Hip Hop Violinist

Miri Ben-Ari | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 20, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Umvd Labels
• ASIN: B000A7Q1QK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #96,535 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2006 Album by the Radical Violinist that Includes the Tracks "Sick with the Flip" and "Get That", Both of which Do Not Appear on the Us Equivalent Release. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Merry stringer, January 27, 2006

By 

Anthony Rupert "shut up, Shut Up, SHUT UP!!!" (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hip Hop Violinist (Audio CD)

Concept albums are a double-edged sword because new listeners might like the new material while old listeners might accuse the artist of selling out -- which explains some of the negative reviews for Miri Ben-Ari's latest album, The Hip-Hop Violinist (no, people, this is not her first album). While I do understand where the naysayers are coming from, I still think this is a good album.

One thing I'd like to explain, though, is the reason as to why there are so many guest stars on here. Well, look at it like when a producer like Quincy Jones, for example, releases an album. Producers are involved with the music, nothing more, while other artists take care of the rhymes and crooning. This is why Miri is only playing instead of rapping or singing. And I actually thought it was easy to hear her strings over all the other instruments. (I also wonder if those that complained that there aren't enough violin solos on here listened to "Lord of the Strings", "Chillin' In the Key of E" or her retake of the "Star-Spangled Banner".)

Anyway, I agree with everyone else when they say that "Sunshine to the Rain" (with Scarface and Anthony Hamilton) is the best song. Anthony also impresses on another track, "She Was Just a Friend", which also features vocals from songstress Algebra (um...). Another good song is "I've Been Waiting On You", which features a chorus by John Legend and verses by Consequence (why oh why can't he get a deal?).

Miri's violins are even able to make Lil' Mo and Fatman Scoop sound decent on "Hold Your Head Up High" and "Jump & Spread Out", respectively. But sometimes even SHE can't salvage others' missteps. Baby and Lil' Wayne sound fine on "4 Flat Tires", but Six Shot's rapping style just feels strange. And "Fly Away" (with Fabolous, Kanye West and Musiq) contains a weak verse and it's not from Fabolous ("I'll have to make the world bounce like full messages in emails" -- why does Kanye say the corniest things on other people's albums?). And Akon sounds better than he usually does on "Miss Melody" -- till you get to the second verse, that is.

If you like violins but you're not a big fan of hip-hop, then I wouldn't advise you to cop this album. But if you CAN open your mind to both styles, then do what I did and give the hip-hop violinist a try.

Anthony Rupert

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good., January 1, 2006

By 

. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hip Hop Violinist (Clean) (Audio CD)

This album is a set of pretty good hip hop tracks with Miri's beautiful strings in the background. This is more of a compilation than a Miri Ben-Ari CD and there are only about 7 minutes on the CD where she plays alone. Highlights include "Keep You Head Up High" with Lil' Mo and "Sunshine to the Rain" with Scarface and Anthony Hamilton. But there are a few wack songs like "4 Flat Tires", "Jump & Spread Out" Remix and "Star Spangled Banner." Thank goodness this album doesn't contain "Sick Wit Da Flip" on it. That song is awful.

I would reccomend this album for someone who wants a decent hip hop compilation, not a Mir Ben-Ari album.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece!, February 2, 2006

By 

Ahmad Jordan "Ahmad Jordan" (Bufalo, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hip Hop Violinist (Audio CD)

If there's a next step in hip-hop's evolution, this has to be it.

I caught Miri's name in a small blurb in Scratch Magazine and right away the idea of a hip-hop album driven and underscored by a violinist stayed with me until the release of this album. Ever since Dr.Dre's "Still Dre" with the signature Ukelele (or however you spell it) and simplified layers of sounds from "Forgot about Dre" I've been waiting for the next generation of producers to step the rap sound up a little.

Until now I've been dissapointed.

The musical complexity of this album almost makes it hard to describe. It really is a few steps beyond any traditional hip-hop and R&B album. Though hip-hop has transcended the color lines in this country, it's still safe to say that it is still considered a "black music form" and often claims to represent the black ghetto experience with grimy, aggressive and sometimes melancholy sounds and lyrics. Ironically, I would say that what Miri has done is more accurate of the inner-city reality, since she spans everything from the soulful to the celebratory. She even reaches back far enough into hip-hop history to bring the legendary beat-box vocalism of Doug E. Fresh. You don't get much more grimy than the Beat Box, since that's all early rappers had for "drum machines." All of this, of course, is threaded together by Miri's violin strings, making the album feel more consistent than today's multi-producer albums.

The standout track on here is "Sunshine to the Rain" featuring Scarface, an underground legend in his own right. This song is good enough to keep writing about. I've followed Scarface's early work with mixed reactions. Not because he's not a good artist, but because you can tell that something deeper and painful was hiding behind his me-too gangster music. Whatever he had hiding, managed to stick its head out in "Mind Playing Tricks on Me". But on this album those emotions are completely exposed as Mr.Scarface talks about the real internal pressures that a person endures when exposed to the streets. He's not rapping about killing somebody else...he's rapping about killing himself! The great arc of this song is that the tempo is upbeat and inspiring. The song feels like you're at the end of the tunnel, and the light is there. I replayed this song several times before I finished the album.

And that's the final thing about this...I can't say that there's one skippable track on here. Obviously, some songs are better than others. That's inevitable. But even the least of these songs will have it's moment in the future where you feel like going directly to it, bypassing all the others.

I hope this is a hallmark of what is to come. Not just from Miri Ben Ari...but maybe hip-hop's current and future producers will look at this masterpiece and agree to bring hip-hop to a next stage that goes beyond sample clearance. Maybe we'll then have some much needed new life and maturity to an art form that is struggling to get past puberty.