Hip-hop artists jumping into other genres is a trend that has been happening for decades, and it’s only become more prominent. Lil Wayne’s Rebirth gave us rock, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly provided a beautiful mix of jazz and soul, and many artists like Drake and Nicki Minaj regularly find themselves making pop for the masses. However, I can think of few better examples of an artist seamlessly crossing into near-opposite genres than the certified hitmaker Post Malone. During the release of 2023’s Austin, it was obvious that he was at a crossroads with not only his musical, but life direction – fans expressed concerns for his physical and mental health in multiple performances that year.
Many cigarettes later, Malone had an epiphany: it was time to embrace country music. After the immediate success of “I Had Some Help” with Morgan Wallen, Malone knew he just struck gold. F-1 Trillion was released a few months later, featuring collabs from a who’s who of contemporary country hitmakers, as well as the legendary Dolly Parton and Hank Williams Jr. Fans were ultimately split as to whether this is proof of adaptability or an abandonment of the community that made him famous – and at the largest rodeo event in the world, there was no better opportunity to squash these tensions.
Walking on stage with the necessary smoke and drink to thunderous cheers and fireworks, Malone opened with his Tim McGraw-collab “Wrong Ones,” a blues-infused jam about shitty but sexy women – which always resonates with a crowd, even if they don’t know the song otherwise. From the get-go, I could already tell Malone was more confident in the consistency of his voice and performance engagement. He transitioned to the fan favorite “Circles,” and catchy country tunes with “What Don’t Belong to Me” and “Pour Me a Drink.”
He then introduced himself as Austin Richard Post, proclaiming his joy in playing some “shitty songs” and having a good time with Houston, Texas (he made sure to check in on the crowd after nearly every song, either for appreciation or applause). As a secondary source of entertainment, he balanced his red solo cup on his head while walking, in what I consider the biggest feat of the night. From that point, he euro-stepped between his respective eras and albums, beginning with 2018’s “Psycho” and 2016’s nostalgia hit “White Iverson.” His new musical identity did not hamper his performances of the classics, something I can tell much of the RodeoHouston crowd appreciated.
Bringing the crowd’s energy up empowered Malone (to his amusement) to take it right back down with the emotionally driven love duet “Never Love You Again,” bringing his acoustic guitar and spotlighting his band’s violinist and female singer. Continuing the theme of conflicted love, he passed the litmus test of any wannabe country artist: his first George Strait cover, “Ocean Front Property.” His performance here was definitely a bit shaky at first, but he found his way and thanked the crowd once more for “staying with him.”
He closed with nothing but hits, including the classic “Better Now” and of course the chart-topping “I Had Some Help.” Malone followed up with the trap classic “Rockstar,” which he creatively reimagined for the moment. Performing both his and 21 Savage’s verses, he cleaned up the thematic references of “fuckin’ hoes and poppin’ pillies,” instead calling on his band to shred their guitars as a rockstar would. Not coincidentally, he turned his attention to the crowd and pleaded with them to “do what they love with passion” and not to let anyone stop them, coupling the mini-speech with the definitive crowd-popper and graduation theme “Congratulations.” Yet, no song through the whole night was delivered with more of this passion than what Malone joked as his only good song: “Sunflower,” the Spider-Man collab with Swae Lee. He sang both verses and extended the performance to include violin, complete vocal dedication, and an amazing fireworks show.
My main takeaway is, compared to previous years, Post Malone has established his presence as a country star – but that does not mean he has to abandon his past entirely. Putting at least 2 songs from his 4 biggest albums, as well as continuing to experiment, proved that the hitmaker of our generation is here to stay.
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