Israeli-born Miri Ben-Ari is known as being the “hip-hop violinist,” but her music and influence doesn’t require any labels.
Miri Ben-Ari was honored by Young and Powerful in front of President Obama for her social activism and her humanitarian efforts.
This past Sunday, Miri was one of a select few artists chosen to perform at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Dedication. Playing her chart-topping instrumental song “Symphony Of Brotherhood,” Miri wowed the crowd with her poise, grace and musical abilities.
GlobalGrind caught up with her to talk about her activism, love for music and the overwhelming love she’s received from the hip-hop community.
GlobalGrind: You’re being honored by the Obamas for your hard work. Can you tell us about that?
Miri Ben-Ari: It’s always nice to be honored for things that we do for the community. Because one of the most important things about being honored is, it’s actually a humbling experience and it also inspires you to do even more things. It’s almost like you give something and you’re getting honored and it makes you want to give even more.
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Back in 2009, you released “Symphony of Brotherhood.” What was your inspiration behind releasing that track?
It’s a very important song in my music career. Maybe the most important song I’ve ever released, to be honest with you. The message of the song is bigger than the song, because it’s featuring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with the speech “I Have A Dream.” The song is actually offering a very original presentation of that very speech. I’m a great believer and supporter of the message and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The song was chosen by the First Lady Michelle Obama. She actually fell in love with the song and she invited me to the White House back in April to perform this song. And she also honored me with a Remarkable Woman for 2011. This song made a lot of noise to say the least. And it’s a very moving piece to perform. Every time that I get on the stage, it’s something very special about this song and the speech, capturing the moment. It was almost the commercial for Viacom “The Dream” concert. That was the first single off my new album.
You worked with Kanye West on “Jesus Walks” and you performed with Jay-Z. How was it working with some of these artists?
Completely awesome. All of the artists that I’ve worked with are very talented and hardworking good people and inspired me to keep putting together my own original style and to keep hearing my dream, which is taking a violin, a very classical instrument, and turning it from an instrument that is backing up singers, to the forefront of the stage, to become the act itself. Working and watching the people I’ve worked with, also encouraged me to become a producer and to produce my own songs.
You made an appearance on BET’s “106 & Park” and became known as the “hip-hop violinist.” What made you start wanting to play hip-hop songs as opposed to simply classical music?
It’s funny because people need to label things in order to understand better and I understand it now. I grew up in Israel playing classical music. That was my technique and when I came to the States, I moved here because I wanted to learn how to improvise. So I went to jazz school for a second and I put three jazz albums out. And the improvisation skills gave me the ability to write and compose and produce my own original music. When I started doing my own music, it was like a fusion of everything that I knew, from classical, to writing classical arrangements, orchestration, Latin music, jazz music, hip hop, and R&B – everything that I was listening to. So when I started playing over beats, for me that was just an original way of improvisation. I was just a musician.
Then Wyclef Jean listened to me and thought, ‘Oh, OK. You are the hip-hop violinist.’ I guess this is how he felt when he listened to me. He felt that I was playing a style that was fresh, was new, and I played it in a way that was never heard before. It was fused with hip-hop beats. Then I was introduced to Kanye West and Jay-Z and they all saw me, as you just mentioned, on BET’s “106 & Park.” That was my introduction to my commercial career.
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How old were you when you took up the violin?
I was five.
Who are some of your musical inspirations?
There are many. I don’t like to name only a few, because I have been listening to and practicing so much music that I always feel like, how can you leave so many behind when you mention composers and artists? I don’t like to limit myself to one genre. Yesterday at the MLK dedication, I saw myself listening. I was right next to Stevie Wonder by the stage when he performed and I said to myself, ‘My God.’ There are always some artists that are so amazing, that no matter when you’re listening to them, they always sound right. I also believe that there are two types of music. Good music and bad music. And there’s so much good music.
If you were sent to a deserted island and you could only bring three albums with you, what three albums would you bring?
After I just answered the other question, you already understand that I’m going to bring the library. That is not going to happen with me.
President Obama has mentioned his support for Occupy Wall Street. Do you have any thoughts about Occupy Wall Street?
No. Not yet.
