We on an ultralight beam... MAMA I MET CHANCE! ⭐️
Been a fan of @chancetherapper since the 10 Day/Acid Rap era (road-tripped out to Tampa for Be Encouraged 2017 tour)
And as a violinist, with 30 years experience on this instrument, STILL feeling like my career just gettin started.. I appreciate the way Chance has stuck to the craft, run his own race and kept rising thru the “The Highs & The Lows”
Go bump “Star Line” right now. And keep believing in yourself.
#StarLine #chancetherapper #inspirationdaily
Seen an uptick in the engagement lately, so allow me to reintroduce myself to the timeline 👋🏾
I’m Ian (“ee-yin”) 🎻 professional violinist and genre blender. From weddings to yacht parties, I bring the soundtrack to your best moments.
✨ New here? Tap the link in bio to check out the website and get a feel for the journey.
🎶 Fun fact: I was born an uncle so I’ve been an “Unc” my whole life😂
🎧Currently listening to: Giveon, Jessie Reyez, Rema.
🌎 And yes, I travel 🛫
Good vibes incoming ✌🏽
#PSA #IanBMann #MVPManagement
#ProfessionalPerformer #LiveEntertainment #SoundtrackToYourMoment
Livin’ The Dream.
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A HUGE thank you to you all for the love and support this past week. My heart is full and I’m grateful for all the family, friends and connections I’ve made in this lifetime.
@miamiheat thank you again it was truly an honor and halftime was a blast!
@shineinthedark you that guy bro! It meant alot to be able to share the court with you, @dr.angelamcdonald and your son on the way 💙
Above all, God. Thank you. You know what you be doing 🙏🏽
#nba #national #anthem #miamiheat #halftimeshow @mcdonaldandmann
Lauren and Rollin’s wedding celebration was a night to remember🙌🏽
So I had to bring a mashup that fused Florida and Texas, the same way @kmg_fragrances fuses luxury and elegance.
@tpain I’m Sprung
meets
@michaelprinceviolin Lullaby From the Trenches
#KMGFragrances #weddingviolinist #tpain #hoodorchestra #sanantonio
Was this a risky mix for a wedding cocktail hour?
Maybe.
Did anyone complain?
No😅
Rating this weeks Fresh Take of Didn’t Cha Know x Folded an 8.5/10
Powered by @kmg_fragrances - Use
IAN10 for luxury fragrances, oils, and candles.
•
#kmgfragrances #weddingviolinist #folded #erykahbadu #luxuryfragrance
Inspired by the sounds of Duke Ellington and other jazz greats, Emma “Ginger” Smock would sit by the record player at just 6 years old, listening closely and improvising along on her violin .
She studied classical violin, mastering the discipline and technique of the European tradition. But as a Black woman, she was denied full entry into many of those classical spaces.
So she developed her own sound and became known as “The First Lady of The Violin”
Smock went on to become a phenomenal jazz violinist and one of the first African American woman bandleaders to be televised nationally on CBS. At a time when visibility itself was revolutionary, she led and influenced the sound of that generation.
Her courage made room for the amazing women string players and bandleaders of today.
Today, women are leading orchestras, organizing bands, and performing on the world’s biggest stages. From @imsherie Grammy performances alongside Lauryn Hill to @ezinma global tours with Beyoncé, @colorofnoize at THE Super Bowl and @sudanarchives phenomenal stage presence and sound, the lineage continues. Even here in Florida and the southeast US, I see women carrying that same authority and artistry. @portiajdunkley@kolfangi@kizietheviolist@clovertheviolinist@starscoacello@aijeecello@balfordviolin@muzelle_@blacksworld@jamieperryviolin to name just a few.
This is not new. This is inheritance.
Ginger Smock improvised her way into history.
And that spirit is still leading.
This is the Black String Renaissance.
VoiceOver by : @_sssseren
🎵: Strange Blues - Ginger Smock
#blackstringrenaissance #blackhistorymonth #phenomenalwoman #GingerSmock CBS
Yesterday marked the self-proclaimed birthday of Frederick Douglass.
Born into slavery with no recorded birth date, Douglass chose February 14th as his own. Reclaiming his humanity and freedom with even the smallest gestures.
Many know him as an abolitionist and master orator. Fewer know he also played the violin.
His grandson, Joseph Douglass, became one of the first internationally recognized African American concert violinists. He later became Head of Music at Howard University, carrying both legacy and excellence into the classroom.
He would mentor and teach Clarence Cameron White, a Black violinist, composer, and educator who eventually became the Head of Music for HU as well, helping shape the next generation of black classical musicians.
And the lineage stretches even further. Growing up, Clarence would receive lessons from Will Marion Cook, a Black violinist and composer from the D.C. area who produced the first all-Black Broadway musical production (In Dahomey), studied with famed composer Antonin Dvorak, and mentored and inspired Duke Ellington.
From Frederick Douglass to Joseph Douglass.
From Will Marion Cook to Clarence Cameron White and Duke Ellington.
These roots run deep.
The pursuit of musical excellence and enjoyment for Black folk in the US has always been intertwined with our fight for equality, humanity and anti-racism. The struggle for freedom and the discipline of the violin have moved side by side through history.
That is not coincidence. That is culture. That is lineage.
The Black String Renaissance.
#blackstringrenaissance #blackhistorymonth #hbcu #themoreyouknow #frederickdouglass
The Black String Renaissance is real. I can only imagine the countless hearts and minds that will be sparked and inspired to see and hear @colorofnoize and @michaelprinceviolin at the Super Bowl today.
What has always been seen as rare or impossible, is honestly as American as racis- I mean, apple pie 🇺🇸
The playing of the violin is the longest running instrumental tradition in African-American history (drums were banned for a large part of 1600s-1800s to prevent revolts and comms)
Black fiddlers were a large part of entertainment and shaping the sound of early American Music. As amplified sound grew, and popular genres shifted, the abundance of fiddle players dwindled, but always persisted. Today, you see the descendants of these musicians taking the violin and string instruments to uncharted genres, venues and heights… “To be young, gifted and black” ✊🏽
#blackexcellence #SuperBowlLIX #BlackStringRenaissance #ColorOfNoize #HoodOrchestra
Joseph Antonio Emidy was an African-born violin virtuoso whose life story exposes how talent could both save and enslave a black man of that time. Born in West Africa in the late 1700s, Emidy was kidnapped as a child, enslaved, and transported across the Atlantic. Despite these conditions, his musical brilliance emerged early, leading him to be freed by his captors and study violin and composition in Lisbon.
While working as a professional musician, Emidy was forcibly seized by the British Navy and pressed into service, not for a crime, but because his body was considered expendable. He was imprisoned on the Navy commanders ship, stripped of agency, and separated from his homeland once again.
After gaining his freedom, Emidy settled in Cornwall, where he became a respected concertmaster, teacher, and composer, performing symphonies and chamber works that rivaled his European contemporaries. Yet his name remains largely absent from classical canon.
Emidy’s life reminds us that displacement, forced migration, and the criminalization and dehumanization of the global south are not modern phenomena. Long before today’s immigration debates and ICE policies, Black bodies were already being uprooted, detained, and erased, even when carrying extraordinary gifts.
The Black String Renaissance exists to remember what history tried to forget.
🎥: Black Voices Cornwall (YouTube) @lantivetduo
#blackstringrenaissance #blackcomposers #blackhistorymonth #blackviolinist #cornwall
Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong was a trailblazing African American folk violinist, artist, and storyteller whose passion, longevity, and willingness to adapt to the cards life dealt him cemented his place as a true folk and fiddle legend.
Born in 1909, he grew up playing everything from blues to string band music at a time when fiddle and guitar bands were abundant, and the violin was a common instrument for live entertainment and early recordings.
As the country’s culture shifted away from post-antebellum, string-dominated music and jazz rose as the new standard of American sound, Armstrong performed more sparingly while traveling. He worked as a painter at Pearl Harbor before its bombing and later in a Chrysler auto plant during the height of Detroit’s automobile manufacturing era.
His and his band’s early recordings were rediscovered during the folk revival of the 1970s and 1980s. This led to nationwide touring and packed festival appearances, creating a second prime in his fiddle career.
Armstrong’s creativity extended far beyond music. He painted, crafted, and made films, leaving behind a legacy of joy, innovation, and cultural richness that continues to inspire.
🎥: National Council for the Traditional Arts (YouTube) @ncta_usa
#BlackStringRenaissance #BlackHistoryMonth #LouieBluie #Fiddle #FolkMusic
