Los Angeles-based artist Porsh Bet$ opens up to Notion about his unexpected steps into music, the new single “Things In The Way” and what’s on the cards for 2022.

Flushed with smooth hip-hop styling and oscillating pop synths, Harlem raised, Los Angeles based singer/songwriter Porsh Bet$ is firmly cementing himself within the music industry and for all the right reasons. Injecting drops of originality into an amalgamation of genres, his music steps into its own territory, engaging with relatable subjects, yet delivering them in a completely refreshing way.

 

The new single “Things In The Way” is the title track of his upcoming sophomore EP which is set for release at the end of February. Penned in a cloud of frustration whilst living in the opposite state to his girlfriend, the song confronts the obstacles of long distance relationships, listing everything that’s standing in between them. Dancing with themes of love and longing, and set against a backdrop of rippling synths and reverberating beats, the track is soaked with Porsh’s silky vocals; painting sultry R&B hues into the 80’s infused soundscape.

 

Capturing the reflective and wistful sentiment of the single, the accompanying visuals for “Things In The Way” show Porsh disentangling himself after being kidnapped and tied up. Directed alongside Isaiah Suko, the video acts as a metaphor for the challenges and constraints that stop you doing the things you want to do, or in the case of this song, being with the person you love.

 

Notion had the chance to chat with Porsh Bet$, diving into the story behind the music, his upcoming EP and goals for 2022.

Congratulations on the release of “Things In The Way”. Before we dive into this track, can you tell me a little more about how you first got into music?
Goodlooks! I always liked music but how I got into it was pretty random kinda honestly. I was living in Massachusetts after I dropped out of college there and one day I just went to this guys house who made music but not even to make music. I ended up seeing his studio gear and I was like “Yo lemme make a song.” That simple. I looked up a partynextdoor type-beat on YouTube, recorded the song in like an hour and dropped it on SoundCloud the same night. This was like a couple years ago… Looking back at it, the song was trash so I deleted all my old music but if you look up Apartmenttwenty1 you might find something lol. It was fun tho so I kept going and now we’re here. (Goodlooks means like thank you btw).
You were raised in Harlem, New York and have relocated to Los Angeles. Do you think your upbringing and move to LA has had an impact on your sound?
Yea Harlem, and I was actually born on the lower east side, then moved uptown when I was like 4 then I ended up going to school in Massachusetts for most of my teens. I think being from New York gave me like that swag, and I don’t think it’s necessarily that we all have the same style or whatever but it’s the confidence and energy thing. LA is where I really realized like “oh there’s all this out here too.” I feel like moving around a lot definitely gave me a wider perspective so I have a lot of different influences and reference points. Sometimes I feel like I’m exposed to so much that it messes with me like it’s so hard for me to stay in the same place or do the same thing for a long time.
You have a whimsical flair to song writing as seen in your track “Peanut Butter”; comparing a love story to your allergy. Do you have a particular approach when writing a new song?
I try to say funny shit sometimes because I think in general I’m always joking, so sometimes it gets in the music. A lot of the time my songs start out from free-styling or like train of thought just saying whatever. I swear with “Peanut Butter” I saw a jar of peanut butter in the room and it started from there. The whole meaning and story came after but it still connected to me, I think my brain like subconsciously had a relationship to peanut butter so that’s what stuck out to me. I’m trying to dig a lil deeper  tho like start writing stuff down but I think that in moment part is still important.
You seem to play with a lot of sounds and genres, as we’ve heard on your previous releases “2 The Weekend” and “Neiman Marcus (Hollywood)”, experimenting with everything from Hip Hop, Rock, Pop and Emo-Rap. How important is it for you to explore new genres?
Yea everything sounds a lil different, but I don’t go into thinking like “Yo I wanna make a “insert genre” song.” It’s way more organic than that. What’s important to me is doing what you want and what feels right.
How did your new single “Things In The Way” come about?
I was with MPhazes and he played the “Things In The Way” beat. I was missing my girl and stuff so that was on my mind and I just started writing and recording the whole thing then and there.
The accompanying visuals for “Things In The Way” looks like it was a lot of fun to film and sees you being kidnapped. What was the vision behind this?
It was so fun, I want someone to come and like videotape making the music videos because I feel that in itself is a very a chaotic thing. At least for me it’s never gone exactly to plan but that’s fun. I just told Isaiah that I wanted to be in straight jacket for some reason and then he helped me think through the rest. The vision was like one of those New York City action movies and the song just went perfectly with it. I love thinking about music videos like films, I wanna get into that world for sure.
What message do you hope listeners to take away from this single?
That it’s hard! It’s probably my favorite song of mine yet. Hopefully it’s someone else’s too.
With such a wide palette of sounds, where do you get your influence from?
Just the access I’ve had to all types of music since forever. Like everyone my age and younger could listen to whatever we wanted because it was online. I would be listening to some weezer or whatever then next click it’s drake and then it’s gym class heroes. I think I definitely chase the feelings of from music childhood tho and create my own version of that. I like the idea of music feeling new but nostalgic. Trying to master that right now.
Will your upcoming music see you working alongside any other artists and producers?
I would love to work with some other artists maybe sooner than later. I’m just shy, I want things to happen naturally but sometimes that takes reaching out still and I feel like that’s a force but I don’t know. Most of my friends right now aren’t in music I’d say.
“Things In The Way” is the title track for the upcoming EP coming out on the 17th February. Is the track a glimpse into what we can expect to hear from you in future drops?
It’s a glimpse conceptually but not sonically. I’d say all the other songs sound more similar to each other than this one but that’s why it’s the title track because I wanted to give people something they weren’t maybe expecting and there wasn’t a better way to describe this project than “Things In The Way”.
With 2022 kicking off with a brand new EP release, what does the rest of the year hold for you?

I wanna say another project. Maybe a mixtape or something like that. I’m still working on it. There will be more music and videos for sure no matter what. I definitely wanna play shows but I’ve been just waiting it out because of covid. I want it to be an experience so I’m figuring it out. I wanna do some other cool stuff too with clothing. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Stream "Things In The Way" below: