West Philly's Chill Moody making history at The Mann Center

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- On Wednesday night, West Philadelphia rapper Chill Moody says he's looking to make history at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts.

He's the Mann Center's first Community Artist-in-Residence.

For one of the shows he's curating, he's assembled an orchestra, a rapper, a choir and a DJ to celebrate the worldwide 50th Anniversary of hip-hop.

Chill Moody says he's always liked to create things that he wished existed.

"I grew up down the street from the Mann Center, and we'd ride past there on our bikes," he says. "We would see like all of the cars parked on the lawn, and I wondered who was performing. We never heard anything about hip-hop or R&B. So now we're opening it up all the way. Now, I'm not just a fan, I'm helping be the architect of something new."

Chill Moody will perform "Black Metropolis" by composer Darin Atwater, with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

It's a collaboration of classical music, hip-hop, spoken word, dance, and visual art.

"There are like 96 people on stage, which is crazy," he says. "We also got a 30-voice choir, Soulful Symphony. The Mann Center holds 14,000 people. It's a free show and we got a chance to really pack it out and change some things. People could be witnessing some history on Wednesday."

The free show kicks off Wednesday night at 8 p.m.

You do have to register. Click here for details.