Get Strung: From Dorkestra to the Illharmonic

Look. We'd all be lying if we said we weren't dorks in middle school or high school. All of us had stupid hair cuts, thick glasses, terrible style, and awful taste in music. In 8th grade I was really into Limp Bizkit, ferchrissakes. But that's not to say that old-school dorkitude can't someday transform into a higher appreciation for dope-itude.

For me, most recently, this has come to light through the unearthing of some bad-ass hip hop albums featuring prominent strings. I grew up spending every Saturday of my high school life driving into Philadelphia and playing the cello for 3 hours with the Philadelphia Sinfonia Youth Orchestra. I was a grade A Dork. I also learned to love me some Dvorak, thrive on Bach's 6 Cello Suites, and tell some good viola jokes. What do a viola and a lawsuit have in common?
Everyone is happy when the case is closed.

I am happy that the case is open on these glorious tracks, however. They combine some kick-ass violins playing either classical greats (the Miri Ben-Ari track features Dvorak's New World Symphony and Black Violin's "Brandenburg" is um...Brandenburg) or some new tunes morphed to rock a hip hop beat. I've been spinning these three artists for the past couple weeks non-stop, and can't get enough, especially of the Black Violin album.

String players should do this more often. Real rappers should use strings more seriously. I should quit my job and become the first hip-hop cellist. Bakes, you wanna rap?

P.S. I'm posting a bunch of tunes since Lamar soiled and can't figure out how to use the interwebs. Philly reprazent.

Black Violin - Brandenburg

Black Violin - Sleepin'

Black Violin - Dirty Orchestra

Nuttin' But Stringz - Broken Sorrow

Miri Ben-Ari - New World Symphony (f. Pharoahe Monch and Kanye West)