Codfish’s Rise to Internet Fame

Happy Easter everyone. It’s really fitting how I’m making a post about the OG Bahnie himself, Codfish. The winner of GBBB 2018, 2017 Australian Champ, Sydney Royale Champ and some other accolades to his name. But he didn’t just come out of nowhere. How did this man with 450,000 subscribers on YouTube get started? This is Codfish’s Rise to Internet Fame.

A HUMBLE MAN WITH HUMBLE BEGINNINGS:

Codfish started his YouTube channel under the name BunnyF1uff. He would often refer to his subscribers as “Bahnies” as there was a term thrown around the beatboxing community known as “Mahnie” which is just money with a bit of flare to it to make it unique to beatboxers.

We all start out as terrible beatboxers but over time, we develop and become better and eventually, some of us become champions. This is no exception for Codfish. He replied to every ounce of love on the video and was humble about it. The bass is nowhere near where it is now but this was just 4 years ago. He’s improved insanely. That was just 5 months of beatboxing but he wasn’t scared to share with others. He already had an idea to continue uploading his content and he is one of the most well-known beatboxers now and it all started with this video.

While Codfish wasn’t known back then, when he started to get well-known, people started to create more beatboxing content in video games with voice chat and Codfish was part of the reason for this. This video is what pushed him and others to start beatboxing outside of their comfort zone. There was a lot of potential for it to grow and grow it did.

Beatboxing parties are more of a thing now where you just take turns freestyling and showcasing. This was Codfish’s first party and I believe that it still played a major contribution to the growth of the beatboxing content on YouTube. People weren’t producing this sort of content until Codfish did it first. No one wants to be the first but be the first he did.

A SUDDEN BURST OF GROWTH:

Ep. 25 of the beatboxing in COD Lobbies is significant as it’s the earliest video on Codfish’s channel to hit 1 million views. He was uploading pretty consistently and there’s no real apparent reason why it spiked here but this was definitely one of the first videos to really boost Codfish’s popularity.

MODERN DAY CODFISH:

Those two videos are two of Codfish’s most viewed videos on his channel. What they show is a representation of Codfish’s currently fully fleshed out style. This was 2 years ago and he’s still sticking to the bass-heavy style that we all know him for in his routines. He rarely freestyles when he beatboxes and always knows what routines to perform. He’s always prepared when he gets on that stage and it really shows in those two videos.

THE FIRST TASTE OF BATTLING:

Everyone was absolutely hyped about Australian champs because of Codfish’s debut (and his face reveal). We had never seen him battle on stage before but we knew that his style would be very good when it came to battle as if he needed to improvise, he could do so really easily. He would go on to battle and lose in the semifinals to eventual winner CLR.

His GBBB 2017 wildcard would be just as impressive as he uses the same ferocity in this wildcard as his previous. This video was also uploaded directly after the previous one so there’s not much development in his style but it’s still impressive for only being his second wildcard ever.

This video is the most video on his channel and for good reason. People missed the old COD beatboxing videos so when people heard that Codfish expanded into CSGO, people went crazy all over this video because there was a YouTuber that played CSGO and beatboxed who was as nice as Codfish. He showcases a ton of routines in this video and really gives people a good listen to the amount of content that he has.

When you get one of the coolest beatboxers with a bunch of legends, champions of their respective countries and the tag team of Mad Twinz, you get this. This video is absolutely insane with all the beatboxers in that party. This was another emergence of parties becoming popular again. If you can get the right people, you can create something truly spectacular.

A NEW CHAMPION IS CROWNED:

So far, Codfish has won the Sydney Royale 7TS, 2017 Australian Champs and GBBB 2018. The king has been crowned and he really deserved it. The stage presence, bass, musicality and technicality all add up. The originality is there with his routines and unique style.

THE CODFISH EXPANSION PACK:

He has since moved on to Rust which hasn’t gotten as much attention for the simple fact that it’s not as popular of a game, and WW2 which has amassed over 2 million views. He has said that he will get back to making videos since GBBB is over. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the future. Maybe World Champs? Who knows? Only time will show the true potential of this beatboxing powerhouse.

This post took a little while to make and is dedicated to Codfish for inspiring many beatboxers that I know of today. Links to his social media will be below. Other than that, thanks for reading.

MAXIMUM RESPECT

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/BunnyF1uff/featured

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CodfishBeatbox/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CodfishBeatbox

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codfishbeatbox/

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/codfishbeatbox

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/codfishbeatbox

Does Stage Presence Matter?

Stage presence. One of the most important things when it comes to battling. It’s how you portray yourself to your opponent and to the crowd. It gives you as the battler, a lot of confidence to work with but does it really matter? It definitely shows in a battle but does it really help you win? Does showing a lot of expression in your battle with movement really swing the vote in your favour?

Image result for stage presence

Source: http://thegainstage.com/2015/06/08/stage-presence-and-why-its-important/

I do have to admit first, I don’t have much experience battling on stage so instead, I consulted a few people that I know a thing or two about battling on stage. In advance, I would like to thank the following people for their input and help in making this blog post.

2016 Canadian Champ and YouTuber, HeAt
2018 GBBB Champ, 2017 Australian Champ and YouTuber, Codfish
2017 Beatbox Legends Champ and YouTuber, TylaDubya

SETTING A DEFINITION:

First off, it’s important that we start with understanding what stage presence exactly is. After talking to all of the aforementioned guys and seeing their different views on what stage presence is, we can finally come to a conclusion and a definition.

Stage presence is a environment/atmosphere that you set for your audience and the battle. It displays a level of confidence and is shown through movement, crowd control and the connection made between your opponent, the audience and yourself which allows you to gain the attention of the audience/viewer.

WHAT STAGE PRESENCE DOES FOR US:

I would first like to quote something that Codfish said which is;

I would argue that stage presence is the most important factor in getting the judges votes. Good stage presence will grant you undivided attention and respect from the crowd.

It’s the main attention grabber. It sets you up for the rest of the battle and gives you that extra edge. Having a strong stage presence will allow you to;

Gain crowd control.
Gain the respect of the viewer.
Give you a sense of adrenaline to keep battling.

Codfish, in particular, said that he thrives off of the energy of the crowd. When you battle, you need to keep a connection between the crowd, the opponent and yourself because it builds up that tension and sways the momentum your way. Judges love to see that.

HeAt brought up the point of stage presence making your battle more immersive.

I would say. Being able to manipulate the stage in a way that makes your performance more immersive.

You can really set the tone of the battle through stage presence. There’s a reason where if you win the coin toss, you get to choose if you go first or second rather than only go first. If you choose to go first, you set the tone for your opponent and if you choose to go second, you can counter their tone with your own and make the performance even better. If you can truly feel something out of someone’s performance, then they have a strong stage presence and will most likely take the win.

PUTTING IT INTO PERSPECTIVE:

Let’s take a look at a battle where one beatboxer shows a lot of stage presence. This is Alem vs NaPoM at the 4th Beatboxing World Championships. Take a listen to Alem’s rounds in particular and pay attention to where he faces during his rounds.

He ends up facing the crowd a lot and also faces NaPoM a few times. He’s maintaining that connection as stated earlier between the crowd, the opponent (NaPoM) and himself. This is also the main reason Alem won this battle in my opinion. He was able to keep that connection between all three parts compared to NaPoM who also maintained that connection but it wasn’t as strong as to what Alem did.

So that was the little “case study” but now it’s time to actually answer the question. Does stage presence really matter?

Yes. Stage presence is a HUGE factor – it is also one of the categories in judging. If you get the audience excited with you, that can easily sway judges.

TylaDubya mentioned this to me. I didn’t really think of stage presence much as being any but a major category in judging. It’s not just a major category, it’s also a factor at play that affects the judges. Imagine the following situation; you’re judging a battle and your fellow judges are deadlocked 2-2 with you holding the final vote with no overtimes left to use. The discussion of stage presence gets brought up and your fellow judges start talking about it. Can stage presence be that one thing to swing the vote?

WHY WE GO FAR WITH STAGE PRESENCE:

There is a VERY big reason why beatboxers sometimes go far with their stage presence, judges don’t score battles. They only score eliminations and they go with their gut for battles so if the judges feel that you did a better job in a battle, they will vote for you or swing the vote over. It’s something you have to control it to the point where you show that it’s a battle but not too much to the point where you’re being unsportsmanlike and rude.

Stage presence is a huge thing that beatboxers focus on. It’s not something that you can just learn overnight. It takes a lot of time to understand and develop as the only way you can do so is to battle on stage.

In short, stage presence does matter than what is first seen. It’s not beatboxers being rude, it’s them being competitive because, at the end of the day, we’re all a family. The Beatbox Family.

I would like to send a HUGE thanks to the three gentlemen who took the time to help me write this post. The questions I asked were not easy to answer and I thank you all for that. Links to their social media will be below. Other than that, thanks for reading

MAXIMUM RESPECT

A Little Look at the Wildcards for GBBB 2018

If you thought last year’s wildcards were insane, this year’s has a whole new batch of insane. With 11 wildcards this year, there are sure to be upsets all throughout GBBB 2018. The wildcard winners for this year are:

Show-Go
Codfish
Bigman
D-Low
Two.H
H-Has
Rythmind
Chris Celiz
Helium
Piratheeban
Ish

There are a lot of big names on this list, some are newcomers for their on the international scene and others are veterans making another appearance to hopefully take the title. Let’s run them down.

SHOW-GO:

This wildcard is definitely the best out of them all, hands down. His biggest strength is how well he uses double voice so it sounds musical. It’s one of the harder sounds to make sound really good musically but Show-go makes it work and it’s beautiful.

CODFISH:

Not enough people give shoutouts in their wildcards and Codfish found a wonderful to do it. Coming up with a new routine, Old Mate Firebender, combining it with his one of his best routines, Sail With Me, this is just one of the best ones I’ve heard. The shoutout is incorporated into the routine itself which is really smart. It’s really structured like a song where he has three verses and a beat that changes over the course of the song. This is definitely my favourite wildcard out of the bunch.

BIGMAN:

This guy is probably the most well-known beatboxer on this list because of his appearance on Ellen. Props to him for that. Coming up with a new routine, “I don’t love you,” I’m starting to sense a pattern here. Falling Love, Get Tired Of My Love, I Don’t Love You. I feel like an album is coming out based on the theme of love. Back to the point, THIS MAN IS A MUSICAL GENIUS. One of the reasons he’s so well-known is because musicality has taken over and if you don’t have musicality in your routines, you don’t make it in. He’s so musical to the point that it becomes technicality when you try to cover his routines. He also has a great singing voice to go along with it. He doesn’t appear to have that killer battle instinct which might hurt him but I would love to see him go all the way.

D-LOW:

D-low’s routines are a work of art. He always brings something new to the table. This really musical wildcard is an example of that. This is unlike anything we’ve seen D-low do before. He’s starting to go more away from liprolls and technicality but makes up for it in other areas and his uniqueness. There’s that sort of perfect style that one looks for over time and he’s slowly reaching it and perfecting it. He has that killer instinct to want to win and I want to see that from him.

TWO.H:

Two.H. GBBB finalist. Whenever Two.H comes out with a new routine or wildcard, he always brings something new to the table. His signature demon bass is something that I’d love to see more of. It’s so unique to him, it defines him and a lot of his routines and has potential to make the crowd go crazy. I want to see the Two.H from 3 years ago come back and go all the way.

H-HAS:

This guy, in my opinion, is like Hiss 2.0. He has that mix of technicality and musicality that works so well. He uses less technicality than Hiss but the drop in this wildcard with the bird sound tells me that he has a lot of potential left. This sort of style works so well because it’s enjoyable to listen to even if it’s put together like a freestyle. I think he’s going to be a sleeper in this competition.

RYTHMIND:

From the get-go of this wildcard, it has a really Reeps One sort of vibe with the different kinds of percussion he uses. This is soon seen to be changed as a cover of GDFR can be heard. It’s put in a really cool way though. There’s one massive flaw with this wildcard and that’s the lack of structure. The drop isn’t very noticeable because he doesn’t really build it. I do understand that Rythmind is more of a looper and a member of Berywam, one of the top beatboxing groups in the world, but this is something he really needs to develop in order to do well in the solos.

CHRIS CELIZ:

Out of all the wildcards submitted, this is probably the one that has received the most hate and I can see why. Even Chris himself said that he was surprised that he even got in. I think the hate really comes from the fact that the other wildcards were more technical and upbeat than this one. Whatever the reason is, Chris got in and he’s thankful for it. In terms of pure musicality, this one takes it as it’s not only a cover but also stays true to the song. By this, I mean that the cover still sounds like the song and not like a remix which can be heard from other beatboxers. Not much technicality can be heard and I don’t expect him to go far given his previous success at GBBB but I do expect his elimination round to be pretty entertaining.

HELIUM:

Helium has gone further and further away from his roots that made him famous, the zipper. He’s still known for using the zipper in ways that no one would expect but he’s starting to use them less and less and this is actually a good thing. This allows Helium to focus on other areas. His routines are more musical and technical. I was really surprised to hear him use double voice but it seems like he keeps up with the trends. I don’t really find him using a lot of prepared routines because he seems to be more of a freestyler which works fine for his style but if he brings a few routines with him, he could go really far.

PIRATHEEBAN:

One of the cleaner beatboxers in the competition, Piratheeban covers everything this routine. I would compare him this routine to Ball-Zee because of how clean and technical he is. He’s also very musical with this routine. I don’t find much wrong with this routine aside from a slight problem in the structure where he doesn’t build the drop *enough* but it’s noticeable and he’s a champion so I think he can get it done.

ISH:

Last time I heard from Ish was his wildcard for GNB earlier this year. He has improved a lot since then and it shows. He has more of that killer mentality where he wants to do well and try hard. I remember he lacked a lot of that confidence from last time and I love seeing that he’s finally got that confidence. He’s also built up the techniques and developed his style a lot more. Another good sleeper pick for GBBB and I’m really glad he got chosen as the people’s pick.

I do want to give a mention to other beatboxers that I thought could have made the list but didn’t. They include the following:

B-Art
Wing
Zekka
Elisii
FootboxG
Cosmin
MR MIC
Kevin O’Neal
MIXFX
Neolizer

I probably missed someone where there were so many stacked wildcards this year that I could understand the judges having difficulty choosing. Who do you think can make it all the way? Who do you think got left out? Leave your responses in the comments.

Other than that, thanks for reading.

A HUMBLE MAN WITH HUMBLE BEGINNINGS:

A SUDDEN BURST OF GROWTH:

MODERN DAY CODFISH:

THE FIRST TASTE OF BATTLING:

A NEW CHAMPION IS CROWNED:

THE CODFISH EXPANSION PACK:

MAXIMUM RESPECT

SETTING A DEFINITION:

WHAT STAGE PRESENCE DOES FOR US:

PUTTING IT INTO PERSPECTIVE:

WHY WE GO FAR WITH STAGE PRESENCE:

MAXIMUM RESPECT

HeAt:

Codfish:

TylaDubya: