Black Violin

Wil Baptiste (viola) and Kev Marcus (violin) are Black Violin, the string duo from Florida with equal footing in the worlds of classical music and hip-hop. Classically trained by day, they faithfully put on their headphones and listened to the hottest rap records each night.  Two years after sending a tape to Showtime at the Apollo, they were invited to appear on the show—which they won, and kept winning.  The pair created a distinctive, peerless sound: “A hard-hitting beat with lush string sounds,” says Baptiste. “Something you can listen to if you don’t listen to hiphop, or if you don’t listen to classical music—we bridge that gap.”