Joseph Poulpo

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Joseph, nicknamed Poulpo (in English) or Poolpo (in French), born 1986, is a French beatboxer. In 2007, he was a participant in Nouvelle Star (the French version of Pop Idol, shown by M6). As one of the first beatboxer to show up on a major TV show in the country, it was quite a sensation, and the video of his routine on that show became heavily viewed on Youtube and uploaded to many video-sharing websites.

[edit] Controversy over originality

Joseph is infamous among some groups of beatboxers for another reason: using other beatboxers' routines, and claiming them as his own, or at least not crediting the originators^[1]. Probably the most widely-known example is his use of the Wind Technique^[2]^[3] by world-famous USA beatboxer Kenny Muhammad "the Human Orchestra". In the performance on Nouvelle Star, Joseph performed a routine beginning with the Wind Technique (the segment beginning with the words "Orsh Larsh Speesh Cedo"). Joseph did not give explicit credit to Muhammad, unlike other beatboxers who had used the Wind Technique in performance, for example the previous Beatbox Champion of Belgium and Vice World Champion Roxorloops. This use of others' material sparked major dislike towards him from some beatboxers familiar with the Wind Technique as Muhammad's creation. In a recent commercial Joseph used the Wind Technique yet again, and this time in a paid commercial, triggering concern that he was now using Muhammad's routine to earn money.

Joseph has claimed to be unaware of other beatboxers like Kenny Muhammad or Rahzel. He has been recorded to put down fellow French beatboxers such as Eklips and Micspawn, two original beatbox artists. The first to sign up for the French Beatbox Championship in 2007, he texted challenges to other participants and failed to show up himself (said he had forgotten). (Micspawn went on to win the championship.)

Although Joseph Poolpo has a high public profile, many of the things he does in his performance on Nouvelle Star can be traced to beatbox covers that have previously been performed by others (eg. Drop it Like it's Hot, Yeah), leading some to criticise him for a lack of creativity.