Post Malone Is a rapper, writer, record producer and American guitarist. It is undoubtedly one of those stars that has taken advantage of digital media to expose the world to their music.
Malone's fame is recent. He became famous in February of 2015, after releasing his simple debut titled"White Iverson". In August of that same year it obtained its first record contract with Republic Records. And in December of 2016 the artist released his first studio album titled"Stoney".
His early years
Post Malone, whose first name is Austin Richard Post, was born on July 4, 1995, in Syracuse, a city located in central New York state. When he was 10 years old he moved with his family to Dallas, Texas, where he lived until he finished high school.
Of small Malone was fond of the sport. He liked to play basketball and watch sports on TV. Maybe his father had an influence on his tastes, since he worked with the Dallas Cowboys or Dallas Cowboys, as they are known in Spanish. Malone's father was the assistant director of the team's food and drink. And so the artist always had access to get free food and tickets to see the games of the well known football team.
But sports were not the only hobby of the rapper. The artist began playing guitar and auditioning for the band Crown the Empire in 2010. However, Malone was turned down to be part of this post-hardcore group after the strings of his guitar broke during the audition.
His initial interest in learning to play guitar began at age 14 when he started playing with the popular Guitar Hero video game. From that moment the artist began a self-taught learning stage in the field of musical production. And it did so thanks to YouTube and the FL Studio audio editing program. The artist came to confess that his love for music owes it to his father, who always exposed him to all sorts of genres, including country.
At the age of 16, he began working on his first independent mixtape while he was in a hardcore band with some friends. After completing that musical work, the artist showed them to his classmates and that made him gain popularity in school. The artist confessed that although everyone liked it and he also thought it was very good, the truth is that it was"horrible". The rapper claimed that at that time had no identity as an artist.
Malone graduated from high school at Grapevine High School. After that he enrolled in Tarrant County College because his parents wanted him to study. However, he ended up leaving the institute a few months after he started.
His musical career
Post Malone's musical career began like most artists: taking risks. The singer was sure that his future was in music, so when he left the institute decided to go to pursue his dream. He left Texas with his lifelong friend, Jason Stokes, and they moved to Los Angeles, California. Being in the city of stars, it was only a matter of time before his great opportunity arrived.
The first months in the city helped him to adapt to his new life. And that moment through a friend in common met the famous producer duo FKi, formed by 1st and Raye Rich. Soon they began to make music.
The first successful collaboration between the artists was"White Iverson,"a subject that refers - in part - to professional basketball player Allen Iverson. As the artist later confessed, the song wrote it two days before recording it.
In February of 2015 the subject was ready and it was uploaded to the SoundCloud account of Post. The song was a complete success on the platform. Therefore, for July of that same year the artist released the music video of"White Iverson". This increased the number of reproductions in SoundCloud, reaching an average of 10 million reproductions per month. The video, for its part, has obtained more than 205 million visits since its launch.
After its success with the subject"White Iverson", Post has released other singles in SoundCloud that also have had a good reception on the part of the hearing. Among these topics are"Too Young","Patience","What's Up"and"Tear $". All these songs have had almost the same level of popularity among the public.
After the resounding success he had with his first track, Malone quickly gained the attention of the record companies. Therefore, in August of 2015 signed his first contract of recording with the record seal Republic Records.
Your work with other recognized artists
The success of"White Iverson"opened the doors of the world of music to Post Malone. Thanks to that hit, he not only got his recording contract with Republic Records, but also earned him a chance to rub shoulders with big stars. Up until now, the artist already harvests a modest but important list of collaborations with greats of the music like 50 Cent, Young Thug, Kanye West, among others.
The opportunity to work with Kanye West came at the time he acted in celebration of the birthday of socialite and celebrity Kylie Jenner. It was there that he met the famous and controversial rapper, who approached him to tell him that he liked his music and that they should do something together.
Malone confessed how nervous and depressed he felt to know that he would enter a recording studio with Kanye and Ty Dolla. But for Post's luck, everything went perfectly. The artists worked together and the result was the track titled"Fade", which was premiered exclusively during the presentation of 'Yeezy Season 2', the Kanye West collection parade.
Another of the stars with which Malone has had the opportunity to rub shoulders has been with Canadian Justin Bieber. The singers became friends and this bond allowed the rapper to become one of the opening singers of Bieber's Purpose World Tour. In addition, Justin collaborated with one of the songs of the first album of study of the singer,"Stoney". The theme is called"Deja Vu"and was released on the Internet in early September 2016.
In May, the artist released his first mixtape entitled"August 26th". The name was a reference to the date scheduled for the release of their debut album"Stoney", which was delayed. In June 2016, Malone made his national television debut on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! Interpreting the theme"Go Flex"released in April.
Stoney, his first studio album
After postponing its release, Post Malone's first studio album finally came to light on December 9, 2016. The album was titled"Stoney"and was produced by Republic Records.
This album includes 14 tracks and features special guest stars such as Justin Bieber, 2 Chainz, Kehlani and Quavo. In addition, it counts on the production work of Metro Boomin, FKi, Vinylz, The MeKanics, Frank Dukes, Illangelo, among others more.
The album is supported by four singles:"White Iverson","Too Young","Go Flex"and"Deja Vu"with Justin Bieber. The promotional single for the album is"Congratulations", a song by the rapper with the collaboration of Quavo. This theme was released on November 4th. The second promotional single was"Patient", released on November 18. And the third and last single was"Leave", released on December 2.
After the release, the album received positive reviews by the critics. Some said that compared to Malone's debut single,"White Iverson","Stoney"continued with that style, although it did not have the same level of inventiveness and surprise as that track.
The album was also rated as 'competent and listenable'. However, it is said that many have already traveled this same road and have not always gone well. Critics agree that Malone certainly has a long way to go before standing out with a unique style. But there is a chance that he will achieve good things with this record.
Post Malone as part of Culture Vulture
In a short time Post Malone has managed to be on everyone's lips, in the audience and the great industry. It has been billed as the new American rap sensation. But he has asserted that he is not considered a rapper but rather an artist. He is young and like every boy of his age, shows that he has great ambitions. His illusion and energy is evident with every word he utters. And the success he has achieved in just over a year makes it clear that he knows where he wants to go.
Malone has commented that he does not want to categorize things, although he is aware of the fact that his work approaches the public of hip hop. But he still struggles to put an end to the stigmata of this genre and does so by proposing a much broader approach to hip hop culture. The singer wants to find an ideal point to make perfect music, that born for the simple pleasure of creating it, without thinking about whether or not it will be a commercial success.
Post Malone's musical and personal style sounds like a creation that has absolute freedom. After listening to their first single, many have defined it as part of Culture Vulture.
For those unfamiliar with this term, Culture Vulture is an expression that is often used to refer to a person copying different styles. These can be elements such as language and fashion from different cultures. He takes them, adapts them and makes them his own.
But this association with Culture Vulture has not been done positively, but on the contrary. Post Malone is a white boy who wears braided hair and raps. It's a bit of what we saw in the era of Eminem, where the singer obviously did not fit in with what the public and industry were used to seeing in a rapper. This combination of elements has been the trigger for criticism against Malone. But none of that has prevented him from further advancing in this genre.
For many others the singer is simply the reflection of a new generation. It is not a matter of being produced artists who seek to fit into the music and draw the attention of the audience to where it occurs. They are artists with their own identity, who act without thinking if others think it is right or wrong. And so is Post Malone.
By his style, this singer could be the perfect example of what it is to be an independent artist, those who can reach very high without the help of anyone. However, for those who want to reach the goal as fast as possible, self-production is not always the best way.
Malone needed a record label to make his dream possible and he has achieved it by the Republic Records label. The future is no longer gloomy for Post Malone. And although it has enough way to go, already begins to take real steady steps in the world of music.