"Orchestrated Hip-hop" isn't new at all. So, don't think I coined a new phrase.
I call my music "Orchestrated Hip-hop" because I intentionally create most of my music using heavy symphonic instruments like those you would hear in an orchestra. Plus, I use heavy, hard-hitting, hip-hop beats as the foundation of the arrangements.
The instruments I use are only part of the reason I call my music Orchestrated Hip-hop. The other part of the reason is the way I use the instruments in the compositions. For example, when I created the tracks for "My Soundtrack: Music From The Life Of...", I was going for the soundtrack sound or "cinematic sound". You know, like the tracks you hear in the background of a film. I composed the songs in that collection with a running film in mind. So, each part (or movement) of each track was developed with a particular visual image in mind from my life story. I used the instruments to try and musically describe what I was seeing in my head.
That all sounds complex, but it's really as simple as trying to use instruments and sounds to tell the story you want to convey. Because I am often trying to tell a story with the tracks that I make, this is another reason why I call my music "Orchestrated" Hip-hop.
See, my intent is to create mini orchestral scores with each track I create. Now, I know that my music falls well short of the actual "movie score" material of my idol, Hans Zimmer, but that doesn't change the intent I have in mind when I start my creation process. That intent is part of my overall plan to have every track that I create tell a small part of my life story. It is this "masterminding", planning and directing, "orchestrating", that leads me to call my music Orchestrated Hip-hop.
