By T- Millzz
If you know me well enough to know my music tastes then you know I don’t really like when rappers sing with heavy Auto-Tune against hard 808 bass sounds. Artists like Future & Desiigner have been bringing this sound to the forefront of hip-hop music for the better part of two years now. I am not bashing their style at all, they are clearly successful in doing so, have a broad following and are absolute work horses.
With hip-hop being a very saturated genre of the music industry, (the whole industry is saturated for that matter) it is possible that whatever you do as an artist to stand out, you have to continue doing that. Post Malone has arguably been doing just that since Future became the ideal sound in the sect of hip-hop he is going to be associated with. Last summer saw Post Malone’s first major hit in “White Iverson,” where he proclaims he, “started ballin’ when I was young.” Keep in mind that Post Malone is only 20 years old and has already gained so much buzz amongst the hip-hop community.
Ever since “White Iverson,” came out the hip-hop community in general has been calling for Post Malone to release a project that the public can get behind, and push his possible star power. The public finally got it with “August 26th.”
Post Malone absolutely delivers all expectations that his fans and casual hip-hop listeners have asked from him for approximately a year now. “August 26th,” is the culmination of an artist that people need to get to know. Coming from a person who is not a huge fan of the particular sound that has clearly influenced Post, I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to this mixtape and said, “Wow, I actually really like Post Malone.” My only question now was to figure out, “why?”
There are three things that differentiate Post Malone from the mainstream artists that we’ve heard take over the radio scene with this sound such as Future and Desiigner. The first thing is that Post Malone can actually sing efficiently. He is by no stretch a Freddie Mercury or David Bowie with vocals, but he actually has a voice that he uses to his advantage. He can carry a tune with minimal use of Auto-Tune or overproduction on the beats he chooses. If you want proof of his vocal ability just look to “Hollywood Dreams Come Down,” where he not only covers “Dreams,” by Fleetwood Mac, but does it effectively and does not over use Auto-Tune during the song. Yet he also switches it up before we call the song a true “cover.”
The second thing is that his flow is consistent throughout a song. Post Malone chooses a particular flow throughout a song, commits to it and then builds upon it if necessary through ad-libs. The third and final thing has been mentioned already. His production isn’t OVERPRODUCED. He has a simple sound, yet makes songs so catchy such as “F**k,” featuring Jeremih (who is killing the game right now). Also, in songs such as “Money Made Me Do It,” featuring 2 Chainz, he takes what at the core of the song is simple beat, makes it sound energetic and even Chainz flips up his style.
Yet Post is also able to showcase his harder style on songs such as “Monte,” and “40 Funk.” This is where I think his differentiation in this sect of hip-hop is evident. His flow, voice infliction and lyrics are concise, coherent and hit the right note when needed. This mixtape is definite listen:
Final Score: 4/5
Verdict:
Not much needs to be said, but this mixtape is a definite listen, as Post Malone shoots and scores just as White Iverson needed to do. I have only one issue with the mixtape, and it is not even Malone’s approach to the music. The features other than Jaden Smith, 2 Chainz and Jeremih are highly forgettable. I will not remember or point to 1st’s Teo’s or Lil Yachty’s features as a necessity on this mixtape. However, that could be seen as a good thing that Post did not rely heavily on their features to help bolster his approach to the songs, so credit to him for that.
Below, as always, I will post (pun intended) my favorite tracks off of this mixtape:
1) “40 Funk”
2) “F**k” (feat. Jeremih)
3) “Hollywood Dreams Come Down”
4) “God Damn” (feat. 1st)
5) “Money Made Me Do It” (feat. 2 Chainz)
If you know me well enough to know my music tastes then you know I don’t really like when rappers sing with heavy Auto-Tune against hard 808 bass sounds. Artists like Future & Desiigner have been bringing this sound to the forefront of hip-hop music for the better part of two years now. I am not bashing their style at all, they are clearly successful in doing so, have a broad following and are absolute work horses.
With hip-hop being a very saturated genre of the music industry, (the whole industry is saturated for that matter) it is possible that whatever you do as an artist to stand out, you have to continue doing that. Post Malone has arguably been doing just that since Future became the ideal sound in the sect of hip-hop he is going to be associated with. Last summer saw Post Malone’s first major hit in “White Iverson,” where he proclaims he, “started ballin’ when I was young.” Keep in mind that Post Malone is only 20 years old and has already gained so much buzz amongst the hip-hop community.
Ever since “White Iverson,” came out the hip-hop community in general has been calling for Post Malone to release a project that the public can get behind, and push his possible star power. The public finally got it with “August 26th.”
Post Malone absolutely delivers all expectations that his fans and casual hip-hop listeners have asked from him for approximately a year now. “August 26th,” is the culmination of an artist that people need to get to know. Coming from a person who is not a huge fan of the particular sound that has clearly influenced Post, I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to this mixtape and said, “Wow, I actually really like Post Malone.” My only question now was to figure out, “why?”
There are three things that differentiate Post Malone from the mainstream artists that we’ve heard take over the radio scene with this sound such as Future and Desiigner. The first thing is that Post Malone can actually sing efficiently. He is by no stretch a Freddie Mercury or David Bowie with vocals, but he actually has a voice that he uses to his advantage. He can carry a tune with minimal use of Auto-Tune or overproduction on the beats he chooses. If you want proof of his vocal ability just look to “Hollywood Dreams Come Down,” where he not only covers “Dreams,” by Fleetwood Mac, but does it effectively and does not over use Auto-Tune during the song. Yet he also switches it up before we call the song a true “cover.”
The second thing is that his flow is consistent throughout a song. Post Malone chooses a particular flow throughout a song, commits to it and then builds upon it if necessary through ad-libs. The third and final thing has been mentioned already. His production isn’t OVERPRODUCED. He has a simple sound, yet makes songs so catchy such as “F**k,” featuring Jeremih (who is killing the game right now). Also, in songs such as “Money Made Me Do It,” featuring 2 Chainz, he takes what at the core of the song is simple beat, makes it sound energetic and even Chainz flips up his style.
Yet Post is also able to showcase his harder style on songs such as “Monte,” and “40 Funk.” This is where I think his differentiation in this sect of hip-hop is evident. His flow, voice infliction and lyrics are concise, coherent and hit the right note when needed. This mixtape is definite listen:
Final Score: 4/5
Verdict:
Not much needs to be said, but this mixtape is a definite listen, as Post Malone shoots and scores just as White Iverson needed to do. I have only one issue with the mixtape, and it is not even Malone’s approach to the music. The features other than Jaden Smith, 2 Chainz and Jeremih are highly forgettable. I will not remember or point to 1st’s Teo’s or Lil Yachty’s features as a necessity on this mixtape. However, that could be seen as a good thing that Post did not rely heavily on their features to help bolster his approach to the songs, so credit to him for that.
Below, as always, I will post (pun intended) my favorite tracks off of this mixtape:
1) “40 Funk”
2) “F**k” (feat. Jeremih)
3) “Hollywood Dreams Come Down”
4) “God Damn” (feat. 1st)
5) “Money Made Me Do It” (feat. 2 Chainz)