Porter Weston Robinson (born July 15, 1992) is an American DJ and electronic music 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.
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. Robinson's single "Ghost Voices", released under his 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 high profile year-end lists, including The Fader's list of the "50 Best Albums of 2021", where it was rated the best album of that year. His third studio album Smile! :D (with a smiley face emoticon) came out in 2024.
Music to me has always been a form of expression, and his music has completely changed my view in being alive and the world around me. From the musical journey that "Worlds" was, the completely soul breaking and rebirthing that "Nurture", to the new personal love letter to us that "Smile!:D"is. Barely any artists that make some sort of relevancy create to express themselves, and rather to just make money or some earworm. Porter stated once in an interview during the release of his single "Language" as to creating in order to bring out the emotion of the people that listen to his music.