Hip-hop violinist makes comeback after homelessness, depression

Damien Escobar remembers the day he fell in love with the violin.

He was a third-grader attending a public school in New York City. When asked to choose a string instrument for music class, he didn’t hesitate.

“I gravitated toward the violin,” said the musician who grew up in Jamaica, Queens. “It was a love at first note kind of thing.”

By 10 years old, Escobar was accepted into the Julliard School of Music, where he thrived as a young protege. Now, at 30, he is a world-renowned violinist making a comeback after a period of homelessness and depression.

Escobar will perform at the 2017 MLK: The Dream Lives Unity Commemoration, which will be held Saturday at the historic Liberty Theatre on 813 8th Ave. The event, organized by the Mayor’s Commission on Unity, Diversity and Prosperity, is free and open to the public. The event will include a 9 a.m. race, noon processional and 12:30 p.m. program. Escobar will perform between 1 and 1:30 p.m., according to organizers.

Escobar first hit the music scene performing with his older brother, Tourie, under the name Nuttin’ but Stringz. In 2008, the duo appeared on “America’s Got Talent,” winning third place with their unique blend of hip-hop and classical sounds.

Yet, it hasn’t been a smooth journey, the musician told the Ledger-Enquirer.

Escobar said he was teased by his peers when he first began playing the violin in elementary school. When he entered high school, he wanted to fit in with his friends, so he stopped playing music.

“I put the instrument down and joined a gang, which is absolutely ridiculous, looking back on it now,” he said. “I became a product of my environment. I dropped out of high school. I joined a gang. And I did some pretty foolish things.”

Escobar said he took a pistol to school during his freshman year in high school. He was expelled and charged with possession of a weapon. But a judge dismissed the case, giving him a second chance. So he went back to school and earned a GED. He also tried his luck at basketball, joining the traveling AAU team. He said he was recruited by a few colleges, but got injured before he could play his first college game.

At 17 years old, Escobar resumed playing the violin, which led to him and his brother competing on “America’s Got Talent.” But the success was short-lived, he said.

“I made my first million bucks in my early 20s,” he said. “It gets to your head. The instrument for me at that point was nothing more than a commodity; something that I used to make money. I didn’t really care about it. I didn’t care about anything. I was making a lot of money.”

Escobar said his brother had the same mentality, and they soon separated.

“It took about seven or eight months for me to lose everything,” he said. “The condo that I was living in went into foreclosure and I had to sleep on the subway for about two months.”

He struggled with depression until his 5-year-old daughter asked him what he was going to do with his life, he said. To get back on his feet, he worked in real estate for a couple of months, and soon realized that wasn’t his calling.

In 2012, he picked up his violin and started playing again. Since then, he has worked his way back to being one of the world’s top violinists.

Escobar is currently promoting his newest single, “Get Up and Dance,” which is the lead single from his second solo album, “Boundless.”

“For me, it’s a different journey,” he said. “It’s deeper than music. It’s more about chasing my purpose, instead of chasing paper. When I started doing that, everything fell into place, and it has been amazing.”

This story was originally published January 9, 2017 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Hip-hop violinist makes comeback after homelessness, depression."