Back in February we premiered “Lightro,” a track off Seattle rapper Porter Ray’s official debut album Watercolor — which dropped in March — that featured Stas THEE Boss of THEESatisfacton. Today, he’s following up that up with an unreleased track, “Russian Roulette,” from the Watercolor sessions that once again features the legendary Stas, along with production by B-Roc and Vitamin D. Porter raps fast and loose over an experimental, smeary beat punctuated with woozy, psychedelic strings, narrating the kind of hookup that goes much farther than that first night.
Stas comes in about halfway through to add a hook that’s as sensual as it is rhythmic, and the contrast of the two voices is part of what makes both of these songs from Ray so strong. Stas and THEESatisfaction show up countless other times across Watercolor, along with other heavyweights like Shabazz Palaces, Ishmael Butler alone as The Palaceer, Cashtro, Fly Guy Dai and more. One of my friends calls the Pacific Northwest “the magical rap forest” and it’s albums like Watercolor that make a slightly facetious title like that feel spot on. The whole record is a spectacular, tangled mess of fast-spit, existential raps, gorgeous, dreamy strings, and jagged beats. It’s one of the best things to come out of the Northwest this year.
Stream “Russian Roulette” above, and check out his full album and tour dates below.
05/02 — Bellingham, WA @ Wild Buffalo w/ Murs
05/11 — Seattle, WA @ Upstream Music Festival
05/16 — Denver, CO @ Cervantes’ Otherside
05/17 — Ft. Collins, CO @ Hodi’s
05/18 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
05/19 — Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
05/26 — Quincy, WA @ Sasquatch Music Festival
06/02 — Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
Watercolor is available now via Sub Pop. Get it here.
