Multi-faceted alt hip-hop artist/ producer Roderick Porter has spent the year keeping fans engaged by dropping new singles, culminating in today’s surprise release of his EP IMPERFECTIONST. The track “THEN / NOW” is the final piece of a carefully curated collection, joining previously released singles that include “FACt Of tHE MaTTER,” “BALANCE” ft. Phabo, “Du$k,” “PHASES,” and “NOT AGAIN.” Each single has offered a glimpse into Porter’s evocative artistry, and together they form the cohesive and compelling narrative of IMPERFECTIONST.
On the concept of the project, “There’s this paralyzing anxiety that I feel like comes with being a perfectionist,” says Porter. “It’s never feeling like things are right or ready. But it’s so freeing to do the reverse of that and find empowerment in the stain on your shirt. Accepting the errors and imperfections in people and the world around you has saved me from a lot of stress and paranoia.”
With IMPERFECTIONST, Porter hopes to help listeners feel confident in their flaws. The EP hears him find beauty in the cracks, sharing his own struggles, insecurities and heartbreaks over six tracks of cloud-woven, soul-searching alt-hip-hop teeming with happy accidents (right down to the typo in the title). He spent a year writing 25 songs for the project, whittling it down to the best six. The work honing his artistry and songwriting on IMPERFECTIONST paid off, as Porter’s music has had a hot streak of viral tracks that ignite the algorithm.
On IMPERFECTIONST, Porter welcomes the human errors, opting to keep every shaky melody, voice crack or background noise rather than sterilizing the recordings. He hid easter eggs in the project’s accompanying visuals with “invisible mistakes,” from inside-out clothing to improperly cropped photos.
As Roderick Porter continues to evolve his sound and push artistic boundaries, he remains a beacon of talent and an exciting artist to watch.