About This Show
mic/xing, written and performed by Adam Mattais, is presented as part of Ma-Yi’s Performing Ethnicity Festival.
mic/xing showcases the fearless experiments and rhythmic soundscapes of virtuoso beatboxer and vocal improviser Adam Matta, incorporating live and pre-recorded samples of Egyptian and Jewish traditional music. Adam Matta fuses an old-school hip-hop sensibility with multi-disciplinary musicianship and non-traditional performance mediums.
Adam Matta is a beatboxer and vocal performance artist influenced by artists such as Living Colour, Rahzel, Bobby McFerrin and Meredith Monk. With an arsenal of vocal instrumentals including brass, drum beats, vocal scratches/turntablism, and mechanical sound effects, Matta references blues, rock, rap, heavy metal, drum-n-bass, freestyle jazz, Middle Eastern and vaudeville, sometimes all in the same composition.