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Again when he was nonetheless attending highschool and bumming it part-time on the Hen Specific, Austin Richard Post was voted “Most Prone to Grow to be Well-known” by his classmates. Three years and numerous tragic hairstyles later, those self same classmates — and hundreds of thousands of different listeners — have been telling him “Congratulations.” That’s one thing to consider as that very same artist now performs to hundreds a evening throughout the nation whereas on his almost year-long “Runaway Tour.”
(Purchase: Tickets to Upcoming Post Malone Reveals)
It didn’t take Post Malone lengthy to change into a burgeoning hip-hop star as soon as he uploaded his first single, “White Iverson”, to SoundCloud in February 2015 on the age of 19. He launched an accompanying music video in July; inside a month, it had amassed greater than a million views, and Post signed with Republic Data in August. Star-studded collaborations — together with a function on Kanye West’s The Lifetime of Pablo observe “Fade” — and a gap slot on Justin Bieber’s Goal Tour adopted, and by the point he launched his debut album, Stoney, in December 2016, Post Malone had arguably change into rap’s hottest newcomer. The trap-pop-country hybrid debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. four and spawning the diamond-certified single “Congratulations”. It ranked seventh on Billboard’s 2017 year-end chart, eighth in 2018, 24th in 2019, and sixth for the last decade, incomes a triple-platinum certification from the RIAA.
Most pop artists dream of attaining Stoney’s stage of success, nevertheless it was simply the tip of the iceberg for Posty. His 2018 follow-up, beerbongs & bentleys, granted the rapper his first No. 1 album, smashing streaming data and yielding the chart-topping singles “Rockstar” and “Psycho”. Final yr’s Hollywood’s Bleeding prolonged his No. 1 streak, incomes the second-biggest debut of the yr behind Taylor Swift’s Lover. However Hollywood’s Bleeding received the lengthy sport, beating out Swift, Billie Eilish, and Ariana Grande to change into the best-selling album of 2019.
In lower than 5 years, Post Malone has graduated from a sentient composite of Keystone Gentle, Cheeto mud, and Name of Obligation discs to the second-biggest rapper on this planet behind Drake. On one hand, he defied almost each aesthetic customary set by major-label pop stars at first of the 2010s. But, by mixing seemingly disparate musical genres into a sugary cocktail of algorithmic pop-rap and releasing his early music with out a intermediary, Post additionally helped redefine the modern-day pop star and set a template that can doubtless endure all through the next decade.
A part of Post Malone’s early enchantment got here from his obvious lack of curiosity within the machinations of the pop music trade. Contemplate among the largest pop and mainstream rap albums of the early 2010s: Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream, Woman Gaga’s Born this Means, Kanye West’s My Lovely Darkish Twisted Fantasy, Taylor Swift’s Pink. All acquired exhaustive, protracted rollouts with in depth interviews and methodical single releases. Their accompanying excursions have been multi-sensory spectacles, and their iconic visuals turned integral parts of their total displays.
At first, Post Malone couldn’t be bothered with such pristine packaging. He appeared like a Lambda Chi pledge who awakened with weed resin on his Rebelution shirt, and his boneheaded bangers made the proper soundtrack to the earlier evening’s keg stands. By importing his music straight to SoundCloud, he averted major-label purple tape and communicated straight along with his followers, a technique later employed by emo- and punk-rap transgressors reminiscent of Lil Peep, XXXTentacion, and Tekashi 6ix9ine, all pillars of the “SoundCloud rap” micro-movement. Post’s willingness to speak with followers as a common individual additionally translated to Twitter and Snapchat, the place the rapper bought in on the puns concerning his identify and implored followers to “go away me Malone.” Lately, artists can harness social media platforms reminiscent of Twitter and, more and more, TikTok to catapult their songs to viral fame, straddling the road between skilled musician and part-time shitposter alongside their followers.
(Purchase: Tickets to Upcoming Post Malone Reveals)
But, if Post Malone’s self-promotional instruments and aesthetic informality have been indicators of a shift in pop music’s core values, his songs adopted a time-honored custom: appropriating black music and making it extra “palatable” for listeners who would in any other case by no means interact with hip-hop. Regardless of his supernatural knack for a good hook, Post Malone just isn’t a notably gifted rapper, nor has he professed to be. Even throughout his Stoney days, Post expressed a want to not be pigeonholed as a rapper; based on XXL Editor-in-Chief Vanessa Satten, he didn’t seem on the 2016 Freshman cowl as a result of “we have been instructed by his camp that he wasn’t being attentive to hip-hop a lot. He was going in additional of a rock/pop/nation course.”
Certainly, Post has displayed a penchant for genre-hopping in his music, from the grungy alt-pop of “Circles” to the aggro-rock anthem “Take What You Need”, which inexplicably options Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott. However that proud style agnosticism belies an unwillingness to totally embrace the style that made him a celebrity. In 2017, he instructed Polish publication NewOnce, “In case you’re wanting for lyrics, for those who’re seeking to cry, for those who’re wanting to consider life, don’t take heed to hip-hop … Each time I wish to cry, each time I wish to sit down and have a good cry, I’ll take heed to some Bob Dylan.” Unsurprisingly, his statements earned swift backlash, they usually did nothing to quell accusations that Post was a “tradition vulture” who exploited hip-hop for private acquire however would drop it in a heartbeat — very similar to Miley Cyrus pilfered southern hip-hop and black dance developments on 2013’s Bangerz, solely to return to her lily-white nation roots on 2017’s Malibu and disavow hip-hop in a Billboard interview the identical yr.
Post later walked again his feedback and emphasised his love for hip-hop. However even when the “tradition vulture” designation is harsh, it’s truthful to say he’s a musical vacationer, touching down in a number of totally different musical landscapes, snatching souvenirs, and incorporating them into his personal work. He’s not alone: A number of up to date rappers have borrowed from the sound and aesthetic of rock and steel lately, from mosh pit grandmaster Travis Scott to Marilyn Manson fanboy Lil Uzi Vert to late emo crooner Juice WRLD. In the meantime, pop stars proceed to sing triumphant vocal hooks over explosive entice beats to most impact, from Ariana Grande to Billie Eilish to Halsey to BTS.
As a new decade dawns and social media renders old school trade gatekeepers out of date, pop stars will proceed flaunting their style eclecticism to mirror the multidimensional tastes of themselves and their followers. As at all times, some makes an attempt can be real, whereas others can be bald-faced theft of a music and tradition these artists can’t declare as their very own. Post Malone has already ridden this wave to unbelievable heights, and his peak is probably going nonetheless on the horizon — so long as he lets his music do the speaking.
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Tickets to Grammy-nominated Post Malone reveals will be discovered right here.