Porter Robinson and Ninajirachi Release Debut Collab Single WannaCry

Porter Robinson and Ninajirachi have released "WannaCry," their debut collaborative single, out July 28 on I Love Cats/NLV Records. The track is a punchy, synth-driven piece of hyperpop-leaning electronic music built around an unlikely concept: sympathy for a ransomware virus. It is already doing numbers in the culture.

The collab almost did not happen. Both artists are self-described shy when it comes to reaching out to peers, but Robinson made the first move, sliding into Ninajirachi's DMs after watching her career accelerate over the last year. She came out to his Chapel Hill studio in February, and the two built the song in a single session before eventually circling back to it after exploring other ideas.

How Porter Robinson and Ninajirachi Built WannaCry

The song takes its name from the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack, but the angle they landed on is stranger and more interesting than a simple reference. The track is written from the perspective of the virus itself, at the end of its life after infecting every machine it can reach. Robinson pointed out the double virality of that moment: the attack was literally self-replicating, and its name was emotionally catchy enough to spread on its own. That kind of conceptual layering, emotional and high-energy at the same time, is exactly what both artists are known for.

Ninajirachi did heavy lifting on the production side. Robinson has been open about the fact that she fixed a bass sound he describes as "whack," transforming it into what became one of the track's defining textures. She also built out the breakdown, the soft parts, and the chorus. Robinson handled the structural instincts, picking the best ideas quickly when Ninajirachi would throw out options. The chemistry was direct.

The two first shared a stage when Ninajirachi opened for Robinson on his 2025 Australian tour, a full-circle moment given that she has talked publicly about his live show being the first time she ever stood in front of a PA system and a massive LED wall as a teenager. Robinson's record "Worlds" is, by her account, genuinely life-changing music for her generation of producers. Frost Children's Lulu Prost co-signs the same thing.

"WannaCry" was debuted live during Ninajirachi's Coachella set in April before its official release, and it has been described by Robinson as a "live bomb." It is his first track in a while built specifically for the dance floor and festival context rather than leaning on chorus-heavy vocal writing. That matters. Ninajirachi played Lollapalooza the day after the Billboard interview went up.

What This Collab Means for Electronic Music Right Now

Robinson made a point that is worth sitting with. He said a generation of artists, Ninajirachi and Frost Children among them, have taken influence from his earlier work in a way that finally feels like genuine understanding rather than a funhouse mirror version of it. That is a real thing happening in electronic music right now, where the emotional, conceptual strain of mid-2010s electronic production is getting picked up and pushed forward by a new wave of producers who actually lived inside that music.

If you are an independent producer or electronic artist trying to understand how genre-bending, concept-driven work gets built and released, this collab is a case study worth studying. The song, the rollout, and the label structure behind it are all intentional.

Watch where this one goes on the charts over the next few weeks. Robinson thinks it has "future classic" potential, and based on the early response, that is not an empty call.