When David France walked into a Minneapolis bar called The Red Sea and saw a white, Jewish rapper performing in Hebrew, his first thought was, ‘this guy needs a violin’.

As it so happened, Mr. France had just the guy to provide that violin - himself.

“I was walking home from the University of Minnesota, where I was a student, when I saw that this guy called Golden was playing at a place called The Red Sea,” said Mr. France who now teaches music at the Bermuda School of Music.

“I went in and listened and he did a rap in Hebrew. I went up to him afterward and said, ‘you are good, but the new trend is violin and hip-hop. If you had me, you’d be really<$> good’.”

The two musicians became friends and communicated for a year and a half, before they decided to go ahead with the violin-accompanied hip-hop song.

“I went over to his house and recorded this track about five years ago,” said Mr. France.

“It was funny because when I went to his house we had known each other for a year and a half, but he had never heard me play the violin. He would even tell some friends, ‘this guy plays the violin really well’.

“It wasn’t until I recorded it that he ever heard my violin playing. I laid down some tracks. Then a month later he came back with this track which he rapped on top of.”

Last week Golden released his album ‘Peddling Medicine’ on i-tunes, and Mr. France and his violin can be heard on the title track. ‘Peddling Medicine’ is already doing well, and the album will be released in stores on May 15.

“It is in the top fifty albums,” said Mr. France. “I think it is pretty incredible, because the top fifty includes albums from a couple of years ago.

“And the New York Post has also offered the title track to all their readers for free on their website under ‘MPFrees’. So it has been a whirlwind journey for me.”

Playing the track with Golden, represents a major career breakthrough for Mr. France. Six years ago he recorded a CD with a Christian artist, but this is probably his biggest commercial success.

Golden is an independent artist from Reading, Pennsylvania, an area better known for its shopping than its hip culture. On his website, Golden said the city’s diversity had given him a better perspective on life.

“I didn’t live in a bad part of town,” he said in his website biography.

“I lived in a section called Hampton Heights, which is in northeast Reading. But while I lived in a nice house and firmly in middle class to upper middle class community, three blocks away were Section B and the projects.”

Although Golden, may not fit the stereotypical rap star, Mr. France said Golden is the type of person who has stayed true to himself.

“He is not trying to fit a persona,” said Mr. France. “One of his tracks is called ‘It Aint Me’. In it he basically says everyone that he isn’t.”

Mr. France said i-tunes warns that there are explicit lyrics in the music, but in fact, Golden, is not a gangster rapper.

“It might be because he swears on some of the tracks,” said Mr. France. “‘Peddling Medicine’ is basically about his life. I think it is a refreshing entry into the hip-hop genre. All the songs are in English. The only time I ever heard him rap in Hebrew, was that day at the Red Sea.”

Mr. France said he was interested in playing the violin with Golden, because there is a trend in hip-hop music to add the violin. Other artists who are doing it include Mary Ben Ari and a group called ‘Nuttin But Strings’.

“I was curious to try the violin out with different styles of music,” Mr. France said. “When I met Golden that day, it was my opportunity to convince this guy to let me play the violin on a hip-hop album.”

He thought that if a musician was creative enough, they could make the violin work for any type of music.

“I think it is the lyrical nature of the violin,” he said. “It mimics the human voice a lot. It can emote different types of emotion so it lends itself easily to different types of music, the same way that the voice would.”

Many musicians and teachers are hoping that the new trend will encourage more kids to take up playing musical instruments.

“It shows that if you play the violin, you don’t necessarily just have to play classical music,” said Mr. France. “However, these other people who are making their living from hip-hop violin, their foundation was classical music. Everyone comes from the same rigorous classical foundation. Once you have the tools and technique then you can decide if you want to play classical, or you want to play something else, or you want to improvise,” he said. “No one ever taught me how to play alternative styles. All my violin teachers taught me classical music. But they also taught me to play by ear.”

Mr. France said Mark Wood, who bills himself as ‘the electric violinist’ visited Bermuda in January. He takes string instruments and creates a rock beat to go with them.

“He shows the kids,” said Mr. France. “He believes that interest in classical music and string instruments is dying. He is trying to make it relevant to current styles. I am not sure that that is necessarily my belief, but Mr. Wood believes that if you can show that the violin is relevant, then it will increase the interest from young kids.”

So far Mr. France’s own violin students have been very positive about the recording with Golden.

“I sent an email to my students about it, and all of them loved it,” he said. “I teach from ages four to 14. It is cool because the New York Post, called it the ‘inoffensive title track’ on their website, which is the one I am on. A parent of a four year old, can give it to their child and not worry.”For more information about Golden or the new album, go to www.peddlingmedicine.com .