Who knew that a TV cartoon would help lead to a career in beatboxing?

“I was obsessed with cartoons when I was a kid,” says beatbox champion Steven HeaveN Cantor. I remember watching ‘Doug” and the opening theme song had a very beatbox feel to it. That was an early inspiration.”

Alternative rock from “Matchbox 20” and “Third Eye Blind” were other early influences as Cantor hung out with his older brother who listened to those bands.

Later, playing alto sax in school bands he learned to read music, which he says is definitely an asset.

“Beatboxing is an art form that encompasses more than just the sounds of drums. You have melodies and you can mimic anything in beatbox. After all, what is music but not a composition of sounds?”

He didn’t try to beatbox, however, until his freshman year in high school when listening to pioneers like Dougie Fresh, The Fat Boys and Biz Markie.

“For the longest time I walked around trying to do it and all I heard was ‘shut up.’ I even wrote a song about how my mother would come into my room late at night and tell me to be quiet. Finally, one day a friend said, ‘Hey, can you do that again?’ That’s when realized I was good at it. People stopped telling me I was annoying them.”

Cantor believes beatboxing is an art form not determined by culture. “It compliments the person to bring out their own culture no matter where they live and no matter what kind of music they’re used to.”

Cantor’s 2011 nationwide tour in India with hip-hop dancers HaviKoro solidified his belief.

“When we went to the slums they brushed the street with brooms to clear an area for us to perform. We had no instruments, but kids crowded around and started dancing. It was all about being creative with who you are rather than what you have.”

Cantor’s creativity spills over into film, which he has always loved. With a B.A. in Film and a minor in Performance Theater from Georgia State University he’s combined his two loves to grow his artistry.

“I knew the direction I wanted to take. I knew the image I wanted. I feel more of a complete artist when I can create visuals of what I’m doing. I have more control.”

This fall Cantor performed live with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra in what he describes as a rare and magical experience of “two worlds colliding.”

“It was bringing the classical and hip hop worlds together and it brought a whole new excitement to my future. I want to push the art in ways I haven’t in the past. I will do it again, one way or the other.”

Ironically, cartoons will come full circle in Cantor’s life when he makes his film debut this Christmas in “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.”

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Rosemary Taylor, APR, is a writer and digital content strategist at PR Focus.