For those who enjoy music beyond the hip-hop realm, the name Portishead will no doubt carry weight. Known for their unique blend of "trip-hop," the English band has contributed plenty of worthwhile material to the musical canon; fun fact, Portishead drummer Clive Deamer is currently acting as Radiohead's touring (second) drummer. In this context, Rocky seems interested in swapping ideas with instrumentalist, DJ, and producer Geoff Barrow specifically, so much so that he enlisted the "Defense Squad" to rally behind his cause.
"I NEED HELP FROM ALL MY FANS AND FOLLOWERS N DEFENSE SQUAD TO GET GEOFF FROM PORTISHEAD’S ATTENTION," writes Rocky, "all-caps" for emphasis. In loyal fashion, several fans proceeded to retweet Rocky's original message, which promoted a gracious response from Flacko himself. As of now, Barrow has yet to respond, but given Testing's sonic aesthetic, it would most certainly be a glorious match-up. In the name of experimental hip-hop, we will attempt to do our part to help.
Testing remains one of the year's better releases, and it seems likely that Rocky will only continue to evolve as an artist. Should he prove interested in blending genres, working with Geoff Barrow is a promising start. Now, all we need is for him to get in touch with Thom Yorke.
