and Loopstation).
6. Each category will be expanded as follows:
   1. Solo Showcase category:
      1. 7 new wildcard spots will be opened to the public.
      2. 24 eliminations (instead of 16) – includes the winner of the GBB20 Online.
      3. Top 16 battles (instead of top 8).
   2. Solo Loopstation category:
      1. 4 new wildcard spots will be opened to the public.
      2. 17 eliminations (instead of 12) – includes the winner of the GBB20 Online.
      3. No change to battle format.
   3. Tag-Team category:
      1. 3 new wildcard spots will be opened to the public.
      2. 10 eliminations (instead of 7).
      3. No change to battle format.
   4. Crew category:
      1. 1 new wildcard spot will be opened to the public.
      2. 4 eliminations (instead of 3).
      3. No change to battle format.
   5. Tag-Team Loopstation category:
      1. No new wildcards will be given for this category.
      2. No change to battle format.
7. Any participant that cancelled due to circumstances surrounding Covid19 (after April 2020) will still be qualified for the 2021 edition.
8. If more than 2 Tag-Team Loopstation teams cancel, then we will hold another wildcard competition for this category.
9. The new wildcard competition for the Solo and Loop categories will be open to the public from 00:00 on the 1st April until 23:59 on the 30th April 2021.
   1. The rules and regulations for this event are outlined below, and remain the same as in 2020.
   2. The winners will be announced from the 13th and 14th of May.
10. The new wildcard competition for the Tag-Team  and Crew categories will be open to the public from 00:00 on the 1st April until 23:59 on the 31st May 2021.
    1. The rules and regulations for this event are outlined below, and remain the same as in 2020.
    2. The winners will be announced on the 13th and 14th of June.
11. If any GBB21 artist cancels or is unable to attend, whether they qualified in 2020 or the 2021 wildcard competition, their replacement will be taken from the new list of wildcard entries! 
    1. This means if someone entered the GBB20 wildcard competition, and they ranked high in the list of final wildcards but were not selected, it is imperative that they enter this new wildcard competition to have a chance at participating in the GBB21 edition. 
    2. This will also include if an artist for any reason is not able to attend, due to (for example) travel restrictions, illness, invalid visa, or violations of the GBB Rules and Code of Conduct.
    3. For this reason, we will be giving out free tickets to ranked GBB21 wildcard entrants for selected categories:
       1. Solo – ranks 8 to 12 (5 in total).
       2. Solo Loopstation – ranks 5 to 7 (3 in total).
       3. Tag-Team – rank 4 (1 in total).
    4. As such, it is highly recommended that these wildcard participants travel to the GBB21 event, as there is a chance that, due to cancelations, you will be allowed to participate.
12. Any judge who also qualified for a battle spot in 2020 but decided to judge instead decides they want to battle instead of judge, they will be allowed to do this, and a replacement judge will be found for them (all previous winners of the Grand Beatbox Battle are automatically invited to battle one year and judge one year, it is up to them when they decide to do this).
13. All participants of GBB21 will be required to fill out and sign documents outlining rules of participation, personal information, dietary needs, flights and accommodation, and copyright law, rules, and regulations. If these documents are not filled in and signed by the agreed upon deadline, SBX reserves the right to disqualify that participant.
14. SBX does not tolerate any form of physical or mental abuse or harassment of any kind, and transgressions will be taken very seriously, whether they are artists, judges, participants, or guests of the event. Specific rules regarding this will be outlined in the complete GBB21 Rules and Regulations, which will be posted online in the coming months.

Wildcard Entry Rules

The new wildcard competition for the GBB21 Solo and Loopstation categories will be open for submissions from 00:00 on the 1st April until 23:59 on the 30th April 2021 (CET), and for Tag-team and Crew from 00:00 on the 1st April until 23:59 on the 31st May 2021 (CET). To take part in the wildcard competition, participants must upload their wildcards to YouTube and then post the link in the submission form available here on the Swissbeatbox website.

Wildcards can only be registered ONCE – that means, if you have uploaded a wildcard earlier in the registration window, and then decide later that you want to upload a new one instead, this new wildcard will not be accepted. Instead, we will only judge the original upload. If you delete your original upload and try to replace it with a new one, then you will forfeit your wildcard altogether, and not be accepted into the competition at all. This is to avoid confusions in the registration and judging process that happened at GBB19 – wildcards were replaced with newer versions which were not registered correctly and as such some people’s wildcards were not judged at all. So MAKE SURE that the wildcard you upload are your FINAL versions, as you will not be able to edit or re-upload it later.

Any recording method is allowed for the wildcards – that is to say, you can use anything from a smart phone camera to a professional setup with separate microphone and camera. You may process your audio recording with basic dynamic (compression) and EQ plugins, as well as reverb. What is not allowed is automated processing, such as EQing and compressing the kick and snare differently – the entire recording must be processed in the same way. Also things such as distortion, delay, or any time based or frequency distortion effects are strictly forbidden, as these alter the integrity of your audio recordings. These things will be monitored, so if you try and use illegal processing methods without telling us, we will find out, and you will be disqualified from the wildcard competition.

All participants MUST introduce themselves in the video as follows – “My name is [ARTIST NAME], and this is my [CATEGORY – eg. Solo, Loop etc] wildcard for the GBB 2021 World League.” If this statement is not included at the beginning of the video, it will not be accepted. This is to avoid people using previous uploads or shoutouts as wildcards for this event – your wildcard MUST be a unique video made specifically for entry into the GBB21: World League event. It is also designed this way to encourage creativity and innovation within the beatbox community.

The title of the Wildcard Video must be labelled as follows: 

[ARTIST NAME] – GBB21: World League [CATEGORY] Wildcard (OR) Grand Beatbox Battle 2021: World League [CATEGORY] Wildcard (e.g. Pepouni – GBB21: World League Solo Wildcard).

Finally, the length of the beatboxing time in the wildcard video must be no longer than plus or minus 5% of the length of that category – i.e. if the wildcard is allowed to be 3 minutes long, then you are allowed minimum 2 minutes and 51 seconds and maximum 3 minutes and 9 seconds of beatbox time in that video. If your beatboxing time in the video does not fall within plus or minus 5% of the time limit, points will be deducted from the voting of your wildcard, meaning you will have less of a chance to make it into the competition. This does not include your intro or outro in the video.

Additionally, If your wildcard contains any forms of hate speech, harassment of any kind, derogatory or demeaning speech, objectification of people, or anything that is purposefully offensive towards a person or group of people, the wildcard will be immediately disqualified. We feel it is important to cultivate a community of acceptance, awareness, and respect towards our fellow human beings, and this rule is designed to avoid creating an environment that we do not support as a community. Thanks for your understanding, and good luck to everyone entering the GBB21: WORLD LEAGUE Wildcard Competition!

Rules Summary

1. Solo and Loop categories – open for submissions from 00:00 on the 1st April – 23:59 on the 30th April 2021.
2. Tag-team and crew categories open for submissions from 00:00 on the 1st April – 23:59 on the 31st May 2021.
3. Videos must be uploaded to YouTube, and the link posted in the registration form available here on our website.
4. Wildcards can only be uploaded ONCE (only the first upload registered will be accepted).
5. All recording methods allowed.
6. Audio can be processed with Compression, EQ, and Reverb, anything else is not allowed.
7. Audio processing CANNOT be automated (cannot change over time, whole audio must be processed the same way).
8. Wildcards must include correct introduction – “My name is [ARTIST NAME], and this is my [CATEGORY – eg. Solo, Loop etc] wildcard for the GBB 2021 World League.”
9. Title of the wildcard must be labelled correctly – [ARTIST NAME] – GBB20: World League [CATEGORY] Wildcard (OR) Grand Beatbox Battle 2020: World League [CATEGORY] Wildcard (e.g. Pepouni – GBB21: World League Solo Wildcard).
10. The length of the beatboxing in each wildcard must not be less than or exceed plus or minus 5% of the allowed time for that category, not including intro/outro of video.
11. If your wildcard contains any forms of hate speech, harassment of any kind, derogatory or demeaning speech, objectification of people, or anything that is purposefully offensive towards a person or group of people, the wildcard will be immediately disqualified.

Categories

Solo Showcase

1. Beatbox time – 2 minutes +/- 5%
   1. Minimum 1 minute 54 seconds
   2. Maximum 2 minutes 6 seconds
2. Applications open from 00:00 CET on the 1st April until 23:59 CET on the 30th April 2021.
3. Wildcard Judges: 
   1. Kenny Urban
   2. Pe4enkata
   3. Skiller
   4. KIM
   5. Ball-Zee
4. 7 wildcards will be chosen.
5. Winners announced on the 14th May 2021 on the SBX YouTube Channel.

Tag-Team Showcase

1. Beatbox time – 2 minutes +/- 5%
   1. Minimum 1 minute 54 seconds
   2. Maximum 2 minutes 6 seconds
2. Applications open from 00:00 CET on the 1st April until 23:59 CET on the 31st May 2021.
3. Wildcard Judges: 
   1. Kenny Urban
   2. Chris Celiz
   3. MC Zani
   4. Hobbit
   5. Zhang Ze
4. 3 wildcards will be chosen.
5. Winners announced on the 14th June 2021 on the SBX YouTube Channel.

Solo Loopstation

1. Beatbox time – 3 minutes +/- 5%
   1. Minimum 2 minutes 51 seconds
   2. Maximum 3 minutes 9 seconds
2. Applications open from 00:00 CET on the 1st April until 23:59 CET on the 30th April 2021.
3. The main loopstation device must be a BOSS RC-505.
4. An extra device for processing and effects is allowed.
5. Midi controllers and microphone preamps or phantom power devices are allowed additionally, and do not take up the spot of your extra device. These devices cannot process the sound in any way.
   1. Midi controllers allow for expanded functionality in the devices you already have, and have no ability to add extra processing functions to your setup.
   2. Mic pre-amps and phantom power units are only for converting the signal from your microphone to your RC-505 Loopstation or extra device.
6. All sounds must be generated or triggered through the human voice or body.
7. No pre-recorded sounds allowed.
8. No keyboards allowed.
9. You must email [email protected] with your device name and model number to have your device approved (approval process may take up to 72 hours).
   1. If you do not get official approval for your device then your wildcard may not be accepted.
   2. See list of pre-approved devices below (this will constantly be updated, so keep checking back to see if your device has been added).
10. Please remember – if your approved device has the ability to use pre-recorded samples, you are not allowed to use these functions in the wildcard. If you do, you will be immediately disqualified from the competition. All synths must be voice triggered.
11. Wildcard Judges: 
    1. Tioneb
    2. Inkie
    3. Saro
    4. Hobbit
    5. Pe4ankata
12. 4 wildcards will be chosen.
13. Winners announced on the 13th May 2021 on the SBX YouTube Channel.

Pre-approved extra devices:

• Korg Kaoss Pad KP3
• Helix Line6
• TC Helicon Voicelive 3
• BOSS GT-10B
• BOSS RC-505
• BOSS RC-202
• BOSS GT-1000
• BOSS SY-1000
• Boss SY-300
• Behringer US600

Tag-Team Loop Showcase

NO WILDCARDS WILL BE GIVEN OUT UNLESS AT LEAST 3 OF THE CURRENT TEAMS CANCEL

Crew Showcase

1. Beatbox time – 3 minutes +/- 5%
   1. Minimum 2 minutes 51 seconds
   2. Maximum 3 minutes 9 seconds
2. Amount of people per crew – Minimum 3, maximum 5.
3. Applications open from 00:00 CET on the 1st April until 23:59 CET on the 31st May 2021.
4. Wildcard Judges: 
   1. Kenny Urban
   2. Chris Celiz
   3. MC Zani
   4. Hobbit
   5. Zhang Ze
5. 1 wildcard will be chosen.
6. Winners announced on the 13th June 2021 on the SBX YouTube Channel.

Judging Categories

All official judging criteria will be announced in the coming days.

Wildcard Audio Mastering

We would like to give people the opportunity to have their own wildcard audio professionally mixed and mastered by the one and only Sinjo, the head of sound for Swissbeatbox.

Packages range from just mixing and mastering a pre-recorded audio, to helping you to set up the entire process with the best possible sound, given your setup and environment.

We feel like audio quality is important in your wildcards, as it helps the judges to hear the best possible version of your beatboxing. Regardless of your setup, Sinjo can help you level up the sound quality of your entire recording process, while also mixing the final audio.

If you would like to enquire about the different options and pricing, please contact [email protected] for more information.

Good luck, we can’t wait to hear all your awesome wildcards!

Wildcard Application

Click below to submit your application for the wildcard competition once you have read the rules and regulations (above). Good luck to all participants, and make sure you give your best!

This competition has ended. No more submissions will be accepted. Winners have been announced on our Social Media channels. Watch All Wildcards