User talk:Diditun/ Blake Lewis Break Anotha
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| Blake Lewis | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Blake Colin Lewis |
| Also known as | BShorty Jimmie Walker Blue |
| Born | July 21, 1981  Redmond, Washington |
| Origin |  Bothell, Washington |
| Genre(s) | Electronic Reggae Hip Hop Pop/Rock Soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter Beatboxer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals Guitar Keyboard Drums Loop pedals |
| Years active | 1998—present |
| Label(s) | Arista Records/19 Recordings (2007—present) |
| Associated acts | KickShaw (1998—2002) Cupcake |
Blake Colin Lewis (born July 21, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and beatboxer who was the runner-up to Jordin Sparks on the sixth season of American Idol.
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
Lewis was born in Bothell, Washington to Dallas and Dinah Lewis.[1][2] Dinah is a former rocker who still sings and plays guitar.[3] He is an only child and is of Welsh, German and Irish descent.[4] He attended Kenmore Junior High and later Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, Washington.[5][6] In high school, Lewis participated in many high school state competitions. He also took part in numerous musicals, as well as comedy and rap videos with his friends.[1][7][8][9] In many of these videos, for instance, "The Chuck Norris Rap", "The Harry Potter Rap" and "The Snakes On a Plane Rap", he portrayed his alter ego, Jimmie Walker Blue, the character he introduced during the semi-final round of American Idol.Blake Lewis Break Anotha.
Lewis started beatboxing at seventeen. He picked up this talent purely by ear, listening to CDs of beatboxing, after he was inspired by Matthew Selby, a former member of the Los Angeles-based a cappella group M-Pact, of which fellow American Idol semi-finalist Rudy Cárdenas was a member.[4][10][11] Aside from singing and beatboxing, Lewis plays the guitar, keyboard, drums and has written many songs such as "She Loves the Way", "Emotional Waterfalls", "Dumpty Humpty" and "Jealousy".[12][13][14] He describes himself as an improv musician and often uses devices such as loop pedals and the Kaoss Pad to layer beatboxing, instruments, vocals and effects to create a song live on stage.[15]
Being a member of the a cappella group KickShaw for four years after graduating from high school in 1998, Lewis worked with the group on a 10-track album titled Put It In the Microphone but he quit the group in 2002 to became a solo musician going by the stage name BShorty, "doing drum and bass shows, and conscious hip hop shows, singer-songwriter stuff, and electronica and hip hop".[10][8][16][17][18][19] He made connections with various musicians by performing regularly in many venues in Seattle such as Nectar Lounge in Fremont, SeaMonster Lounge, Lo-Fi Performance Gallery, Jet Deck in Everett (now in Mill Creek) and hosted shows like The Digital Lounge shows at ToST.[20][4][21][15] Before Idol, he was working on a solo album with a number of tracks finished.[22]
[edit] American Idol
- See also: American Idol (Season 6)
Lewis auditioned for Idol in Seattle—despite having never seen the show before—with "Crazy" by Seal.[23] Introducing himself as the local beatboxing champion in the audition, Lewis beatboxed along with his teammates, including Chris Sligh, Rudy Cárdenas and Tom Lowe, to "How Deep Is Your Love" by Bee Gees in the Hollywood's Week. The memorable performance received a standing ovation from the audience and Paula, who commented "that brought down the house". In an early episode of the United Kingdom edition of American Idol, Lewis recalled his first solo performance in the Hollywood's Week was "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" by The Temptations. When later he sang it in front of the other finalists, Phil Stacey felt that it was the best performance he has seen from Lewis.[24]
