Meredith Ezinma Ramsay (born January 11, 1991), known professionally as Ezinma, is an American violinist, model, music educator and film composer from

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United St ...

. Ramsay gained viral fame in 2017 by performing a violin cover of American rapper

Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currentl ...

's hit "

Mask Off A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practica ...

", and for her performance during Beyoncé's 2018 Coachella performance. In 2020 she debuted as a solo musician under Universal Music Classics.

Life and career

Early life

Ezinma was born in

, to a Guyanese father and German-American mother. Her father is a professor of actuarial science, while her mother is a creative non-fiction author and works as an English professor. Ezinma started playing the violin at age three, and continued to play throughout school. By junior high school, she felt alone as she was often the only black classical musician onstage, and did not meet another black string musician until she was 13. As a child, she listened to a wide range of music, including her funk, reggae, jazz, and Caribbean soca due to her father, and

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

through her mother. Ezinma attended the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univer ...

, where she originally studied

pre-med Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med course ...

, before switching degrees to music. At university, Ezinma formed a string and piano trio, and was mentored by members of the

Chiara String Quartet The Chiara String Quartet was an internationally performing professional string quartet based in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Group was the Quartet-in-residence at the School of Music in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Blodgett Artists-in-R ...

. In 2012, Ezinma moved from Nebraska to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to study at

Mannes School of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School c ...

, the classical division of

the New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

, which helped her see outside the rules of classical music. Ezinma began releasing music featuring both her violin performance and vocals, and intended to release these songs on an

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

called ''I Am Ezinma'' in 2016.

Viral popularity

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 Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

's "

Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwi ...

" posted to

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. During this time, Ezinma continued to release original music, such as "Elevate Me" in 2016, and the instrumental "Give It Up" in 2017. In April 2017, Ezinma uploaded a cover of

" as a part of a viral challenge featuring instrumental covers of the song. Ezinma's version gained her millions of views across Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, and led to a sudden increase in her popularity. American musician Beyoncé took notice of Ezinma's videos on social media (even before her version of "Mask Off"), and invited her to perform as a part of Beyoncé's 2018 Coachella performance in April 2018. Between 2017 and 2018, Ezinma appeared in modelling campaigns for Adidas,

Gap Inc. The Gap, Inc., commonly known as Gap Inc. or Gap (stylized as GAP), is an American worldwide clothing and accessories retailer. Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The c ...

and

Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty Inc., ...

Debut

In early 2019, Ramsay signed to Universal Music Classics. 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. Ramsay has worked as a film composer, scoring the soundtracks to the documentary film ''The Times of Bill Cunningham'' (2020), and the

Oluniké Adeliyi Oluniké Adeliyi (born January 5, 1977) is a Canadian actress. She appeared in the 2010 horror film ''Saw 3D'' and starred as Leah Kerns in the television series '' Flashpoint''. Early life Adeliyi was born in Brampton, Ontario, of Jamaican-Nig ...

-starring short film ''Promise Me'' (2020). In August, Ezinma released her debut single "Beethoven Pleads the Fifth". 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.

Personal life

Ezinma's parents divorced when she was young, and she has two brothers and two sisters. Her mother, Lisa Knopp, is an author of creative non-fiction books, and works as a professor at the

. She is an honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Guest appearances

References

{{Authority control 1991 births 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century American composers 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century classical composers 21st-century classical violinists African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American women classical composers African-American women musicians African-American film score composers Afro-Guyanese people American classical violinists American film score composers American hip hop musicians American people of German descent American people of Guyanese descent American women classical composers American women film score composers Decca Records artists Living people Mannes School of Music alumni Musicians from Lincoln, Nebraska Universal Music Group artists University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni 21st-century American violinists