Post Malone - beerbongs & bentleys

Post Malone
beerbongs & bentleys
2018
Spotify

There is a lot of music I like that drives my friends fucking nuts. Trap namely being one of the biggest with me throwing something I find hype as hell on whenever the aux makes it's way to me while my friends roll their eyes. This however does not extend to Post Malone. I never got why "Rockstar" was a hit, nor why anyone bought into Post Malone's clearly lifted aesthetic. The film that accompanied this new release "Post Malone is a Rockstar" seems to be more about proving that He is not the person you think He is and silence the haters, but it more so paints a picture of someone who is not as confident in the work they produce as they may let on. It would be silly to say and artist can't have thin skin, of course they do since being sensitive is basically a description of their job but Post Malone seems to take it to another level here. I'm sure the dude gets a lot of hate, but with the amount of success He has had early in his career you would expect him to be somewhat immune of distant from it. Well, all those tweets seem to make it straight into his brain, because it is a constant topic of conversation on this massive sophomore release. It's ambitious at 18 tracks with only one interlude, but it ends up being just way to much music. The tracks aren't different enough nor novel enough to make this album make sense, in fact without the features you can imagine just how mundane this record would be. Post Malone doesn't have any ideas past flossing or calling out haters, that is damn near it for over an hour. His one trick just can't be played this many times and have people still be excited to see it.

The elephant in the room obviously is how much Post Malone rips off Lil Uzi Vert except, ya know, white. He dresses like He's in a street wear western while acting like the hardest mother fucker in the room. It makes it seem like He is trying to play the game from every angle He can rather than creating some authentic art. He also repeats himself incessantly especially on tracks like "Over Now" where He goes back to a tired ass chorus again and again. That is the thing you need to realize about this album and Post Malone in general, it and by association He are not stupid and flippant, they are calculated. This album spans the entire field of where pop music currently stands, dipping it's toe in any sound it possibly can trying to maximize clicks and streams. He doesn't really seem to care about what the album is as long as it continues to grow his number of fans. He looks at the things that work and then just keeps doing them over and over again, with little care for why people are connecting with it. "Ball for Me"'s first line is: "I'm on the road/I'm gettin paid/ what you want, baby?" which sums up his entire vibe, He's getting paid so who cares what He does. Yet when Nicki Minaj comes on later in the track you realize how this stuff could sound with someone who was actually invested in the music rather than how well the music is going to sell. These kinds of acts often breakthrough and may stumble into a few hits, but this is not the kind of music that lasts, nor leaves any lasting impression. Confused, over-long and devoid of an artistic intention beerbongs & bentleys is a mess of half thought ideas and reactions, and it's just not very good.

3.0 out of 10