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MIRI BEN-ARI
The Hip-Hop Violinist Nice Tunes **

You're thinking that I'm making this one up. The hip-hop violinist? What fresh crossover marketing hell is this? Well, say hello to Ms Ben-Ari, a classically trained Israeli violinist who has garnered much respect from some of the hip-hop community's high-achievers and grabbed a Grammy for her fiddle work on Kanye West's Jesus Walks. While the violinist herself would probably prefer the spotlight to be solely on her bow, there are crossover dollars to be made, hence the presence of a veritable police identity parade of rappers. The likes of Joe Budden, Styles P, Lil' Mo, Akon and dozens more deliver clunky, unwieldy, workmanlike rhymes over Ben-Ari's wonderfully airy, strung-out melodies. It's only when a smooth operator like West or John Legend enters the frame that the tune is truly worth the sum of its absurdly disconnected parts. www.ntunes.co.uk  Jim Carroll