Aymeric Hainaux

Born in the last century, Aymeric Hainaux belongs to a near-extinct species of beatboxers: raw, no gear, no loop pedal, no Americanized alias, no Insta, no selfies, follower of no one—just a body and a mouth in service of power and beauty. Since 2006, Hainaux has been building a personal, expressionist music through vocal percussion: ultra-precise rhythms and sounds (like the famed Japanese drum machine Roland TR-909), industrial deluges, breathtaking silences, and gestures acutely tuned to the present moment. A stripped-down virtuoso, a fast-water fish carrying his own lyricism, his vitality pays no heed to the thousand and one maggots fiercely skewered on their hooks, waiting to be lit by the latest low-energy LED bulbs from Centrakor—he has never betrayed his instinctive allegiance to strength in the name of beauty.