The Hip-Hop Violinist is the third studio album by American–Israeli musician Miri Ben-Ari . It was released on August 23, 2005 via Universal Records , making it her major label debut. Recording sessions took place at Cash Money Studios in Louisiana , Chung King Studios and Sony Music Studios in New York City , Mirimode Studios in New Jersey , Morris Studio in Zagreb , Touch Of Jazz Studios in Philadelphia , TransContinental Studios in Florida and Tree Sound Studios in Georgia . Production was handled by Miri herself together with her brother Ohad, as well as Baby Dooks, Kanye West , Akon , Dash, Kere Brown, Midi Mafia , Nick Fury , P. King and P-Nut. It features guest appearances from Anthony Hamilton , Fatman Scoop , Akon, Algebra , Birdman , Consequence , Doug E. Fresh , Fabolous , J. Ivy , John Legend , Kanye West, Lil' Mo , Lil' Wayne , Musiq Soulchild , Pharoahe Monch , Pitbull , Scarface , Six-Shot, Styles P , Vicious , Zion & Lennox . Its single, "Sunshine to the Rain", peaked at No. 39 on the R&B & hip-hop singles chart and No. 46 on the independent singles chart in the UK music charts .
The Hip-Hop Violinist Released August 23, 2005 (2005-08-23 ) Recorded 2003–2005 Studio Genre Length 58 :30 Label Universal Producer
Song of the Promised Land (2000)
The Hip-Hop Violinist (2005)
"We Gonna Win" Released: August 30, 2005
"Jump & Spread Out" Released: 2005
"Sunshine to the Rain" Released: September 25, 2006
Sample credits
Track 4 contains elements from "Fly Away" written and performed by George Duke from his 1983 album Guardian of the Light .
Notes
The song "Jump & Spread Out" has been wildly misattributed as a remix of Zion & Lennox and Daddy Yankee song "Yo Voy", since they contribute to this song with some lyrics from their own song. The song has also been alternately titled "¿Dónde Están Las Mamis?" from their 2005 Motivando a La Yal: Special Edition album.
Miri Ben-Ari – vocals (track 1) , violin, string arrangements, engineering, mixing, producer
David "Styles P " Styles – vocals (track 2)
Clarence "Don Parma" Hutchinson – backing vocals (track 2)
Denim – backing vocals (track 2)
Isaac "Fatman Scoop " Freeman III – vocals (tracks: 3, 15)
Quame "Vicious " Riley – vocals (track 3)
John "Fabolous " Jackson – vocals (track 4)
Kanye West – vocals (track 4) , producer (tracks: 4, 10)
Taalib "Musiq Soulchild " Johnson – vocals (track 4)
Cynthia "Lil' Mo " Loving – vocals (track 5)
Brad "Scarface " Jordan – vocals (track 6)
Anthony Hamilton – vocals (tracks: 6, 12)
James Ivy "J. Ivy " Richardson II – vocals (track 7)
Aliaune Akon Thiam – vocals & producer (track 9)
Troy "Pharoahe Monch " Jamerson – vocals (track 10)
Alana Atkins – choir (track 10)
Bryan Sledge – choir (track 10)
Richard T. Sledge – choir (track 10)
Shanta N. Atkins – choir (track 10)
Thamasina A. Atkins – choir (track 10)
Traci Brown – choir (track 10)
John Legend – additional choir (track 10) , background vocals (track 11) , vocals (track 13)
Bryan "Baby/Birdman " Williams – vocals (track 11)
Dwayne "Lil' Wayne " Carter – vocals (track 11)
Jermaine "Six Shot" Tucker – vocals (track 11)
Algebra Blessett – vocals (track 12)
Dexter "Consequence " Mills Jr. – vocals (track 13)
Douglas "Doug E. Fresh " Davis – human beatbox (track 14)
Félix "Zion" Ortiz – vocals (track 15)
Gabriel "Lennox" Pizarro – vocals (track 15)
Armando "Pitbull " Pérez – vocals (track 15)
Quartet Sebastian – strings (track 2)
Hrvoje Pintaric – french horn (track 2)
Vanja Lisjak – trombone (track 2)
Andrej Jakuš – trumpet (track 2)
David "Baby Dooks" Vurdelja – keyboards (track 5) , producer (tracks: 3, 5, 15) , remixing (track 15)
Predrag "P'Eggy" Martinjak – keyboards & co-producer (track 5)
Nick "Fury" Loftin – keyboards & producer (track 6)
Dražen "Dash" Kvočić – producer (track 2)
Robert Kyle "Kere Brown" Frost – producer (track 8)
Ronald "P-Nut" Frost – producer (track 8)
Waynne Jason "Bruce Waynne " Nugent – producer (track 11)
Kevin "Dirty Swift " Risto – producer (track 11)
Peter "P. King" Francis – producer (track 13)
Ohad "Big O" Ben-Ari – orchestration, engineering, mixing, producer
Pablo Arraya – engineering
Leslie Brathwaite – mixing
Kevin Crouse – mixing
Jason Goldstein – mixing
John Holmes – engineering
Fabian Marasciullo – engineering
Carlos "Storm" Martinez – engineering
Axel Niehaus – mixing
Tatsuya Sato – engineering
Song Shin – mixing assistant
Miro Vidovic – engineering
Bill Wathen – engineering
Chris Gehringer – mastering
Daniel Glogower – executive producer, A&R
Rik Robinson – executive producer, A&R
Sandy Brummels – creative director
Adam Weiss – photography
^ Jeffries, David. "Miri Ben-Ari - The Hip-Hop Violinist Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic" . AllMusic . Retrieved October 12, 2023 .
^ Fry, Will (November 9, 2005). "Miri Ben-Ari - The Hip-Hop Violinist" . IGN . Retrieved October 12, 2023 .
^ Besenyodi, Adam (November 9, 2005). "Miri Ben-Ari: The Hip-Hop Violinist, PopMatters" . PopMatters . Retrieved October 12, 2023 .
^ Juon, Steve 'Flash' (October 25, 2005). "Miri Ben-Ari :: The Hip-Hop Violinist – RapReviews" . www.rapreviews.com . Retrieved October 12, 2023 .
^ Cinquemani, Sal (September 19, 2005). "Review: Miri Ben-Ari, The Hip-Hop Violinist" . Slant Magazine . Retrieved October 12, 2023 .