Chill Moody (left) and Darin Atwater collaborated on “Black Metropolis,” which will be performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and others at the Mann Center on July 19. Photo by Shawn Hatten.
In Tuesday’s (7/18) Philadelphia Inquirer (log-in may be required), Peter Dobrin writes, “Hip-hop is now notching a half century, which means it’s had more staying power than a few other major movements in music…. Neoclassicism and serialism seem like blips on the screen compared to the genre that came out of New York City in the 1970s and grew up in Philadelphia. It’s a point not lost on Chill Moody and Darin Atwater, whose hip-hop-infused, symphonic-fortified ‘Black Metropolis’ makes its world premiere July 19 in a free concert at the Mann Center…. ‘Black Metropolis’—which was commissioned by the Mann Center—speaks to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, but more specifically to hip-hop as a ‘social movement and how music is constructed around culture,’ says Atwater, the Baltimore-based composer and pianist…. Atwater’s score draws on parts of his earlier Paint Factory and features the composer on piano and Moody as rapper, the Soulful Symphony Choir and Rhythm Section, DJ Wendel Patrick, various saxes and a Hammond B3 organ, and the Philadelphia Orchestra led by Jonathan Taylor Rush…. The Philadelphia Orchestra … thinks this is the ensemble’s first time performing with a hip-hop artist. It has worked with Atwater before, premiering his stunning ‘South Side: Symphonic Dances’ … in 2018.”
