Who says classical piano players can only play classics?
Although we generally associate pianists with classical music, the truth is that it’s a much more flexible instrument than we give it credit for. If you need proof of that, one classical pianist reinvented his style for some students in Compton, California when he played a medley of Dr. Dre’s greatest hits.
The pianist in the video is Morris Rahbar, a composer and teacher in Los Angeles.
Many pianists and aspiring musicians take whatever chances they can get to show off their skills on a public piano. Although many of them are quite impressive, there are some that give us goosebumps and leave a mark on our memories.
Rahbar is definitely one of the latter, as he left the crowd speechless after playing an unexpected rendition of Dr. Dre’s songs through a five-song mashup.
The mash-up includes popular songs such as “Still Dre,” “What’s The Difference,” “The Next Episode,” “Kush” and “Nuthin/ But A G Thang.”
Because Dr. Dre got his start in Compton himself, it was only right that Rahbar paid tribute.
All the students at Compton high school were mesmerized with his beautiful rendition of the songs. From the beginning, Rahbar’s skillful playing made the hip-hop songs sound sharp and fresh in his classical style. Although none of the songs are particularly upbeat like the originals, they can still definitely make your heart pound! The entire time, Rahbar plays his notes with grace and precision.
Before long, all the students watching Rahbar were nodding their heads and having a great time filming the performance on their their smartphones. Although Rahbar was clearly trained as a classical pianist, he definitely seems to love classic hip-hop as well—after all, how else would he have been able to master these songs?
Since this clip was loaded online, Rahbar’s performance went viral.
Although the actual crowd in the room was amazing, the impact it had on the internet was even greater! The crowd was so hyped to hear Dr. Dre on the piano, and that energy paid off online—to the tune of 10 million views and 124,000 likes on YouTube.
Viewers went crazy in the comments section, expressing their disbelief and explaining how they got goosebumps from watching the video. In all, everyone expressed their full admiration of Rahbar’s work. If you check his channel, he definitely still does these kinds of things and it is a must to check him out.
The whole world definitely needs to see more of this!
Although plenty of people might think that classical and hip-hop music don’t go together, Rahbar definitely proved them wrong. Even more important is that Rahbar shared his talent with a group of high school kids who could relate to it. After all, Dr. Dre started his life in Compton playing music and ended up a music mogul and the first hip-hop billionaire!
Regardless of the genre, making music is all about inspiring people—and Rahbar definitely did that.
No matter where a person starts or what their background is, anybody can relate to the power of music in nearly any form. It has the power to touch people’s hearts… but it also has the power to make people a lot of money! In either event, Rahbar’s performance definitely brightened everyone’s day.
Congratulations to Morris Rahbar on the awesome performance! Watch the whole thing in the link below:
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