Post Malone
Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995),[1] known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and guitarist.[3] Malone has gained distinction and acclaim for his blending of various genres including hip hop, pop, R&B, and trap. His stage name was derived from inputting his birth name into a rap name generator.[4]
For the song by Sam Feldt featuring Rani, see Post Malone (song).
Post Malone
- Rapper
- singer
- songwriter
- record producer
- guitarist
- actor[2]
2011–present
Grapevine, Texas, U.S.
1
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Vocals
- guitar
Love In Colors
Malone began his musical career in 2011, and gained recognition with his 2015 debut single "White Iverson",[5] which peaked at number 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100. He signed with Republic Records[6] to release his debut studio album Stoney (2016), which peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and spawned the diamond-certified single "Congratulations" (featuring Quavo).[7] His second album, Beerbongs & Bentleys (2018) debuted atop the Billboard 200 and set numerous streaming records.[7] It contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Rockstar" (featuring 21 Savage) and "Psycho" (featuring Ty Dolla Sign), and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 61st Grammy Awards.
His third number one single, "Sunflower" (with Swae Lee) was released for the accompanying soundtrack to the 2018 animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; it became the highest-certified song in RIAA history as the first to receive double diamond (20-times platinum) certification. "Sunflower" was included on Malone's third album Hollywood's Bleeding (2019), which became his second to peak the Billboard 200.[8][9] It spawned the single "Circles", which was his fourth number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 61 weeks on the chart.[10]
His fourth album, Twelve Carat Toothache (2022) was supported by the top-ten singles "I Like You (A Happier Song)" (featuring Doja Cat) and "One Right Now" (with the Weeknd). His fifth album, Austin (2023) explored pop rock and reached similar success, supported by the lead single "Chemical".
Malone is among the best-selling music artists with over 80 million records sold.[11] His accolades include ten Billboard Music Awards, three American Music Awards, one MTV Video Music Award, and nine Grammy Award nominations.[12] He holds several Billboard chart records: He is the first solo lead artist to top both the Rap Airplay and Adult Contemporary charts, while "Circles" set the record for longest climb to number one (41 weeks) on the Adult Contemporary chart by a solo artist.[13] As of 2024, Malone holds the record for the artist with the most diamond-certified songs, with eight to his name.[14]
Early life
Austin Richard Post was born on July 4, 1995,[1] in Syracuse, New York.[15][16] He was raised by his father, Richard Post, and his stepmother, Jodie. His father had been a DJ in his youth and introduced Malone to many different genres of music including hip hop, country, and rock.[17] When Malone was nine years old,[18] he and his family moved to Grapevine, Texas, after his father became the manager of concessions for the Dallas Cowboys football team.[19][20] Malone began to play the guitar and auditioned for the American band Crown the Empire in 2010, but was rejected after his guitar strings broke during the audition. He credited his initial interest in learning guitar to the video game Guitar Hero.[21]
Malone has expressed his affinity for alternative rock music, and appeared for a DJ set at Emo Nite in Los Angeles, California, in June 2017, playing songs by American alt-rock band My Chemical Romance at the event.[22] According to Malone, his first foray into professional music began when he was in a heavy metal band.[23] He says soon afterwards he transitioned to softer rock as well as hip hop, before beginning to experiment on FL Studio.[24]
Musical style
Malone's music is hip hop,[129] pop-rap,[130] pop,[131] trap,[132] rap rock,[133] and cloud rap.[134] Malone's music has been described as a "melting pot of the country, grunge and hip hop"[135] and Malone himself has been described as versatile.[136] His vocal style has been described as "laconic".[137] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described Malone as "an artist who toes the line between singing and rapping, and hip-hop and spooky electric folk".[138] Malone himself has called his music "genre-less".
Malone cites Bob Dylan, in whom he became interested around the age of 15, as an influence on his music, calling him "a genius" and "a god" though his music has been called "about as far away from Rock n' Roll as you can get".[139] He called "Subterranean Homesick Blues" the "first rap song". He has a tattoo of Dylan as well.[19] Malone has cited Kurt Cobain and Johnny Cash as key influences too.[140] Malone has also cited 50 Cent, whom he called a legend,[141] Kanye West and Key! as influences.[142]
Relationship with the hip hop community
Malone has been called a "culture vulture" multiple times by different publications and on social media[143][144] for appropriating African-American culture.[145][146][147] California rapper Lil B wrote on Twitter in October 2017: "Post Malone is slowly turning into a white dude! Lol he's pushing it, give it a few years he gon be full country and hate blacks lol", with Malone replying in an interview, claiming that his white skin has been "used against him".[148] In January 2018, Malone went on an intoxicated rant against people who describe him as a culture vulture.[149][150] In an interview with GQ several days later, Malone said "there's a struggle being a white rapper."[151]
In a November 2017 interview with Polish media outlet Newonce, Malone said that modern hip-hop music lacks "people talking about real shit" and added that "if you're looking to think about life, don't listen to hip-hop."[142][152] He was criticized for his comments, including by fellow rappers Lil B and Vince Staples.[153][154] Malone later appeared in a video on Twitter, saying that the reason for his comments was that it was a "beer-tasting" interview,[155] and going on to say that he loves hip-hop.[156][157] Newonce, however, denied that claim, stating that Malone barely drank at all during the interview.[158] In the follow-up Malone went on to say, "What I was saying was that when I wanna sit down and cry, I sit down and I listen to Bob Dylan and his guitar. Just like everyone else, no matter how hard you are, no matter where you're from, you're gonna have times where you sit back and reflect on your life and you listen to what you wanna listen to. For me, that's Bob Dylan."[158]
Other ventures
During Malone's Runaway Tour in 2019, he released special-edition Bud Light beer cans at local stores in 15 cities.[159] He also released multiple lines of sunglasses in collaboration with Arnette.[160]
Since 2018, he has released several collaborations with footwear company Crocs.[161][162][163] The fifth and latest collaboration was released in December 2020. In May 2020, he launched his own line of French rosé wine, Maison No. 9, named after his favourite tarot card, the Nine of Swords. It sold out in two days upon being made available for sale.[164] In August 2020, Post Malone invested in Envy Gaming. He became a co-owner of the organization.[165][166]
An enthusiast of the collectible trading card game Magic: The Gathering, in 2022 he collaborated with publisher Wizards of the Coast to create two special supplemental sets: "Secret Lair x Post Malone: Backstage Pass", with cards featuring himself in the title and art, and "Secret Lair x Post Malone: The Lands", with cards featuring his tattoos in the art and flavor texts written by him.[167] He also owns the unique One Ring card, which he purchased for more than $2 million.[168]
In April 2023, Malone designed the exterior of a Raising Cane's restaurant location in Midvale, Utah.[169]
Malone is slated to appear in the professional wrestling video game WWE 2K24 as a downloadable superstar as part of the game's Season Pass. He also would curate the game's soundtrack.[170]
