Nessly

Maclean Porter, who records as Nessly, crafts contemporary rap whose debauched lyrics shift between rapped and sung passages delivered with relaxed melodicism. An Atlanta, Georgia native, he began rapping before reaching his teens and continued laying down tracks for years until his Soundcloud streams rose sharply. Consistent output paired with focused effort, including repeated bus journeys to New York and Toronto plus performances at parties and other underground venues, helped him cultivate a loyal underground audience; that visibility grew substantially once Pharrell’s OTHERtone and Drake’s OVO Sound programs began airing his material. In addition to scattered singles and many guest appearances, he self-released the nine-track projects Still Finessin’ and Solo Boy Band in 2016. Those projects led to a contract with major-label Republic, which put out his more expansive Wildflower in early 2018. The next year brought Standing On Satan’s Chest, featuring guest appearances from Lil Keed, 6 Dogs, Killy, and Yung Bans.