Black Violin Is Here: October 23 at the Embassy (Exclusive Interview)

Black Violin is plural.  Classically-trained violinist Kev Marcus and violist Wil Baptiste, active since 2004, play hip-hop music with their stringed instruments.  They rocked the Apollo stage…two black dudes with violins…and did not get booed. They opened for Alicia Keys. And on Wednesday, October 23, 2019, the dynamic duo will be performing here in Fort Wayne, at the Embassy Theatre with a start time of 7:30 p.m.

As busy as Black Violin is these days with a new album about to drop in a couple of weeks, violinist Kev Marcus found time to answer some questions exclusively for the FWIS.

Fort Wayne Ink Spot (FWIS): In a 2016 UPROXX video interview, you talked about breaking stereotypes as black violinists. It’s been three years since that interview…is it still a struggle breaking down those stereotypes?

Kev Marcus: It’s not so much that we struggle with breaking stereotypes, it’s that we love to shatter people’s expectations of what is possible. If someone tells you that you can’t or shouldn’t do something, use that as fuel to prove them wrong. 

FWIS: Do you find that working as niche artists creates a scenario where you have to do more as musicians (travel more, promote more, producer cooler material) than other musicians from more straight forward/traditional genres? 

Marcus: I think the fact that we don’t neatly fit into a box works in our favor. It has given us the chance to work with all types of artists from a wide range of genres and also allows our content to live in many different media bubbles.  

FWIS: Your new album “Take the Stairs” drops November 1…which means more travel and interviews to promote it. When does the break/vacation happen for you guys?

Marcus: I’m sure we will get some time off eventually, but right now we want to share our album with the world. “Take the Stairs” paints an image of hope and strength to empower the listener to reach for their goals. We combined lush orchestral strings with hip-hop and pop vocals to create a one of a kind project.  

FWIS: Would you explore music created from black artists that don’t have a direct relationship with hip-hop…like country music created by a black artists or even heavy metal? 

Marcus: There are tons of great black artists in genres outside of hip-hop that we love. Fantastic Negrito [folk, blues, R&B] is a black rock star! He’s incredible. Gary Clark Jr. [blues rock, soul music] is also an African American trailblazer. Jon Batiste is always putting out excellent jazz albums. And Jessie Montgomery is a tremendous young black female composer that is doing awesome work.

For tickets, CLICK.