By Daniel Warren Hill
Do you ever fear that robots will take musicians’ jobs? Robots are not the only threat; AI artists are recording, performing, and growing human fans at alarming rates. It may be possible that “cyborg rapper” Orrin has stumbled on the possible solution for averting the inevitable coming war with Skynet by becoming more than human, though not all machine. Orrin and his fans, called “the borgs,” form a “collective conscious” work together “shedding light on the corrupt society (aka ‘the Matrix’) that confines artists to fit certain stereotypes.”
Phrases like “She knows that I’m a cyborg ‘cuz she think my heart is hard to find / Cut off all my friends because I’m paranoid they after mine,” hint that the latest single by Orrin, “Project X,” may be about the difficulty of forming and maintaining relationships. Other lyrics clue us into the notion of facing those who don’t understand us, perhaps even to the point of responding to haters by simply acknowledging them while rising above them.
Listeners who feel out of their time will feel right at home with this artist from the year 2050. The concept behind Orrin’s backstory and the way this persona extends into their artistry is globally appealing because the collective is a “we,” not an “I,” which gives the feeling that the community is involved in developing this identity and the resulting music rather than solely by the artist.
The commitment to this collective consciousness is present in video interviews with Orrin and sometimes results in the kinds of humor that can only occur while translating between man and machine in a very “all your bases are belonging to us” kind of way.
Orrin is also capable of having conversations with and engaging in communities from a unique perspective on a variety of topics ranging from identity, science, technology, fashion, and cryptocurrency. Orrin sparks our imagination while exploring the nature of our humanity and the ways we continue to evolve.
Assimilate yourself and check out “Project X” below, available on all major platforms and on the Alchemical Multigenre Mixdown playlist.
Daniel Warren Hill is an American musician, writer, and motivational speaker. He is best known as the frontman for Washington DC area Alternative Rock band YellowTieGuy, as co-founder of Capitol Groove Collective, and increasing the exposure of artists on a global scale through his work with Alchemical Records.
After AFI DOCS’s departure, the capital city once again has a documentary festival.
Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
