After a Two-Year Delay, Portland-Born Rapper Vinnie Dewayne Is Finally Ready to Release His Album. Too Bad It’s Happening in a Pandemic.

WW presents “Distant Voices,” a daily video interview for the era of social distancing. Our reporters are asking Portlanders what they’re doing during quarantine.

Vinnie Dewayne didn't intend to drop an album during a pandemic.

Back in 2018, the Portland-raised, Chicago-based rapper started putting out singles from the follow-up to his debut, 2016's The St. Johns Scholar. He planned to release the album in early 2019, and even put out a music video for the first single, "Losing Direction," an emotional tribute to his childhood friend Zachary "Grump" Nold, whose death in 2016 led Dewayne to take a hiatus from music.

Related: Following a Hiatus, V. Dewayne's Next Album Will Be His Rawest.

Instead, 2019 came and went, and Dewayne's album never surfaced. Shortly after reemerging, Dewayne disappeared from the public eye again, barely even posting on social media, let alone rolling out an album.

But now, he's back—and his album is finally finished.

Curbside Pickup is due out next month. Last week, Dewayne was in Portland filming two more music videos, including one with fellow North Portlander Mic Capes.

In between shooting scenes, Dewayne talked to WW about what delayed the album, and going viral for having the cops called on him while buying cat food at Walgreens.

See more Distant Voices interviews here.