While violin music is most often linked to classical or even jazz styles, there are other types of music which use the violin as well. Hip-hop music is one example. In hip-hop violin music, performers use the violin to perform popular hip-hop music or write their own pieces. Several well-known performers of hip-hop violin music are listed below.
Paul Dateh began studying classical violin at the age of four. However, on his first day at The University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, Dateh suddenly dropped his major in Violin Performance and enrolled in the Jazz Studies program instead. The move shocked his colleagues as it was hard to understand why anyone would walk away from fourteen years of classical training to begin learning an entirely new musical discipline. Today, as a singer, an award-winning songwriter, and an instrumentalist, his work can be heard on releases by various artists within both mainstream and underground hip hop circles, and he can currently be seen performing throughout the United States with his band “The Live Movement”.
Nuttin But Stringz
Among the most recognized performers of hip-hop violin music are Damien and Tourie Escobar. The Escobar brothers make up the group know as "Nuttin But Stringz" (also known as "NBS"). To hear examples of hip-hop violin music, check out the video example on their site.
Armed with an innate passion for their craft, Kev Marcus and Wil-B have been friends since middle school. Wil-B “Simply Sick” age 23, attended Dillard High School of Performing Arts, and joined the school band where he played the saxophone. At the age of 13 he was mistakenly put in the strings section of the band. But as luck would have it he mastered and grew to love it. The second master of this unique duo, Kev Marcus, age 23, also attended Dillard High School of Performing Arts. He was encouraged by his mother and teachers at the age of nine to began playing the violin. From there he grew so intrigued by it that he couldn’t let it go. He also began to participate with the local pop orchestras, the Miami Symphony and was also a semi-finalist in the Sphinx National Competition for Blacks and Latino’s in 2000.
Recently Miri Ben-Ari has joined the world of hip-hop violin music performing music by Janet Jackson, Twista and Kanye West. Ben-Ari has released several CDs. For more information, visit Miri Ben-Ari's homepage.
Dr. Daniel Bernard Roumain
According to the New York Times (8/25/04), Roumain is "the dreadlocked hip-hop-embracing assistant composer in residence at the Orchestra of St. Luke's." Roumain has inspired young musicians through performing hip-hop violin music.