Orrin uses the collective “we” when discussing his indie-rap persona. “The name is Orrin,” he says. “We are a collective conscious and cyborg from the year 2050.” The collective pronoun befits Orrin’s multi-layered sound: With his cacophony of influences, ranging from early hip-hop to sci-fi movies to New York City stoop culture, the solo artist’s rap flow is multifaceted in every sense.

Though inarguably of-the-moment, Orrin’s preoccupation with futurism and the apocalypse telegraphs a nostalgia for simpler times past. He suggests as much when he attests that, despite his woozy synths and slick, robotic visuals, “The vibrancy of human contact is always a source of inspiration.” Even so, it frames human connection as constantly imperiled—as did Tyler, the Creator’s rap crew Odd Future, originally known as “Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All,” whom Orrin calls an inspiration. “Humans are writing their destruction with tools such as disease, famine, environmental disaster, and technological singularity,” adds the Queens-based rapper. Orrin’s brand of anarchism, however, includes a few more Jetsons-style bells and whistles: The cover of his 2019 self-titled album, which he and producer Warren Wolfe began working on in 2015, features a glowing, Terminator-adjacent self-portrait. The universe of Orrin is thus a kind of retro-future—one that looks to the past while anticipating our jeopardized future. “It’s an 11-track coming-of-age story,” he says of Orrin. “The project reflected the growth and change that happened during this [five-year] period. It’s [also] a digital commentary on humanity’s reliance on technology, using pirated software and artificial synths to replace live instrumentation.”

Also included in Orrin’s forward-thinking vision: a line of apocalyptic-chic apparel and lifestyle merch, complete with “deconstructed pants” and mouse pads. (The line launched on Orrin’s website, ironically listed as “Realorrin.com,” this February). His next musical installment will be MUTANT, which Orrin describes as a prequel to his 2019 debut, explaining “the true origin of the [titular] mechanized cyborg.” That drop is slated for early summer 2020—if the planet lasts that long, that is.