Beirut Berlin Express, or BBX, is a competition of Lebanese live electronic musicians and acts, launched in late 2016 by C U NXT SAT in collaboration with the Goethe Institute and Jägermeister. For its first edition, BBX received over 70 submissions. Of these 70 artists, only nine were selected, who then went on to perform over four events acrossseveral months, taking place between The Grand Factory’s Reunion and Beirut Open Stage.
Following a showdown between the final four, Jad Taleb ended up taking home first prize, which earned him a month-long trip to Berlin, where he recorded an EP with the competition’s judge Smash TV at Riverside studios. The EP release was celebrated with a party at Reunion alongside the runner-up, Ribal Rayess, Jade and headliner, Jeremy Olander.
For the 2017/2018 edition, winners Pomme Rouge (two thirds of Lebanese band Gizzmo) won a similar trip to produce an EP under the guidance of German DJ, Tobi Neumann, and Lebanon’s Fadi Mohem.
For this year's edition, aspiring artists can apply by sending two of their productions to bbx@thegrandfactory.com by March 1st, and the winner, as with previous editions, will get to record at Berlin’s Blackhead studio under the mentorship of German master-producer Sasse.
