Bellyman and Car Barz: the freestyle series that turned a car ride into a stage
No stage, no crowd, no lighting rig - just a moving car and whoever's in the passenger seat. Car Barz has outlasted formats with a lot more production behind them.
A format built on having nothing to hide behind
Car Barz strips an MC set down to the one thing that actually matters: can this person hold a freestyle with nothing to lean on. No stage, no lighting, no crowd noise to ride - just a moving car, a driver mixing from the front seat, and whoever's in the passenger seat carrying sixteen bars at a time. Created and hosted by Bellyman, the series has run in seasons since 2017, with episodes still going out in 2025.
That simplicity is the reason it has lasted. A club set can be carried by a room; a car has nowhere for an MC to hide, which is exactly what makes it worth watching for anyone who wants to hear whether someone can actually do the job.
Who's been in the car
The guest list reads like a working map of the UK drum & bass MC scene rather than a curated highlight reel: Maddy V, Kezman, AC, Decoy, Harry Shotta and Skibadee have all featured across different seasons, alongside international editions bringing in MCs from outside the UK entirely. Sessions have been mixed by DJs including DJ Kezman and DJ Innovator.
Bellyman is signed to Dirty Phat Beats as an MC and producer, and Car Barz sits alongside The Bellyman Show as the two projects that carry his name furthest - Car Barz in particular has become one of the more consistently recognised formats in the scene, precisely because it has never needed a bigger budget to keep working.