We Talked to the Dude Who Covered "Black Beatles" with a Violin

The day before climbing to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, "Black Beatles" received a tribute, unexpected to some, desperately needed by others, by London-based violinist Daj Jordan. On its own, Rae Sremmurd's single is enough to bring you to a state of impenetrable​ bliss but Jordan's cover is quite possibly the most exquisite music you've ever heard. With 29,000 retweets on his original post, it's far from a lucky win. A visit to his Instagram page will confirm that his trajectory to inevitably prove the irrelevance of classical music is rapidly approaching.

In legendary fashion, he once opened up for Tyga with a bottle of Henny by his side and paused the show to start taking it back before ripping the venue apart with delicate strums layered over trap beats. He's used his ex-girlfriend's attempts to flex on him on Snapchat as influences to provide the world with content. We are not worthy of a man who'd pass up on the opportunity to be petty just to put smiles on our faces. For the next four years in America, we are sure to experience a good amount of bullshit, so the occasional listen to violin versions of Young Thug's "Digits" or Outkast's "Ms. Jackson" is going to be needed for even a crack of sunshine. Luckily for us, we spoke with Daj while he was home in London to understand how a genius moves.

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​Noisey: What were your first experiences with the violin?
Daj Jordan:As a kid, I was about seven-years-old and saw this violinist on TV. I remember demanding that I have lessons to my mom. Luckily, in the school where i was going, they were giving free lessons and it started from there. I'm trained classically. So I carried on studying until I went private with a professor. When I was in my early 20s, I remember hearing violins on hip-hop beats and I always remember wanting to be a part of that somehow. So I just started to go to auditions to play for artists and behind artists. Then I started a little stint where I was doing backing violin for people on TV shows and stuff like that. Then I had the thought of putting the violin at the forefront instead of it always having to be behind someone.

Miri Ben-Ari played violin on songs with Twista, Kanye West, Styles P, and others. Was she a source of influence?
I loved her. I looked up to her. I remember when I first came across her I was in New York and I heard her on the Twista record and thought, "See, she's doing it. She's putting it to the forefront." But for a while I got locked in the session musician world where I was doing a lot of studio work. My violins were on the soundtrack for Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls soundtrack. The last two years I was just like, I gotta take this to another level. I remember begging a promoter I knew to put me on the stage at one of his clubs in front of a rowdy audience in Central London just to see how they would respond. It went down well and from there I just started pushing. It is nerve-wracking though, because you don't know how people will react. People used to tell me a couple years back that it's not gonna work. People aren't gonna care.

I've always stopped by your Instagram account just for small moments of joy because it's like, I can hear this Young Thug beat be played with a violin. When I hear a violin or many of the instruments used in classical music played to what's out now, it makes me happy because, for the most part, people who are classically trained musicians shit on rap. So you're making people deal with both of these worlds at the same time.
Of course. I've had critics. I had one person say to me, "Have more respect for the violin. Why are you putting the violin on such trashy music?" But, to me, it's not trashy. I genuinely like what I play. That's another part of me—when i do these little clips, they're actually songs I like. I like the beat and when the violin sits on it, I like how it feels. It is what it is.

But most violinists stick together and they're very supportive. You would think they would be dismissive but they're not. They usually—especially other black violinists or other violinists of color—all stick together. I know them, they know me. They all cheer one another on whereas singers and rappers, it seems like they go at each other to get to that spotlight.

What have been some of your most rewarding gigs?
I did the Black Power List Awards a couple weeks back here in London where I was performing for the new mayor which was quite a good feeling. It was also nice to be in a room with lots of inspirational people and massive business owners. What's more random than some of the gigs is some of the people I've attracted with my violin. Like basketball players like D'Angelo Russell who plays for the Lakers. He reposts my stuff and follows me. When I first came out with what I was doing, I didn't expect to ever get those kind of people, especially sports people—no matter what genre of music I was doing. I thought I would attract other musicians like Neo Soul fans because they're into live instruments.

For rappers and singers, people know what they're gonna get so they can buy into it. I feel like when it's only a few of you doing a certain thing, it's harder for people to take you serious and to actually get it. I constantly have to let people know what I'm about. Like, when I'm being booked for a show they ask, "Oh, are you gonna turn it up?" It's like, chill. Sit down and watch because I'm Rock and Roll. I go crazy on the stage if the vibe is right.

What is that scene like?
I'll never forget. Tyga was on tour here in 2015 and I was one of the opening acts. Man. I just went wild on the stage. I had a bottle there. I was performing. Everyone was cheering. I paused the set and started backing Henny straight, put the bottle down and carried on. I'm a lot different in that way. A lot of violinists are quite straight. I can be really wild in a good way.

It's funny that you posted your "Black Beatles" cover the day before the song was announced number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
They reposted the video and started following me. Hopefully they invite me on a show when they come to London. Can I be honest about how that came about?

Yeah.
So basically what pushed me over the edge with it is, I was on Snapchat and my ex likes to play songs which I thought were directed at me. She posted a snap where she was whole-heartedly singing along to that song so I was like, "Ok, ok." I picked up my violin and I turned the beat on and pressed record on my phone and posted it.

So yours was more of an outdoing of her snap?
It was like, you sing it on your Snapchat and I'm gonna put this online and you're gonna see this.

What do you have in the works? Have you ever thought about producing for rappers since you've been doing the covers for a while?
Yeah, I produce. I just haven't pushed that side but a lot of my production I'm getting ready to share is violin riddim. It's like 808s and catchy violin melodies. That's the way I want to brand myself so while I'm attracting all of these people, I'm gonna send some beats to people like Rae Sremmurd. I really believe in myself on that side of it. My best friend always says I need to show the world that side of me. I'm not that egotistical with it, like everyone's gonna think I'm dope. I know the risk with music. When you think someone's gonna like everything of yours, they might not. Or they might like something that you hate. I'm just sharing this side of me first which is me as a violinist. Then I wanna present myself as a musician and composer and producer. I've been doing it for a long time. I just haven't shared it with the world yet.

​Follow Lawrence Burney on Twitter​.