There needs to be more genre-bending artists in the industry.
Genre-bending artists don’t try to stay in one box; they try everything even if it annoys the critics and listeners.
Post Malone continues to do just that.
Early in his career, it would be easy to call Post a rapper but as the years have gone on, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that his music is influenced by everything. There’s a little country twang, classic rock n’ roll, infectious pop and beat-driven rap in his sound and styles. And it always works.
His third album, “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” follows the everything formula and it pays off. Not only do the 18 tracks stand out from one another in style but seven of those tracks include featured artists that are both formulaic and surprising.
It makes sense to include other rappers on your tracks but when you bring Ozzy Osbourne into the mix—that’s when things get interesting.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to go track by track, but let’s give some special attention to the future chart-toppers and songs that are bound to play on loop in your brain.
The first standout is “Allergic.”
The track begins with what sounds like rattling chains before Post’s sultry voice sings and then shouts “Allergic!” The lyrics are classic Post Malone, they’re dark, sad while also following the formula of rap lyrics about love, drugs and other vices. It’s the actual music that make this a standout song. It’s rock influenced, which can be interpreted from the banging drums and electric guitar throughout the song. These are not the typical sounds of rap.
The next standout and future chart topper is “Die For Me,” which features rapper Future and singer-songwriter Halsey. Compared to Post, Future is a textbook definition rapper, but their collaboration works. Their voices blend nicely together, and it’s a genius decision to have them both sing the chorus separately and then together. It flows in the right way. It’s not too much at once. You get eased into the song without your brain having to register two different vocal styles at once.
The addition of Halsey makes the song even better. The lyrics tell a story of a toxic relationship that involves infidelity and Halsey serves as the female side to the story. She has a softer voice and adds the female voice perfectly. You can’t have a song about a relationship that only gets told by the man, you need the woman, too.
As Ozzy Osbourne was mentioned before, it’s essential to talk about “Take What You Want From Me.” Osbourne opens the song, immediately giving it a darker edge. A collaboration between Post Malone and Ozzy Osbourne might seem surprising to casual fans of Post but it actually makes a lot of sense. Post Malone is a heavy metal fan’s rapper. He’s embraced the genre in his music and this song makes that abundantly clear. Travis Scott is also on the track adding his signature auto tune vocal style to the mix. You can only dream what a music video for this song would look like.
Another collaboration that comes together beautifully is “Staring At The Sun,” featuring SZA. SZA has collaborated with rappers before, so it’s not a shot in the dark for these two artists to come together. Social media influencer Kerwin Frost remarked to Post in an interview that the song reminds him of “Sunflower,” a previous Post Malone smash from the soundtrack to “Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse.” Frost is right, the songs sound similar and it’s probably due to the singing styles of Swae Lee and SZA being similar. They have softer styles that harmonize nicely with Post’s rapping. These blends tend to make the best Post Malone songs and considering how popular “Sunflower” became, it’s very well possible that “Staring at The Sun” could become a Top 10 hit.
The last song that deserves recognition is “Internet.” It sounds like it belongs on his debut album “Stoney,” because of its sound, but it’s truly a song for 2019.
Posty raps: “I just seen lil’ mama Instagram and she flexin,’ don’t care about your puppy, just that ass and them breastses, oh girl, you a model? Damn, I never woulda guessed it, and if you tryna throw out all them vibes, I’ma catch ‘em, the lifestyle we live is just too dangerous.”
It’s simply commentary on the role social media and the internet have in how we see ourselves and others. Post’s opinion of social media and its role in his career is going to be a strong one. He makes that opinion clear, “well, f— the internet, and you can quote that, whoa.”
Post Malone’s experimental, genre-bending styles deliver on “Hollywood’s Bleeding.” It’s a strong album from start to finish. It’s not repetitive or lagging, and it doesn’t sound like anything else in the rap community.
That’s what so great about Post Malone. He’s never going to sound like everything else on the radio. He’s always going to do his own thing.
