Award-winning violinist Mapy is known for the unique way she fuses classical music with genres like hip-hop, soca, and afro beats, shattering stereotypes and redefining the sounds of the instrument one music note at a time.
Mapy, popularly known as “The Violin Queen”, has captivated audiences around the globe with her high-energy performances of major hits. She also composes and produces her own music. The innovative musician has built a fan base using social media platforms like Instagram and Youtube and has worked with stars such as Pharrell Williams, Snoop Dog, Waka Flocka, Rick Ross and many more.
Mapy says she will never forget the moment she knew wanted to become a professional solo violinist, even though, at times, her dream seemed impossible.
“I didn’t see anyone that looked like me playing the violin growing up,” says Mapy. She was raised in low-income housing in Paris with four sisters and a single mother who worked as a housekeeper and made daily sacrifices to send her to music school.
“Music is a message from the universe,” she tells ESSENCE noting that her mother would always tell her that through music, she could break boundaries and bring people together.
Mapy was classically trained at the world-renowned National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris. “I remember I was the only kid in the projects who was playing the violin, and at the Conservatory, it was my family and just one other Black family, and people didn’t want to talk to me, and I didn’t understand why,” she explains. “My mom always said I had to work ten times as hard as others to get the same results.”
After years of training at the Conservatory, she realized she had a gift for finding the perfect pitch. One day when she heard the mid 90’s Hip Hop classic “Juicy” by The Notorious B.I.G on the radio, Mapy decided to try and play it ear. When she did, the talented violinist realized that beyond classical music, she could also play the music she grew up listening to and loved.
“I grew up listening to reggae music, jazz music, of course, hip-hop and so much more at home,” says Mapy, a native of Réunion island, a French overseas territory that lies between Madagascar and Mauritius on the Eastern coast of Africa. “I wanted to play this music, but at the time, I didn’t know that was possible.”
After completing her studies, Mapy says she worked several office jobs and was a music teacher for many years in France before pursuing a career as a solo violinist. She shared that she faced a lot of discrimination because of her race and the style of music she chose to play on the violin. And, as a musician was often told that she was “disgracing” the violin because she played genres like hip hop, soca and reggae instead of classical music.
“I just got a nine-to-five job, and I just gave up on music for a time because I really thought that I could never have all the same opportunities as other people…I didn’t have the look,” she told ESSENCE. “The look of a violinist.” When she did get a rare booking, Mapy says it was only because people were looking for a Black violinist, and she was the only one most of them knew.
Since moving from Paris to Brooklyn in 2018, Mapy says her career has truly blossomed. The rising star recalled two performances that hold a special place for her. One is when she performed “Rockstar” alongside rapper Da Baby at the 2021 Grammy Awards. He reached out to her after seeing a video of her playing his song online. The other, she says, was being selected as a headliner for the St. Kitts Music Festival in 2019 along with stars like rapper French Montano and reggae legend Buju Banton.
“This one was very special to me because I realized that a few years ago, I wouldn’t even get booked to play in the background because I didn’t have the look they wanted me to have. I didn’t look like a violinist,” she says.
Mapy got emotional when she shared how that was the moment she understood that she didn’t need to fit a mold or “look like a violinist.” She just needed to be herself.
“I realized that just me being myself playing the music I like, performing hip hop, reggae, soca, and just me being me, looking like myself, just being me, got me an opportunity to headline such a major show,” she says.
As Mapy’s star continues to rise, she tells ESSENCE that there’s new music on the way and she looks forward to releasing an album later this year.
Her hope now is to inspire others. “Just be yourself and don’t let anyone tell you that you cannot do something, that you are not enough, that you are too much. Just be you; by being you, you can open big doors,” the violinist shared.