Black Violin Delivers Hip-Hop/Classical Fusion to FSU
Laura Jacobs
Issue date: 5/14/08 Section: News
Tuesday, May 6 Black Violin played a modestly sized concert in FSU's ARMAH with tickets priced at $2 each for FSU students. Black Violin, who may not be very familiar to most FSU students, is a musical trio that fuses contemporary hip-hop music with classical violin. The group consists of their two violinists, Kev Marcus and Wil B, aka Simply Sick, as well as their DJ, djtk.
Their concert started a little after the scheduled 8PM but started off with bursts of energy. Black Violin kicked off their show with violin covers of current hits in the hip-hop genre. They covered songs by Kanye West as well as older artists like The Notorious B.I.G. Black Violin also performed original songs and freestyles accompanied by their DJ and violins. There was one amusing moment where Wil B was talking about his "girl" with much vagueness. People turned around to look back in the back of the room to see who he was talking about, only to find out that Wil B was referring to the viola he had been playing.
During the show Kev Marcus and Wil B had an entertaining violin duel. Since the crowd was split into two, one side was for Kev and the other side was for Wil. The winner was to be judged by how loud his side of the crowd was after playing. This was a tough contest for Wil B because there weren't many people on his side of the crowd, but he pulled through and won the duel. Black Violin also did their own rendition of classical music- that is, classical music with a hip-hop flair.
Black Violin has been performing together for about six years. Kev Marcus has 17 years of experience playing and Wil B has 14 years of experience in classical music. In addition to their long history with classical music, Black Violin has a long history of friendship. Members Kev Marcus and Wil B have known each other since they were children in middle school.
When asked why Black Violin was formed, Wil B explained that, "It's not just something we sat down and thought about. It kind of all just came together." He went on to explain that after Kev and himself graduated high school there were not many jobs in their area. So they decided to make something of themselves by beginning to produce and make music in their studio. "We started realizing people loved it so we kept on doing it," Wil said.
Their concert started a little after the scheduled 8PM but started off with bursts of energy. Black Violin kicked off their show with violin covers of current hits in the hip-hop genre. They covered songs by Kanye West as well as older artists like The Notorious B.I.G. Black Violin also performed original songs and freestyles accompanied by their DJ and violins. There was one amusing moment where Wil B was talking about his "girl" with much vagueness. People turned around to look back in the back of the room to see who he was talking about, only to find out that Wil B was referring to the viola he had been playing.
During the show Kev Marcus and Wil B had an entertaining violin duel. Since the crowd was split into two, one side was for Kev and the other side was for Wil. The winner was to be judged by how loud his side of the crowd was after playing. This was a tough contest for Wil B because there weren't many people on his side of the crowd, but he pulled through and won the duel. Black Violin also did their own rendition of classical music- that is, classical music with a hip-hop flair.
Black Violin has been performing together for about six years. Kev Marcus has 17 years of experience playing and Wil B has 14 years of experience in classical music. In addition to their long history with classical music, Black Violin has a long history of friendship. Members Kev Marcus and Wil B have known each other since they were children in middle school.
When asked why Black Violin was formed, Wil B explained that, "It's not just something we sat down and thought about. It kind of all just came together." He went on to explain that after Kev and himself graduated high school there were not many jobs in their area. So they decided to make something of themselves by beginning to produce and make music in their studio. "We started realizing people loved it so we kept on doing it," Wil said.
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