Over the past three years, Miri Ben-Ari has carved out a unique niche as the hip-hop violinist for artists including Jay-Z, John Legend, Wyclef Jean, Twista and Kanye West. An iconic name in the Hip-Hop community, Grammy Award Winning Musician, Producer, and Composer Ben Ari will launch her highly anticipated new video and single in the UK September 2006.
Ben-Ari grew up in a small town near Tel-Aviv, Israel, and began her classical music education at a very young age. Coming from humble roots, Ben-Ari's violin lessons became too expensive for her family.
Fortunately, legendary violinist Isaac Stern recommended Ben-Ari for a scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation that gave the young prodigy her most treasured possession – her first violin.
After establishing herself as an accomplished and respected jazz musician, Ben-Ari's interest evolved to R&B and Hip-Hop and her big break came from her standing ovation performance at the world famous Apollo.
Her love for the music led her to develop an original style of playing that blends Hip-Hop, urban and classical music. Ben-Ari has written, performed and produced for Kanye West, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Jay-Z, Patti LaBelle, Mya, Britney Spears, Thalia, Joe, Wyclef Jean, 3LW, Dallas Austin, Rahzal, Allure, Twista, Brandy, Janet Jackson and Jennifer Lopez among others.
Ben-Ari has been hard at work in the studio creating her debut Hip Hop/R&B album, a groundbreaking fusion of her crisp, soulful strings with hard-edged hip-hop production. Kanye West has lent production and rhyming work to several tracks on her album, which also features collaborations with an all-star cast of artists, including Akon, John Legend, Twista, Scarface, Fabolous, Lil' Mo, Mya, Lil' Wayne, Pharoahe Monch and Anthony Hamilton, among others.
“I'm actually producing," Ben-Ari said of her album. "I've been producing for some time. Sometimes I do it from scratch. Sometimes I collaborate with other producers. Sometimes I get a track and flip it.
Sometimes I start a track and we develop it. And sometimes I'll hear a track, fall in love with it and do it my way. It all depends”.Ben-Ari is also the newest face of the Reebok brand's global "I Am What I Am" advertising campaign, Ben-Ari will join contemporary heroes of today's global youth including; Jay-Z, Nelly, 50 Cent, The Streets, Ryan Giggs, to name just a few….
