Unwinding the Rules of Post Malone
Back in 2015, a New York-born, Texas-raised teenager became a rockstar. His name is Austin Post—otherwise known as Post Malone. His first song, “White Iverson,” was an instant hit and garnered a shout out by the late Mac Miller. People mostly took him for a one hit wonder and a wannabe, as he was a white man trying to join into the hip-hop genre, which is mostly composed of African American artists. Now, in 2020, Post Malone has three albums, two of which have gone platinum: Stoney in 2016 and Beerbongs and Bentleys in 2018. He has numerous American Music Awards, including Favorite Rap Album and Top Rap Album in 2019, for his latest project, Hollywood's Bleeding.
While he may have won these awards for his hip-hop songs on the albums, his general persona of being a rapper has diminished. Post has become a master at being able to pick a genre of music and twist it to fit a more hip-hop theme the way he wants it. His music is simply so unique and incomparable to any other artist out there right now.
For example, if you listen to the song “Candy Paint,” the beat has a happy feeling and almost a Christmas vibe to it, if you will. But his lyrics have more aggressive meanings with an interesting word choice, spanning from cuss words your mom might use to words thrown haphazardly on Compton streets. Amazingly, it works with the beat and the general public received it well, as it was one of the most popular songs on Beerbongs and Bentleys and used in the Fast & Furious soundtrack. Or in the song “Hollywood's Bleeding,” it starts off with a melancholy type beat with a guitar playing a simple chord in the background, leading you to think it’s gonna be a slow song. Then, after he says, “Yeah Hollywood is bleeding but we call it home,” the beat drops hard (harder than my grades freshman year), and Post Malone unleashes straight fire. Rapping fast, while still being understandable, he flows with the incoming hip-hop beat. It’s like someone who has emotion built up inside them, and is just letting it all out in rhythm. If there’s a genre, good ol’ Posty probably has a song for it.
“I think the best thing he does is how he sticks to his own style and fits all genres. He doesn’t stick to tradition and implements his own style,” Taylor Hartley, 12, said.
Not only that, but the people he chooses for collaborations aren’t always the ones you’re expecting. The song “Take What You Want” from the Hollywood’s Bleeding album. It was, in my opinion, the best collaboration in music in 2019. The song featured Post Malone, Travis Scott, and Ozzy Ozborn—all three individuals have completely different styles of music. Post was able to get them all on a track and produce a beautiful song combining the three genres of pop, rock, and hip-hop, into one perfect beat with just the right amount of style ingrained into it.
“All of his songs you get a heartfelt, emotional vibe in his lyrics. That’s also true with his slower songs. He wants to have fun and let everyone enjoy his music and keep creating his best work,” Taylor also said. The public response to this song was amazing, as Billboard ranked it the top song of its album, and literally brought fans from heavy metal, hip-hop and pop together to enjoy the masterpiece.
Post also carries a different vibe when he is featured in other artist’s songs. The way he is able to create and sing the hook of the song is enough to get anyone’s head bopping to the beat. Sometimes offering an upbeat or funny vibe, like in “Tommy Lee” by Tyla Yaweh, he can also give a serious, edgy, and aggressive vibe, like in “Wolves” by Big Sean.
So much talent is shown by this man and we ought to appreciate it. The way he is able to bend the rules of music to fit his will and his agenda... It’s amazing to see, and he has already set his place in music history as one of the greatest and most popular artists of all time. He truly is livin’ like a rockstar.