BLACK VIOLIN
‘We don’t let people define who or what we are.’
For Hip-Hop instrumental group Black Violin, the violin and viola are not just instruments.
“The Violin is our tool to be able to inspire, uplift and entertain,” said Wil B., one half of the dynamic duo known as Black Violin.
Entertain, uplift and inspire is what the group plans to do on its March 12th visit to the Byham Theater during a welcomed stop on its “Experience” tour. The show is at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.trustarts.org.
“The ‘Experience’ tour is us taking certain songs and re-introducing those songs in a different way. The show is very high energy and entertaining. We introduce songs that we have never performed before and we will still play some hits that people are used to hearing,” Wil B. said.
Joining Black Violin on stage are Nat Stokes on drums, DJ SPS on turntables and Liston Gregory on keys.
THE MEMBERS OF BLACK VIOLIN
Black Violin burst onto the musical landscape in 2004 performing with Alicia Keys at the 2004 Billboard Music Awards. They went on to win “Showtime at the Apollo” in 2005 and for almost two decades have been blurring the lines between classical music and modern Hip-Hop beats and vocals.
Front men Kev Marcus and Wil Baptiste first met in orchestra class at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., becoming classically trained on the violin and viola through their high school and college years. Upon graduating, the pair reconnected to produce beats for Florida rappers and began building a strong following in local clubs. The duo’s 2019 effort, “Take the Stairs,” earned a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. The group plays approximately 200 shows a year, many of which are for young, low-income students in urban communities. The band received its second Grammy Award nomination as Best Americana Performance for the song, “The Message,” in collaboration with the Blind Boys of Alabama.
“We did a few big venues with the Blind Boys of Alabama, and they wanted to collaborate with us. They sent us a song and we sent them music and they loved it and it ended up earning us our second Grammy nomination. The Blind Boys of Alabama are still out there doing their thing for 60-plus years. That’s a long time to be touring. That’s inspiring alone. They are still rocking. They are still doing it,” Wil B. said.
The group is glad to be back on the road again interacting with audiences. “Our mission as people is to take something, perfect it and give it away,” said Wil B., who enjoys playing basketball when he isn’t recording or touring.
Black Violin’s touring screeched to a halt thanks to COVID-19.
“During the pandemic, we sat down and we didn’t tour much. We were home for two and a half years and I got the chance to bond with my kids and family,” recalled Wil B., who has three children, ages 7, 5 and 4. “In 2020 we did a Christmas album, ‘Give Thanks.’ We had been wanting to do a Christmas album for a long time and that seemed like the perfect time. In 2021 we went out and we did nine or 10 shows, there were still lockdowns, people still had to wear masks. In 2022 we did virtual events—we used Kev’s garage—and we did corporate events and masterclasses with kids.”
In 2019, Kev Marcus and Wil B. launched the Black Violin Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering youth by providing access to quality music programs in their community. The group believes that music and access to music shouldn’t be determined by race, gender, or socio-economic status. Black Violin Foundation’s inaugural program, the Musical Innovation Grant for Continuing Education, provides scholarships to young music students to attend a program of their liking that fosters musical creativity and innovation.
“The foundation is an extension of our outreach stuff and what we do on the road when we talk to kids,” Wil B. said. “We help kids not to let their dreams be snuffed out because of things outside of their control. Our advice to them is to be true to who they are, and people will be drawn to you. If you are true to who you are, everything else will flow. As a violinist and being Black, people tend to put you in boxes. Black Violin is defying the odds because we don’t let people define who or what we are.”
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