“At first, we leaned on the fact that we were different, more than on our technique-we wanted you to be confused. “Our mantra has always been to engage the audience to look at things from a different perspective,” says Kev. Though they have been playing together since high school, with Stereotypes, they take a great leap forward, from admirable rarities to significant innovators. Wil Baptiste (viola) and Kev Marcus (violin) are a string duo from Florida with equal footing in the worlds of classical music and hip-hop. The opening and title track to Stereotypes, the major-label debut by Black Violin, serves as a mission statement for an ambitious and groundbreaking group. Eventually, one voice settles in out front, explaining the responsibility that comes with a stereotype-“it gives me a goal, something to try to debunk.”

“A stereotype is an often unclear and untrue belief” says one “a standardized mental picture” echoes another. Phrases overlap, offering definitions of a word while a beat snaps and propulsive strings bite and race up and down a scale. An assortment of voices-different ages, genders, races-speak over a tense, clipped groove.

Eventually, one voice settles in out front, explaining the responsibility that comes with a stereotype-“it gives me a goal, something to try to.

Black violin a flat