Who is The Hip Hop Violinist?
The girl Who Paved The Way For Future Generation
Every once in a while, there is a musician that impacts the music world in a way so extraordinary leaving the entire music industry and world touched for generations to come. The Hip Hop violinist is that story, but how was the first Hip Hop violinist created?
Who is the Hip Hop Violinist
Miri Ben-Ari was born in Tel Aviv Israel to an architect (father) and a teacher (mother). She grew up listening almost only to classical music and at the age of five, she started taking violin lessons. Miri Ben-Ari was quite gifted on the violin, she won several classical competitions as a child and caught the attention of legendary violinist Isaac Stern during a master class, who recommended his foundation to give her a descent violin since her parents could not afford to buy one.
The beginning: Jazz with violin
While playing classical music, Miri Ben-Ari discovered and fell in love with Jazz music in her late teens, particularly through the music of Charlie Parker. She decided to dedicate her time to learning how to improvise “I always knew that if I learned how to improvise, I could fly”. There were only a few recordings of Jazz with violin at the time, Miri Ben-Ari’s uncle gave her a Stephane Grappelli record which helped her realize she was not alone.
Moving to America - the dream
After completing her mandatory military service, Miri Ben-Ari decided to follow her music dream: moving to the US to study Jazz music. Her parents, especially her dad, did not approve of this decision, “Jazz violin” was not considered a profession at that time but Miri Ben-Ari refused to listen. She moved to NYC all the way from Israel, she did not have a place to live, money, and hardly spoke English, but she knew the universal language of music.
Music in NYC
Miri Ben-Ari often says “you could not find a club in NYC without seeing me on stage”. Miri joined the Jazz department at the New School but felt that the best way to advance is to jam with other musicians in front of a live audience. As a young student, she had to work in order to pay her rent and missed some of her school classes. Her music teachers failed her in music for not attending all classes and Miri Ben-Ari lost her Jazz school music scholarship. Her big dream of studying Jazz was shattered into a thousand pieces. Miri Ben-Ari, who was extremely disappointed with the music education system, often says that somehow she had the “last laugh” winning a Grammy with Kanye West for the “The College Dropout” album.
Betty Carter and Jazz Ahead
Just as life seemed so challenging, Jazz Diva Betty Carter walked into a club and saw Miri Ben-Ari jamming on stage. Ms. Carter invited the young female violinist to join her program “Jazz Ahead” for gifted young Jazz musicians. This was Miri Ben-Ari’s first break in Jazz music, a New York Times reporter who came to Jazz Ahead final concert at the Kennedy Center mentioned Miri Ben-Ari’s talent in his music review. Miri Ben-Ari continued her Jazz career and eventually was signed to the Blue Note’s Half Note Records and released three Jazz albums. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is featured on Miri’s last album “Song of the Promised Land.”
Inventing The Hip Hop Violinist
Miri Ben-Ari created the Hip Hop on violin style, at first, without even realizing it, and while playing a steady Jazz gig uptown NY. She mixed her defined violin style and sound with Hip Hop beats she wrote for the drummer in her band. One night a record industry person walked in, saw the young violinist talent, and arranged a meeting with the rapper Wyclef Jean from the Fugees, at the Hit Factory studio in NY. During this meeting, Miri Ben-Ari caught the attention of Haitian Jack, Wyclef Jean's right hand at the time. in 2001 Wyclef Jean put together the first Hip Hop concert at Carnegie Hall, a historic night that featured Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Beyonce, and also the first Hip Hop Violinist. Wyclef Jean asked Miri Ben-Ari to help him with the music production and Miri Ben-Ari asked in return if she could be featured. They settled for one minute and 20 seconds featured performance titled “The Hip Hop Violinist,” a live mix of violin and Hip Hop beats performed by Miri Ben-Ari and Wyclef Jean’s turntablist. This was the first Hip Hop violin performance in history, at…Carnegie Hall!
The Apollo Theatre Historic Performance
This was Miri Ben-Ari’s first break as the Hip Hop violinist, a televised show at the Apollo Theatre in New York City. She performed live with a DJ a virtuosic Hip Hop medley of Hip Hop popular songs and classics, flipping beats between her violin and the turntablist. The audience, at the Apollo Theatre and at home, who has never seen this fusion of classical violin with Hip Hop and Reggae music, was excited to watch the first televised show of this new style, the Hip Hop violinist, introducing a new music genre to the world.
106 and Park BET ft The Hip Hop Violinist
The popular TV show, 106 & Park invited Miri Ben-Ari to perform twice during one month, these unforgettable televised performances drew the attention of the music industry. Miri Ben-Ari received phone calls from record labels, artists, agents, and started looking for a representation.
Jay Z ft the Hip Hop Violinist
Hip Hop legend Jay Z invited Miri Ben-Ari to perform with him at Memphis Tennessee in the first Hip Hop concert broadcast live with Showtime. Jay Z featured Miri Ben-Ari as the Hip Hop violinist and she joined him on stage to perform the song “Big Pimpin’” from his album “Vol 3…Life and Times of S. Carter.” This show led to another invite by Jay-Z, this time a feature at Summer Jam NY, an iconic performance where Jay-Z brought to the stage the king of pop, Michael Jackson. Jay Z introduced Miri Ben-Ari again as the Hip Hop Violinist during this Summer Jam concert in NY.
Kanye West Hip Hop Violinist
The Hip Hop violinist also drew the attention of rapper Kanye West who invited Miri Ben-Ari to record on the College Drop Out album and many other records. This music collaboration resulted in many live performances and tours with Kanye West, Miri Ben-Ari has become a part of his sound. The work with Kanye West has contributed to Miri Ben-Ari’s production experience, she was now writing, producing, programming, and engineering her own sessions. Miri Ben-Ari won a Grammy with Kanye West for the song Jesus Walks.
Universal Album - The Hip Hop Violinist
Miri Ben-Ari is one of the very few instrumentalists (perhaps the only one) to sign a Hip Hop record deal with a major label. Miri Ben-Ari’s album, The Hip Hop Violinist, is featuring many A-list collaborations with artists such as Lil Wayne, Akon, John Legend, Kanye West, Anthony Hamilton, Pitbull, Fabolous, and Zion & Lennox.
Music Collaborations with Violin
Miri Ben-Ari has become a household name who helped sell millions of records by collaborating with other Grammy Awards Winning artists. She was featured by Twista and Kanye West in the song “Overnight Celebrity”, the first Hip Hop song and music video to feature a violinist. Other collaborations include Alicia Keys “Fallin” and “Mr. Man”, Wyclef jean “The Masquerade”, John Legend “Live it Up”, Brandy “Talk About Our Love”, Maroon 5 “This Love” remix, and Janet Jackson “I want you” to name a few.
Miri Ben-Ari, The original creator of the Hip Hop Violinist has paved a lane and created a music genre, fusing classical violin with Hip Hop and Reggae music. She opened a door not only for violinists but to all musicians playing musical instruments. She is the first violinist and instrumentalist to be recognized and credited as a featured artist in Hip Hop music and later on in other musical genres to include EDM, Latin, and Afrobeats.
