It is hard to tell from YouTube alone if something is a trend, but it certainly appears that violin (or fiddle if you prefer) has made it into Hip Hop. I would say that it is about time. There is a certain historic irony about the whole thing. Recognizing that hip hop has evolved such that one does not have to be African-American to be part of it, one should recognize (and celebrate) its African-American roots...Grandmaster Flash and all of the other unsung heros that came before him. I know his name, as I am a white guy and he hung with my favorite band, The Clash.
The reason I wish to highlight the African-American roots of Hip Hop has to do with the violin, as there have only been a handful of notable Black violinists and fiddlers for at least a century (Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band is the only exception I can think of). The Irony is that American fiddle playing (primarily Bluegrass and its derivatives) has been almost exclusively a part of "white" culture. The irony is that it was African-Americans, slaves as well as free Blacks living in the mountains, who were at the forefront of co-inventing, along with their Scots-Irish musical brethren (in secret in the early days), American fiddling!
In the early days up until the introduction of recording, the most renowned fiddlers in the "Roots" (later called "Old-Time") were African Americans. As soon as there was money involved (the early recording industry), many believe, as I do, that Blacks were pushed out of American fiddling, with the exception of the early jazz fiddlers perhaps, but they were never well-known outside of Jazz.
Whatever the reasons, for most, if not all of the 20th Century, African-Americans did not play fiddle nor did they listen to it as far as I can tell.
What is being called "Hip Hop Violin" is changing everything. Hip Hop, an indisputably African-American musical innovation, has pulled the violin/fiddle into its ever-evolving "melting pot". A few names of rising star players come up, but none with the frequency of Paul Dateh. Paul is like Barak Obama in that his race is not easily discernable...doesn't matter! Paul is setting the Hip Hop world ablaze with some of the coolest playing I have ever heard.
He has lots of videos on YouTube and the other video syndicators. A fairly recent of his videos (3,500,000 views on YouTube alone), along with "scratcher" Inka one gives me goosebumps...it is that good. Give it a watch.
Paul Dateh and Inka one
Let me know what you think...enjoy!
