Musician

About this song

"Musician" is the fifth single from Porter Robinson's sophomore album Nurture. It draws on three borrowed elements: vocal chops built from an unreleased collaboration with Kero Kero Bonito, a classic vocal sample from "It Takes Two" by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock that enters in the second verse, and a synth fill after the second chorus that references the intro of Max Coveri's "Running in the 90's." When a January 2021 Stereogum article leaked abbreviations of most unreleased Nurture track titles, "Musician" was the only one whose full title was posted.

What it's about

The song depicts the internal struggle Porter felt after the release of his debut LP Worlds, and how he worked through worries that music was not the right path for his future.

Fun facts

• Samples “It Takes Two by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock” and “Think (About It) by Lyn Collins”.
• Sampled in 40 other songs, like “⁣ahhhh... the smell of burning goats by MC DRS”.
• Covered 3 times, including “Musician by ‌keudae”.
• Written by Gus Lobban, Sarah Bonito and Porter Robinson.
• Produced by Porter Robinson.