Dominic "Shodekeh" Talifero – Past Concerts

Dominic "Shodekeh" Talifero is a Baltimore-based beatboxer, vocal percussionist, and breath artist whose work pushes the boundaries of the human voice. He currently serves as faculty, musical accompanist and composer for Towson University's Department of Dance and is the founding director of Embody, A Music Series of the Vocal Arts, which strives for artistic and cultural unity through the many vocal traditions in the world from opera and throat singing to beatboxing.

Beatboxing is a form of vocal percussion in hip hop culture. Imitating and often replacing a drum set, drum machine or drum loop through a series of vocal effects or percussive sounds produced primarily by the larynx, nasal and oral cavities, beatboxing exemplifies the hip hop philosophy of creating meaningful artistic expressions with the most limited resources; it replaces the source of the timeless breakbeat—with the human voice. Beatboxing has become a ubiquitous feature of the American city experience and soundscape.

In recent years, Talifero has moved from beatboxing's hip hop roots to explore innovative collaborations with a wide range of traditional artists, including Tuvan throat singing, Lithuanian folk music, experimental, funk, jazz, rock, classical, ballet, and various forms and techniques of modern dance. He is constantly striving to channel rhythmically the vast spectrum of sounds around him, not just through music but also through science, culture, history, mathematics, and ethnomusicology.