Yo-Yo Ma, The Silk Road Ensemble - Empire State Of Mind

[MsJeffrey911]

Is this a joke....YO YO doing a Gay -Z song and before you start ripping on me Grandaddy was from the Bronx so shhut it bitch!

[v10moped]

@MsJeffrey911 actually, Yo Yo Ma is doing Alicia Keys' version, not "Gay"-Z's.

[xDAxDeathNote]

Wait.... So they were in New Jersey?

[andipoetic]

See, in the town I was forced to live in, the kids would throw rocks at yo yo ma...not love him like this. These are healthy children, not like where I lived.

[IstvanHernek]

Fabulous! Inspiring!

[MakeMeOverDiva]

this sounds amazing.

[aznpowerdaniel]

many of my friends dont know this... actually none of them know this but before i was into hip hop, rap, and basketball, my first love was my cello

growing up yo yo ma was my michael jordan and despite i dont aspire to be a cellist anymore he still inspires me to be what i want to be :]

[mimmersk]

Kid's yawning at 1:53 - n- ..right when it's getting to the good part >:(

[mimmersk]

Yellow c:

[iMPERiOUS]

what a waste.. how did these kids not realize until 2:00 into the damn song.

i showed this to my little cousins and they were freaking out 20 seconds into the song

[hagenbell]

0:1 to skip commercials :)

[hagenbell]

1:32 my eyes started to get foggy. Look at the girls face, how she has a look of great interest. Yo-Yo Ma is a true inspiration and a pleasure to watch.

[HappyMealKing]

How can the people at vevo even sleep at night if an ad for a Lady GaGa video is on the same page as this masterful classical performance?

[electrostatic1]

@HappyMealKing I know it has been a while since you posted this, but I think the idea is still relevant. 

Are you aware that the piece being played in this "masterful classical performance" was written by rapper Jay-Z?

Another interesting note is that Jay-Z's tour drummer, Tony Royster Jr., is arguably one of the most talented drummers of his generation. Here is a clip of him playing Duke Ellington's "Caravan" watch?v=qvu0mZUFHMg

So watch this again, listen to that clip, and then...

[electrostatic1]

@HappyMealKing Contrast that with what Jay-Z and Tony Royster Jr. have to do to "get paid": watch?v=QZI9YvM02L8

Now think about the fact that they have to do that to make money, despite their greater abilities.

Is that a problem with /them/ or society? Or is it even a "problem" at all?

Likewise, would it really be Vevo's fault that they have to advertised Lady Gaga, or whoever else, to get the advertising revenue to pay Yo-Yo and Allison for their work?

Honest question.

[LatinoHeatMexico]

@electrostatic1 Incorrect, Jay Z did NOT write this piece at all

His producer created the original beat

and then these dudes based this piece off Jay Z's PRODUCER's work

[jbhgy1]

Yo-Yo Ma you are truly the best! Making classical music accessible and fun is very difficult, but you did it. Beautiful. I have one question though, why are most of this channel's videos not available in the US? :( Moar Yo-Yo Ma!

[fearreaper123]

really good yo yo ma if you read this can you show how to play this

[ForeverCellist]

I think it's funny they didn't realize the song until he started singing though. xD I did.

This is so awesome!!

[TheCursedhell]

Spectacular recording. Note: it seems like t-shirt colors represent race :P jk

[ginnie92]

At 2:31, this shows how slow these kids are in classical music. I jk ijk

[lostintravise]

great video - I love yo-yo ma

[SuperbCurmudgeon]

I just discovered this. I think I will come back to it anytime I'm feeling down or sorry for myself. Music does hath charm to soothe the savage beast and my savage beast is cynicism and or depression. What pure joy!

[KhaligulaKhan]

lmao this is so cute

[wolfofsahara]

New York City pride, everyone has it - in secret or in open.

[motrinmedic]

At first I kinda thought it was cool until you notice that these kids have no appreciation for yo-yo-ma, they didn't enjoy it until they realized it was a popular song.

[roundcircle29]

too bad the kids ruin this

[moonlightsanota]

Yo yo ma has been apart of every amazing song the world has ever came up with, from Bach to Carlos santana.

[Peggymargo54]

The Silk Road Project is all about bridging culturally through music, which is only one of many reasons I have such respect, admiration and love of Yo Yo Ma as a great musician.... and of course unmatched as a cellist who can play any genre of music besides classical. This video proves the success of creating that bridge between generations, appealing to and inspiring these children with delight, awakening their natural, individual musical selves....

[liameg528]

this made my life

[CarolusFilms]

Why couldn't they have gotten a better singer... the instrumental stuff is cool though.

[tiggerfitch]

I miss being involved in the arts like this. Thank you for inspiring our younger generations the same way I was.

[musiczQT5]

got chills

[broncos44ever]

Awesome. Brought tears to my eyes. Look at these kids faces and joy. Music unites us, overcomes our differences. Thank you so much.

[Xials]

I think Yo-Yo Ma is Amazing. He turned a song that is completely dishonest, into something with some real musical complexity. However, If you @BellePareti think this was even remotely classical music, your education on the matter is severely in question. Talk about inaccuracy. If this is classical music, then Mozart was the Father of Heavy Metal, and Bach the King of Country!

[motrinmedic]

@Xials this would fall into the "world" genre, which is a marriage of many genres with typically folksy and ethnic bases. So, if world is a marriage of classical (and all other genres) then it would be interacting with classical music. The genre "Classical" is a poor definition anyway, which combines anything which a composer and lumps it today, completely ignoring the many, many different "sub" genres.

[BellePareti]

It is wonderful to see so many kids' faces light up listening to and interacting with classical music. I love this about New York City - the arts are accessible to everyone. Kids from inner-city schools can go watch a Yo-Yo Ma concert. They clap, they dance, they sing. It's like Yo-Yo Ma is a member of Yo Gabba Gabba. @SciGuy013, if all you have is negative (and completely inaccurate - I wonder if you were watching the same video at all) stuff to say, you should have been "too lazy" to post.

[YusifRock]

@BellePareti yeah, except this isn't classical music, it's classical musicians *covering* pop music!! (which is wayyy better :) lol did u see how bored these kids were until they realized it was an a jay z song?? hahaha

[SciGuy013]

Poor vocalist, and it didn't seem as though Yo-Yo Ma was playing anything. It looked like he was hitting the side of his cello with his rod. (And don't correct me. I'm too lazy to look up the correct word.

[MyChocolatelover123]

@SciGuy013 you just can't appreciate the gift of music. I mean seriously, can't you just see how happy classical/pop music made these kids?