Post Malone has had a blockbuster year. First, there was Beyoncé’s irresistibly eye-catching collaboration ‘Levii’s Jeans’. And then there was Taylor Swift’s depressing and wistful “Fortnight.” And most recently there was upbeat country bop in the form of “I Had Some Help” with Morgan Wallen.
Malone was already known for his collaborations, but his increasingly widespread presence, including two of the biggest albums of 2024, raises questions: Why has Post Malone become an artist to watch for so many major works?
Typically, these partnerships have business considerations along with creative ones. Artists often collaborate with people who share a record label as a way to jointly promote an album. You may want to team up with unexpected singers to expand your audience and reach new listeners. And they could simply enjoy another performer’s music and consequently want to duet with them. (Wallen’s rep declined to comment, and reps for Swift, Beyoncé and Malone did not immediately respond.)
For Malone, this collaboration checks a few boxes. Swift, for example, is signed to Republic Records, as is Malone. Swift and Malone have expressed admiration for each other’s work before. Swift said she was “so jealous” of the “hook” of the song “Better Now” and Malone said he was “touched by her heart and spirit.” ” Both men may have gained other benefits from their partnership as well. Malone would give Swift a slight advantage while also gaining her a whole new fan base that would be much larger than her existing one.
The growth in listenership may be due to not only her work with Beyoncé, but also her recent hit with Wallen, who partnered with Republic and established herself as one of country music’s biggest stars. Malone is set to release his own country album soon, and this partnership helped him create buzz and lay the groundwork for his debut.
“It strategically positioned Post Malone as the main artist on the album, who was well-versed in country and pop,” says Drew Nobile, a music theorist at the University of Oregon. In fact, by working with these artists, including Blake Shelton and Noah Kahan, Malone is getting his “stamp of approval,” Nobile says.
In that way, several of Malone’s duets are reminiscent of how he first established himself in hip-hop, when he adopted many of the trappings associated with the genre and utilized collaborations to gain credibility.
And there’s a reason artists like Beyoncé and Wallen partner with Malone. Experts say Malone makes for an interesting team-up from both a musical and strategic perspective. Because his voice and sound are so flexible, he often complements and even imitates the artists he works with. Viewed positively, this is evaluated as an ability to transcend genres. More critically, he has been accused of cultural appropriation, especially borrowing from black culture when it suits him. Because of the rebellious persona he established and his history of producing hits, his image and songwriting abilities also attracted him.
Malone, 28, first rose to fame as a hip-hop artist, having achieved major success on the Billboard charts with songs such as ‘White Iverson’ and ‘Congratulations’. On his first album, Malone strategically utilized his features, working with major hip-hop artists like Quavo and Kehlani while strengthening his own musical talents.
“He’s not really a rapper, but he’s had a pretty solid relationship with hip-hop. You know, he’s more of a singer.” says Jack Hamilton, a cultural historian at the University of Virginia.
In addition to being known for his catchy choruses, Malone has built a more challenging brand. He’s cast himself in the image of rappers like Lil Wayne, Birdman, and Gucci Mane with his prominent facial tattoos, grills, and general party boy aesthetic. For example, Malone is so famous for representing Bud Light that he has his own custom can.
“I think of him as a very vibe-based musician,” says Hamilton. “He had a very laid-back personality. He’s kind of a lifestyle brand for a certain type of young audience.”
But Malone has been scrutinized for failing to bring much more to the table than atmosphere. Or, as a New York Times music critic once put it, “His songs sound like everything and yet nothing.” Some of Malone’s trademarks include his signature vibrato bending and moody vibes, but few singles stand out entirely. While certain experts I spoke with about this work praised Malone’s ability to work across musical styles, others said they did not find his work particularly noteworthy.
This same criticism was extended to the persona he embodied, which also called for cultural appropriation. During his initial debut, Malone wore his hair in pigtails with grills and spoke in a manner reminiscent of African-American vernacular English, a habit he now seems to distance himself from.
Malone’s critics have argued that he is taking on black culture and hip-hop culture without giving it back or acknowledging it. A statement he made in which he warned fans not to listen to hip hop if they wanted to think about deeper emotions and did not identify himself as a rapper furthered these concerns.
Now that he has moved into rural spaces, his image has changed. He still has his facial tattoos, but now he has shorter hair, a unkempt beard, and a new wardrobe. Just like Ariana Grande, he also seems to have changed the inflection of his voice. This led to Malone being criticized for adopting the looks and lyrics associated with black culture when it served him and when it helped him gain a platform, he discarded them.
“This is a common trend that we see historically among artists,” Jeremy McCool, a media professor at West Chester University who has a forthcoming book on socially conscious hip-hop, told Vox. “White artists like Kid Rock, Machine Gun Kelly, and Yelawolf are prime examples of other artists who rose to prominence by making hip-hop-centric music and later transitioning to a different sound and aesthetic, often leaning toward rock star or country music. Country persona.”
But in recent years, “social media has made it much easier to see these rebrands happening in real time,” he added. “You can look at how an artist’s photos and posts change and see how they completely break away from their ‘hip-hop’ persona.”
Malone’s fans praise his adaptability and argue that he is simply being true to himself by avoiding being put into a rut. Less flattering reviews write him off more as a culture vulture who lacks authenticity and is only able to move this way because of his whiteness. Some experts explain that this fluidity is key to his appeal.
“He’s a stylish chameleon,” says Adam Bradley, a UCLA English professor who has studied pop music and hip-hop. “He feels just as comfortable in country as he does in rap, R&B, rock and straight pop music.”
What does Post Malone offer and what does it offer?
Musically, says Bradley, Malone “meets the music where it is, rather than dragging it where it wants to go.” In doing so, he seems to add enough to his songs to make his presence felt, but not enough to outshine the main artist. Often he seems to take on the energy and sound of the artist, says Slate’s Chris Molanphy.
This could make him an attractive partner for other singers, who have praised his songwriting abilities and the earworms he works with. “I was a huge fan of Post,” Swift said. “Because of his musical experiments as a writer and the melodies he created that will stick in my head forever,” Swift said.
His images also seem to expand the way they are perceived, providing an edgy vibe that some artists may lack. “I think a lot of artists are just as drawn to Post Malone’s imagery as they are to his artistry,” Bradley adds. “He now lives almost exclusively in his own cultural space. He’s a good bad boy.”
This adds to the business case for working with Malone. Many of the artists he collaborates with have large, established audiences, but teaming up with him helps them reach fans who might not yet have any. Plus – considering he, Swift, and Wallen are all on the same label, the duet would probably give Republic a boost as well.
Another reason we’re seeing so much of Malone is because this is part of the launch for his new national transition. Just as he once entered that space by working with hip-hop artists, he appears to be doing the same again as he ventures into this new genre.
Beyonce and Malone’s collaboration coincides with the release of her country album. cowboy Carter, for example. The choice to include him could be her way of being inclusive, Nobile says, and an effort to send the message that artists shouldn’t be limited to just one genre.
Malone’s recent actions shed new light on his privilege as a white male artist and how it enabled him to make this transition. His decision to work with Wallen, who has previously been criticized for using the N-word, only emphasized this point.
“Post Malone is a white artist who has come to prominence in the black genre of hip-hop, and many of his previous collaborations have been with black artists,” says Bradley. “By transitioning to country and folk, he is exercising a privilege not even afforded to Beyoncé, one of the greatest black artists of all time. Beyoncé has recently received a lot of backlash for her transition to country music.”
These privileges, along with his talent, are key to Malone’s success. And that allowed him to pursue a variety of collaborations and avoid getting caught up in the process.
