Porter Weston Robinson (born July 15, 1992) is an American DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Robinson began producing electronic music during his adolescence. 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 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 Mag's Top 100 DJs list for seven consecutive years. The album was critically acclaimed and is considered to be a major influence on the broader sound of EDM following its release. 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 a self-titled EP the same year. "Ghost Voices", released under the Virtual Self alias in 2017, earned Robinson a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.
Robinson released his second studio album Nurture in 2021, which debuted atop Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums and earned him widespread acclaim. Nurture was included on several year-end lists, including topping The Fader's list of the "50 Best Albums of 2021". His third album Smile! :D was released in 2024, supported by a world tour spanning over 70 shows between 2024 and 2025.
Robinson was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he resides. He is the second of four boys in his family (in order: Nick, Porter, Mark, Robert). He was accepted into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where both of his parents are alumni, but did not attend himself due to his newly launched music career.
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 the 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 anime music video.
2014–2019: Worlds and Virtual Self
Robinson's debut studio album Worlds was released through Astralwerks and Virgin EMI on August 12, 2014. The album focused more on melodies to invoke a sense of nostalgia, juxtaposing the percussive bass driven tracks he had released previously. Robinson collaborated with multiple vocalists and musical groups including Urban Cone, Lemaitre, Breanne Düren, and Amy Millan. He made his official vocal debut on the single "Sad Machine". The Vocaloid software voice, Avanna, was also used as a vocalist for this single. Robinson then embarked on the Worlds Live tour, a new live show that involved him singing, playing synthesizers, and triggering samples, supported by artists Giraffage and Lemaitre. The tour headlined popular music festivals, including Ultra Music Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival, and Coachella. A remix album of Worlds titled Worlds Remixed was released on October 2, 2015. It included remixes by electronic artists Odesza, San Holo, Mat Zo, Electric Mantis, Galimatias, Last Island, Chrome Sparks, Deon Custom, Rob Mayth, Point Point, Sleepy Tom, and Slumberjack.
On January 31, 2016, Robinson announced on his Twitter account that he was producing new material after being "stuck" for a year and a half. On August 11, he released "Shelter", a collaboration with fellow musician and friend Hugo Leclercq, better known by his stage name Madeon. An animated music video was released for "Shelter" on October 18, animated by A-1 Pictures and jointly produced by Robinson, A-1 Pictures, and Crunchyroll. Robinson and Leclercq then embarked on a nearly year-long joint international tour dubbed the "Shelter Live Tour", where the two performed live shows onstage together, with supporting acts from Danger, Robotaki, and San Holo.
On October 25, 2017, Robinson released a new single titled "Eon Break" under the alias Virtual Self, announced via his Twitter page. A music video was also released on Robinson's YouTube channel, containing abstract three-dimensional art and cryptic messages seemingly focusing on the words "angel", "virtual", "void", and "utopia". His follow up single was released on November 8, 2017, which is titled "Ghost Voices". An accompanying music video for the track was released on February 28, 2018, via Robinson's YouTube channel. In January 2019, it was announced that "Ghost Voices" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording, marking Robinson's first nomination. Robinson celebrated the accomplishment by playing three Virtual Self sets in Los Angeles before the awards ceremony. In a statement to Billboard Dance, Robinson says he discovered the nomination through Twitter "of all places". At the time, he hadn't even realized "Ghost Voices" was submitted for consideration.
Virtual Self released a self-titled EP on November 29, 2017. He held a debut live performance on December 8, 2017, in Brooklyn, New York City. Virtual Self shows continued in 2018, with appearances at multiple festivals including Ultra Music Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival, and Bonnaroo, followed by three Europe shows and a two-month North American "UTOPiA SySTEM" tour. Robinson also released "Angel Voices" on July 20, 2018, a happy-hardcore infused remix of "Ghost Voices".
On March 4, 2019, Robinson announced Multiverse Music Festival, a one-day festival in Oakland, California, featuring a self-curated lineup and co-presented by Goldenvoice, slated for June 15 in Middle Harbor Shoreline Park. The name of the festival was changed to Second Sky Music Festival four days later due to complaints from local promoters that had organized a fest in Oakland with a similar name the previous year. A second day was added during presale due to tickets for the original date selling out rapidly, sharing all but one act from the first day's lineup. Robinson stated in an interview with Pollstar that "The main reason I wanted to do an artist-curated festival is I have this fantasy of there being a place where all of my favorite music can coexist." Shortly after announcing Second Sky's lineup, Robinson announced another Virtual Self show, a series of six DJ sets under his own name, and later, two more Virtual Self appearances.