Thursday, November 7, 2019

Post Malone Delivers Big With "Hollywood's Bleeding"

Few artists attain the consistent success Post Malone has been able to sustain since his debut in 2015. He is on the radio, he's in blockbusters like “Spider-man,” and he blares through the speakers at every frat party in the U.S. Despite all this exposure, Malone’s songs rarely feel overplayed.

His newest musical effort, “Hollywood’s Bleeding” is no exception to this success. The album, which came out on Sept. 6, debuted at number one on Billboard’s charts, and so far has five songs that peaked in the top 5.

“Hollywood” is Malone’s third studio album. Though the tracklist is a lengthy 17 songs long, the songs are short, and the full listen time comes in at just under an hour. The album flows well during a listen through. It continues his signature style of blending genres and shows off his artistic and vocal range. Songs like “Saint-Tropez” and “Enemies” blend rap and emotional singer/songwriter vibes; others like “Allergic” and “A Thousand Bad Times” are certainly Pop. Later in the tracklist he turns into an alternative rock front man in “Myself.”

Like any traditional rap album, the tracks of “Hollywood” feature a myriad of other artists. Post Malone brings on expected collaborators, but then mixes it up with a surprising but incredible feature by Ozzy Osbourne on “Take What You Want.” The song is one of the most memorable Post Malone has come out with to date; its mix of Osbourne’s classic rock, Travis Scott’s modern rap and Malone’s melancholic vocals is perfectly balanced.

That is not to say Malone’s other guests are not notable. In another unexpected feature, SZA joins Malone and brings an ethereal touch to “Staring at the Sun.” In a dual collaboration, Future and Halsey come in on “Die for Me,” and give song-saving performances in a classically brooding Post Malone song. When new Hip Hop sensation DaBaby gets his turn on “Enemies,” he does not waste a second of it and delivers a great verse. It is not just the vocal contributions that spice this album up, there are some surprising writing credits: Kanye co-wrote “Internet’” and Father John Misty co-wrote “Myself.”

That being said, Post Malone does just fine on his own. Most of the songs are solo endeavors, which highlights his artistic range and his ability to go from crooning to rapping in the same track. Few artists can pull this off, and this continues to be a hallmark of Malone’s success.

In the two months since Malone's release, he has dominated the charts. He's actually made history inside just the Hot 100’s top 10, below are four other ways the musician grabbed headlines and proved how powerful he can be when he has a new album available.

Second-Most Simultaneous Top 20 Hits:
Hollywood’s Bleeding debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, nine of the songs featured on the project made their way into the top 20 on the Hot 100, becoming impressive and undeniable hits. Four of those tracks were inside the top 10 and another five placed between Nos. 11 and 20.

That performance ties Malone’s previously-established record for the second-most simultaneous top 20 songs. He claimed nine spots inside the top 20 when his last album Beerbongs & Bentleys debuted. That showing has only been beaten by Drake, who once claimed a dozen spaces in the region when his album Scorpion started its time at No. 1 as well, according to Billboard.

Second-Most Simultaneous Top 40 Hits:
Looking just beyond the top 20, Malone also makes history with the 2nd most simultaneous top 40 hits. 14 tunes from Hollywood’s Bleeding took space inside the region that typically defines when a song's become a “hit,” and that’s something Malone's done before.

When looking at his performance the 1st week Beerbongs ruled the Billboard 200, 14 cuts from that release also found space between Nos. 1 and 40.

Drake raised the bar and made history shortly after Malone did last year when his name appeared in 21 spots inside the top 40 at the same time. He managed that feat with 20 tracks from his Scorpion album and one featured guest spot (on Lil Baby’s “Yes Indeed”).

17 Simultaneous Hot 100 Hits:
Thanks to a huge number of streams and sales, Hollywood’s Bleeding appeared on the Hot 100 in its entirety, occupying 17 spots on the most competitive list in the largest music market in the world. That’s not quite a record in terms of ownership (Drake once controlled 27 rungs at the same time), but it is one of the most impressive demonstrations of popularity the chart has ever seen.

An Entire Album On The Hot 100… Again:
Almost unbelievably, this wasn’t the first time Malone landed and entire album’s worth of material on the Hot 100. When Beerbongs & Bentleys arrived in 2018, every song on that lengthy set also charted on the tally. Now, Malone is one of only a few artists who have managed this feat on more than one occasion, with Drake and The Weeknd joining him in this very small club of winners.

Written by Maya Flores &  Hugh McIntyre