There’s more to Post Malone than meets the eye
Post Malone is as hot as the sun these days.
The hip-hop star has scored nine platinum-plusselling singles since 2015, with three of those releases — “Rockstar,” “Congratulations” and “White Iverson” — crossing the quintupleplatinum threshold.
His first album, 2016’s “Stoney,” went triple platinum. The follow-up, the amazingly titled “Beerbongs and Bentley,” has only been out a few months but has already sold more than 1 million copies.
And, as we found out on Sunday at Shoreline Amphitheatre, the winning streak definitely extends to the live stage.
“Bay Area! How the (expletive) are you?” Malone asked the crowd “There are a lot of y’all (expletive) out there.”
There were, indeed. The 22-year-old vocalist sold out his concert at the Mountain View venue well in advance, drawing some 22,000 enthusiastic fans who jumped for joy and screamed in approval for much of the night. The show underscored that Post Malone is now one of pop music’s biggest stars.
His rise has been so meteoric that Malone is having to deal with a sizable backlash. Malone — who is white — has been labeled as another culture vulture who is cashing in by appropriating African-American music and style. Yet, thus far, the detractors haven’t been able to slow Malone down one bit.
“Post is like the Donald Trump of hip-hop,” Rob
Stevenson, an executive at Malone’s label, Republic Records, told the Los Angeles Times. “Things that should’ve killed his career have only made him bigger.”
The reasons behind Malone’s success were on full display at Shoreline.
Topping that list is his versatility as an artist. He’s equally at home whether he’s rapping out some hardedged hip-hop song, crooning a radio-friendly R&B number or strumming the acoustic guitar through a folksy favorite. Watching his show, even more so than with listening to his recordings, you really start to understand the overall package — and how it makes sense that he’s reportedly inspired by both Bob Dylan and 50 Cent.
He often undersells the material on his albums, but he was energetic and charismatic onstage as he rolled through “Too Young,” “Better Than” and other favorites to open the hour-plus show.
The emphasis is almost always on the party, which Malone celebrates and, occasionally, contemplates in so many of his songs. But, then again, what else would you expect from a guy who named his second album “Beerbongs and Bentleys”?
His verses can often be the sonic equivalent of high-fives among dudes at a fraternity party, as he croons about having “80 beers on Tuesday” while listening to Dwight Yoakam (on “Feeling Whitney”) or bragging that he’s going to be a “multimillionaire by the time I’m 23” (‘“Zack and Codeine”’)
So, in other words, is it any wonder that the lyrics proved so popular with a young crowd looking to party it up on a Sunday night at the Shoreline.
“If y’all know the words to this (expletive), sing it with me,” Malone told the crowd as he went into “No Option.”
He didn’t have ask twice. Fans sang along like their lives depending on it, especially once Malone trotted out “Rockstar” late in the evening.
Yet, this wasn’t just all about the rocking singles.
“You mind if I play some guitar?” he asked.
The crowd was fully behind him, so he picked up a guitar and launched into a short acoustic set highlighted by “Stay.” It turned out to be a nice change of pace, opening quite a few eyes for those who didn’t release Malone could and would thrive in such a musical setting.
But that’s Malone — who seems to rise in situations where many others would fall.
Also on the bill was 21 Savage, the rising star rapper best known for the singles “Bank Account” and “X” as well as for performing on Malone’s “Rockstar.”