Ezinma | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Meredith Ezinma Ramsay [1] |
Born | [2] Lincoln, Nebraska | January 11, 1991
Genres | hip hop, classical |
Occupation(s) |
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Instrument(s) | Violin |
Years active | 2016–present |
Labels |
Meredith Ezinma Ramsay (born January 11, 1991), [2] known professionally as Ezinma, is an American violinist, model, music educator and film composer from Lincoln, Nebraska. Ramsay gained viral fame in 2017 by performing a violin cover of American rapper Future's hit " Mask Off", and for her performance during Beyoncé's 2018 Coachella performance. In 2020 she debuted as a solo musician under Universal Music Classics.
Ezinma was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, to a Guyanese father and German-American mother. [3] Her father is a professor of actuarial science, [4] while her mother is a creative non-fiction author and works as an English professor. [5] Ezinma started playing the violin at age three, and continued to play throughout school. [4] By junior high school, she felt alone as she was often the only black classical musician onstage, [6] and did not meet another black string musician until she was 13. [7] As a child, she listened to a wide range of music, including her funk, reggae, jazz, and Caribbean soca due to her father, [7] and Americana through her mother. [8]
Ezinma attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, [9] where she originally studied pre-med, before switching degrees to music. [10] At university, Ezinma formed a string and piano trio, and was mentored by members of the Chiara String Quartet. [11] [12]
In 2012, Ezinma moved from Nebraska to New York to study at Mannes School of Music, the classical division of the New School, [13] [6] which helped her see outside the rules of classical music. [10] Ezinma began releasing music featuring both her violin performance and vocals, and intended to release these songs on an extended play called I Am Ezinma in 2016. [10]
Ezinma began posting videos of her performing violin covers of songs to social media in 2016. Her first cover was a 15 second clip of Adele's " Hello" posted to Instagram. [4] During this time, Ezinma continued to release original music, such as "Elevate Me" in 2016, [14] and the instrumental "Give It Up" in 2017. [15]
In April 2017, Ezinma uploaded a cover of Future " Mask Off" as a part of a viral challenge featuring instrumental covers of the song. [16] Ezinma's version gained her millions of views across Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, and led to a sudden increase in her popularity. [3] American musician Beyoncé took notice of Ezinma's videos on social media (even before her version of "Mask Off"), [4] and invited her to perform as a part of Beyoncé's 2018 Coachella performance in April 2018. [7] Between 2017 and 2018, Ezinma appeared in modelling campaigns for Adidas, [17] Gap Inc. [18] and Gucci. [19]
In early 2019, Ramsay signed to Universal Music Classics. [20] She plans to release a classical-fusion album with hip-hop/trap influences in 2020, entitled Key of Black Minor, to be released alongside a documentary of her life. [4] [7] Ramsay has worked as a film composer, scoring the soundtracks to the documentary film The Times of Bill Cunningham (2020), [21] and the Oluniké Adeliyi-starring short film Promise Me (2020). [22] In August, Ezinma released her debut single "Beethoven Pleads the Fifth". [23]
Ezinma partnered with Wide Open School, Re-Create (a program to provide educational content for public elementary schools in New York) and After-School All-Stars to create violin-related educational content for schools and after-school programs in the United States. [6]
Ezinma's parents divorced when she was young, and she has two brothers and two sisters. [4] Her mother, Lisa Knopp, is an author of creative non-fiction books, and works as a professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. [24] [5]
She is an honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc
Title | Details |
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Classical Bae |
|
Title | Year | Album |
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"Beethoven Pleads the Fifth" [26] | 2020 | Classical Bae |
"Vivaldi Springs Forth" [27] | ||
"Drummer Bae" [28] | Non-album single | |
"Ode to Hustle" [29] | 2021 | Classical Bae |
Title | Year | Other artists | Album |
---|---|---|---|
"String Quartet No. 1" [30] | 2015 | Ayumi Okada, Karen Dekker, Rose Hashimoto, James Waldo | Here, Where the Land Ends and the Sea Begins |
"Piano Trio No. 1" [30] | Ayumi Okada, James Waldo, Alyona Aksyonova | ||
"Black Panther" [31] | 2018 | Kendrick Lamar | Black Panther: The Album |
" All the Stars" [31] | Kendrick Lamar, SZA | ||
" Dazed & Confused [Acoustic Version]" [32] | Ruel | Non-album single | |
"Poison Intro" [33] | Swizz Beatz, Áine Zion | Poison | |
" Lift Every Voice and Sing" [34] | 2019 | Beyoncé | Homecoming: The Live Album |
" Déjà Vu" [35] | Beyoncé, Jay-Z | ||
" Don't Hurt Yourself" [36] | Beyoncé | ||
"Heaven's Gate" [37] | Jae the Dreamer | Equal & Opposite | |
"When We're Awake" [38] | Sam O.B., Denitia | Non-album single |
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