Kenny Muhammad
Kenny Muhammad (born December 3, 1968), also known as The Human Orchestra, Kenny X or Dr Beatbender, is a beatboxer from Queens, New York.
Early Life
Kenny Muhammad grew up in Far Rockaway, a peninsula south of John F. Kennedy International Airport, and lived in an apartment in one of The Edgemere Houses, which were later renamed into The Beach Channel Houses.
In 1973 to 1978 he attended P.S. 105 Bay School on 420 Beach Channel Drive 51st Street.
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As a teenager he joined (when?) the local baseball club (name?), but gave it up in favor of his musical career.
From 1978 to 1981 he went to J.H.S. 180 on 320 Beach 104th Street, which was later changed into The Scholars' Academy.
From 1981 to 1984 (9th to 11th grade) he commuted to High School of Art and Design on 245 East 56th Street in Manhattan, but for his last year (12th grade) he attended Beach Channel High School on 100-00 Beach Channel Drive, where he graduated in 1985.
A car accident that punctured his left lung left no permanent damage.
Musical Career
Kenny Muhammad started beatboxing in 1984 after hearing the song "Brrr Stick'em" by the The Fat Boys. Their debut album came out on May 29, when he in his 11th grade at High School of Art and Design in Manhattan. First he just immitated Buff's beatbox style, but soon he started developing his own beatbox technique and routines.
At that time he also became friends with Ozzie, which had a strong effect on both their styles. Before he met Ozzie at a contest at Beach Channel High School, he had already heard about him as they were living in the same neighbourhood. Eventhough they only had a short conversation at the venue, he found out his address and showed up at Ozzie's doorstep on the next day. He was invited in and they exchanged their knowledge and their skills with each other.
They also performed together in shows and literally underground battles and in subway stations and on the street.
They often went to these battles right after high school to compete with other beatboxers from the Bronx and Harlem. Popular stations were 59th Street Lexington and Broadway-Nassau (renamed Fulton Street in 2011). According to Kenny Muhammad the police was not capable to control or prevent these events from happening as there were too many participants and these crowds could also move to other subway stations shortly.
In 1992 he performed as Kenny X at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and won the Amature Night contest on February 8.
https://www.historicfilms.com/tapes/45605
(min. 31:39)
Kenny Muhammad appeared on NBC's The Tonight Show hosted by Jay Leno on ???
https://youtu.be/55C0RirU3yA?t=37
When Kenny Muhammad was at The Manhattan Center for an event in 1998, Carol Pobanz introduced him to her friend and composer David Eaton, who was also the conductor of the New York Symphony. He came to his office in the New Yorker Hotel, which is located in the same building on 311 West 34th Street, and gave him a demonstration of his beatboxing skills. Eaton was so impressed that they immediately decided to work together.
Within a few days Eaton composed a piece for strings, which he called "Kenny's Joy" in reference to Kenny Muhammad's first name. When Kenny Muhammad was listening to the MIDI-file on their second meeting, he immediately started beatboxing along to it. Later his beats and the MIDI-file were recorded as an audio file.
in the same year "Kenny's Joy" had its premier at The Manhattan Center.
https://youtu.be/55C0RirU3yA?t=89
A short clip of a rehearsal of the piece with Kenny Muhammad and Eaton could be seen in an episode of the TV serious Stan Lee's Superhuman in 2010.
On June 12, 2015 Kenny Muhammad also performed the piece with Boris Strulev and a Balalaika Orchestra conducted by Denis Zabavsky at the open air "Hoff Music Fest" in Moscow.
He also gave two short performances at the TV series 30 Seconds to Fame hosted by Craig Jackson, which was aired by the Fox Network in 2003 ??? (from July 17, 2002 to June 26, 2003).
He later stated that the show was obviously rigged as the dancing couple won despite the fact that male dancer had dropped his partner during the performance.
In 2010 Kenny Muhammad was featured in on Stan Lee's Superhuman - Super Sound Episode in the episode "Hammer Head" (Season 1, episode 3), which was aired on the History Channel on August 19, 2010.
Even though Kenny Muhammad has never released an official album he had guest appearances. On the album Traffic Jams (1997) by DJ Skribble he can be heard on the track "The Battle", in which two DJs and two beatboxers are having a (staged) competition. Here Kenny Muhammad and Rahzel take the chance to show their groundbreaking skills.
https://youtu.be/of5jZA0c9Us?t=1654
This track is a shortened version of the last (hidden) track Man vs. Machine, which was released two years later on Rahzel's Album "Make The Music 2000" (1999) inspiring a whole new generation of beatboxers around the world.
While Rahzel's album contains all the 'four elements' (earth, wind, fire, water), Traffic Jams has only 'two elements' (fire and water).
His so-called "water-technique" covers the beat of James Brown's popular track "Funky drummer". Whereas his so-called "wind-technique" makes use of Kraftwerk's beat of "Nummern" (engl. "Numbers").
Among serious beatboxers both techniques are considered beatbox classics. The French beatboxer Polpo even made uncredited use of Kenny Muhammad's "wind-technique in a video commercial for Vodafone.
https://youtu.be/eJ9ny60DeTA?si=xvRGwmzxWFgiBLXb
Beatboxing
Kenny Muhammad was the most influencial beatboxer popularizing the Ozzie Snare.
Beatbox Style
Ozzie snare, Kenny Shakers, Kenny whirl(wind), vortex
Later Life
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As an adult Kenny Muhammad joined the Nation of Islam and attended the Muhammad Mosque No. 7 in Harlem on 106-08 West 127th Street.
In 2017 he moved to Mexico.
Individual credits