SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 28, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Kev Marcus, half of the globe-trotting hip-hop duo the Black Violin, grew up certain of what he wanted to do with his life.
“Oh, I never wanted to be a professional musician,” he told Gephardt Daily. “I wanted to be a doctor growing up my whole life.”
But life took a different turn. Marcus and musical partner Wil B will perform at the 2,400-seat Eccles Theater on Wednesday (find ticket information here). Black Violin is known for its hip-hop, jazz, pop, classical fusion music, and performances that take string lovers in directions they never expected to go.
Black Violin has been celebrated for performances on PBS, “CBS Sunday Morning” and, decades back, on “Showtime at the Apollo.” The duo is also known for philanthropic work, offering scholarships that fund training for the next generation of artists to realize their musical dreams.
So what happened to the planned doctor gig? Well, Marcus (real name Kevin Sylvester) and Wil B (real name Wilner Baptiste) met while playing in an orchestra class together at their Florida high school, and when Sylvester (now Marcus) was offered a college scholarship for Florida International University, it was for music.
“It was a really great scholarship, a great opportunity, but in order to do that I had to major in music. So I remember telling my mother I was gonna do undergrad in music and she was like, ‘How do musicians make money? This is just something you were doing in high school.’ I just wanted a free education.”
Marcus did, eventually, manage to squeeze in a college biology class.
“And I saw a bunch of blood and all that, and thought, ‘Yeah, no, I’m not going to do all that.’ So I think it kind of changed, and I wanted to do something else.”
Paying the bills
But regular life comes with regular bills, so Marcus and Wil B earned money playing with orchestras, producing for other artists, and even backing the artists they were producing in live performances.
“And we noticed that everybody was just staring at us, because it was just like, two big black guys playing violin in the back of this pop star, you know, just up and coming pop star kind of thing, or who are those violinists in the back? So you know, then we started kind of focusing on that and kind of the rest is history. But you know, we’re sort of reluctant lead men, I would say.”
Showtime
The turning point came in 2004, when the longtime friends sent in a VHS tape and were accepted to play on “Showtime at the Apollo.”
“It was the longest running talent competition in the country… and it was this crazy competition. The crowd booed you off the stage if they didn’t like you, you know. So it’s the toughest crowd in the world, really.”
Marcus and Wil B waited in the wings for their turn.
“There were four contestants that went before us, and they all got booed off stage, and we looked at ourselves, and we looked down at these violins, and we’re like, ‘Oh, then this is going to happen to us.’
“But we had a really killer set. They were ready to see what we could do, and their reaction was thunderous. I’ll never forget the sound. It was the first time that we were able to pull that reaction from an audience, you know?”
The duo was invited back for two more competitions and won the grand prize.
“And so then the whole thing was sort of the launching pad for us,” Marcus said. “We won $20,000, which was world-changing.”
Black Violin set its sights high, even before the first of the “Apollo” performances had aired. They were able to arrange a meeting with Alicia Keys’ manager.
“And we ended up meeting him in New York, and we were like, ‘Hey, we just went on ‘Apollo.’ It airs in like four weeks, and let me look at the phone so we can show you what we do.’ And he loved it.”
Marcus and Wil B ended up backing Keys live during a Billboard Awards show.
“To me, it’s like our career started very slow, like a snowball off a cliff, gaining speed and momentum as it goes. It’s not just like this, you know, an overnight success. It’s been slow, deliberate and intentional, over 20 years. But it’s still a massive snowball.”
Inspiring change
Black Violin’s success has allowed the duo to fund programs for string students, providing scholarships, grants and opportunities. Among them is the James Miles Scholarship, named for their former high school music teacher.
But among the biggest joys of their careers has been the chance to inspire audiences through live performances.
“I think we definitely open a lot of minds,” Marcus said. “I mean, the show isn’t just about entertaining. It’s about kind of inspiring. It’s about like, ‘Man, I just never seen a violin do something like this. What can I do this not that I’ve never seen before?’
“It’s not really about the violin. It’s about thinking outside the box. And it’s about breaking stereotypes and that’s really what you’re witnessing.”
