George 'The Beatboxer' Avakian features on Battle Stations

Battle Stations is a platform that combines several hip-hop elements in one show and where up-and-coming hip-hop dancers (krumpers), beatboxers and masters of ceremonies (MCs) can showcase their talents while competing against each other for the title. The overall champion from each category will walk away with a public address sound system to the value of R10 000 sponsored by George Avakian and Zinto Activation Group (ZAG).

Avakian first became known as a contestant in Idols season seven and then rose to fame as a finalist in South Africa’s Got Talent. Having won multiple competitions since then he is possibly South Africa’s most celebrated beatboxer to date. When Avakian is not recording in studio or wowing audiences on stage, he is performing in various branded roadshows and concerts for ZAG, with which he first started out before becoming famous.

ZAG is a brand activations and entertainment company that employs many young up-and-coming performers. ZAG has made a commitment to develop talented youth by giving them the opportunity to perform and develop themselves into established brands, as they have done with George. His meteoric rise is testament to the work that ZAG does. It was also through this partnership that ZAG discovered how hip-hop culture could be used as a powerful tool to communicate messages to the youth. For example, Dance against Drugs, a drug awareness campaign, was highly successful in reaching its educational objectives by ‘speaking’ to the youth in a language that they could relate to.

Battle Stations consists of 26 half-hour episodes that will be hosted by presenter KB. Other judges include Nadia Nakai, the first completely commercial female rapper to hit the South African music scene and Lunique Sithole, a well-known krumper and choreographer from Pietermaritzburg. Each week, two contestants from all three groups have a minute-long skit to impress the panel of judges, who will then vote for the best contender according to their category. The winner will go through to the following round where they will have to defend their title against the next competitor.

Follow Avakian on Facebook and Twitter: @George-Avakian or visit www.georgeavakian.co.za for more details. For more information about ZAG, visit www.zinto.co.za or call (011) 553 1000.