Top Dawg Entertainment’s REASON Drops New Album ‘Porches’

California rapper REASON dropped his second studio album, Porches, via Top Dawg Entertainment on August 11th. It serves as REASON’s first full-length release since his debut studio album, New Beginnings, was released in October of 2020, which included features from Ab-Soul, Alemeda, JID, Mereba, Rapsody, Isaiah Rashad, Vince Staples, and ScHoolboy Q. Porches continues REASON’s noteworthy collaborations as it features fellow TDE artists, Doechii, SiR, Zacari, and Ray Vaughn, as well as others. The album also includes production from Boi-1da, Hollywood Cole, Coleman, fierce, Mike Hector, DJ Swish, and Vinylz.

Porches proves itself to be confessional and authentic. REASON was born in South Central Los Angeles but moved to Carson as a child. The juxtaposition of living in both neighborhoods only two miles away from each other was evident to REASON from the beginning. The differences in occupations, lifestyles and mindsets were noticeable, however, for REASON, the similarities were also noticeable. Porches is centered on the likeness throughout all human lives and how one of the only dissimilarities is the porch one comes from. Even the title could serve as a juxtaposition: should it be read as porches as in house porches? Or should it be read as Porsches as in luxury automobiles? Combining experiences and viewpoints from both himself and his family members, the emotional connection between all humans is creatively explored.

The lyricism of the album continues the honesty REASON has become known for, the same honesty that has caused controversy between him and his family. While he has regretted how he discussed certain family situations in the past, he uses his writing as a form of expression. In a recent NPR Morning Edition interview, REASON stated, “I feel like I’m almost, like, a comedian – not from the, you know, make-you-laugh standpoint, but how honest comedians are….I’m also not a great person at expressing myself to people, so I kind of do it through the music. That was why I got involved in music, was for therapy.”

Porches is accompanied by three music videos for its songs “You Betta (Jesus Take The Wheel),” “Call Me!” featuring Junii, and “At It Again.” It is now available to stream on all major streaming platforms.