Porter Weston Robinson (born July 15, 1992) is an American DJ, record producer, musician, and singer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Robinson began producing music in his childhood. He signed to Skrillex's record label OWSLA at the age of 18, and released the extended play Spitfire in 2011. He appeared on Billboard's 21 Under 21 list in 2012.
Robinson's debut full-length studio album, Worlds, was released in 2014 and peaked at number one on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums. He won the 2015 MTVU Artist of the Year, and made DJ Mags Top 100 DJs list for seven consecutive years. At the inaugural Electronic Music Awards in 2017, he was nominated for Single of the Year and Live Act of the Year, both with Madeon, for the single "Shelter" and the Shelter Live Tour, respectively. He began producing music under the alias Virtual Self in 2017, releasing his self-titled EP in the same year.
Robinson's single "Ghost Voices", released under the Virtual Self alias in 2017, earned him a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. He released his second studio album Nurture in 2021, which debuted on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums at number one, marking his second album to do so, and earned him widespread acclaim. Nurture was included on several year-end lists, such as Billboard's list of the "Best Albums of 2021".
Early life
Robinson was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and currently resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He was accepted into UNC, where both of his parents are alumni, but did not attend himself due to his newly launched music career. He is the second of four boys in his family (in the order Nick, Porter, Robert, Mark). He has stated that he is very close friends with fellow DJs and record producers Madeon and Dillon Francis.
Career
2005–13: Spitfire
Entirely self-taught, Robinson began producing at the age of 12. While posting his early music on online forums, he met future collaborator Madeon, who was using the aliases "Daemon" and "Wayne Mont". From 2005 to 2010, under the alias "Ekowraith", he released "hands up" music via YAWA Recordings. Robinson then began producing music that he called "complextro", adding classically inspired melodies and complicated fills to his music. Starting to release music under his own name in 2010, Robinson released a variety of original singles on Glamara Records and Big Fish Recordings. One of his most notable releases was "Say My Name", which reached number one on Beatport, launching Robinson into the mainstream dance music world. Eighteen at the time, Robinson started achieving international notice, catching the eye of dubstep producer Skrillex. In 2011, he signed a one-EP deal with Owsla, a then-new label operated by Skrillex, to release the eleven-track Spitfire. As the first release on OWSLA, it topped iTunes Dance chart and Beatport's overall chart, crashing the latter's servers upon release. Robinson released a single, "Language", on April 10, 2012, through Big Beat Records in North America, and Ministry of Sound everywhere else. The song was relatively different in its production than the "complextro" sound that Robinson had become known for, favoring a more melodic sound and a dream-like piano lead. The song rose to the number one overall chart position on Beatport as well as the iTunes Dance chart. The single was premiered initially via a live BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix on January 27. The music video, directed by Jodeb, was released via Ministry of Sound's YouTube channel on August 1, 2012. The song was also included as the menu music for the 2012 video game Forza Horizon. Throughout the rest of 2012, Robinson embarked on his "Language Tour", supported by artists Mat Zo and the M Machine.
Robinson co-wrote Zedd's US top 10 hit "Clarity", as well as singing backing vocals. The track was originally going to be released as a collaboration between the two artists called "Poseidon" alongside a joint tour, but Robinson backed down and withdrew his name because he did not want to release a pop single while he was "trying to do something that wasn't shooting for the radio" with his debut album. On December 17, 2012, a collaborative single with Mat Zo entitled "Easy" was pre-released exclusively on Beatport by Ministry of Sound, and spent two entire weeks as the number one overall song on the Beatport Top 100 chart. The full official release occurred in spring 2013, and was accompanied by an animated music video.