How Post Malone Became The Most Random Success In Rap
Everything you need to know about the "White Iverson" rapper.
By Zara Golden
After 4 million streams on "White Iverson," the legend of Post Malone looms larger than the available information about him. During an April trip to New York, we asked the goofy, good natured teen singer-rapper-producer-guitar player to walk us through the basics.
When did you start making music? Six years ago I started playing guitar because of Guitar Hero. I am five star everything on expert mode Guitar Hero 3. My parents don't make music. I was around music, but my parents were never musical. I just wanted to rock out. I taught myself how to play real guitar off YouTube videos. Watching people play stuff, like a lot of AC/DC and Metallica.
When did you start writing your own songs and putting stuff out there for people to hear? In high school I was in a hardcore band. When I was 16, I started recording my own mixtape on Audacity and I thought it was fire. I was like, This shit is so hard, and everybody at school was like, 'Yeah bro, this shit is hard.' In retrospect, it was awful. My beats were hard, but I sucked. I had no identity or anything, I was 16.
Where did you learn how to produce? I sat down on FL studio and learned how to do it. You just gotta fuck around. I've made beats for like five years. I started off making crazy, weird techno. I had no clue what I was doing. Then my dad liked some stuff so I kept doing it.
How did "White Iverson" come together? I wrote it two days before I recorded it. Me and 1st [of FKi] made the the beat and then I was writing the words to the beat at my house. I didn't even know if I was going to record. It was like 7AM and everybody was fixin to go to bed and I was fixin to record it by myself, so Raye Rich [of FKi] was teaching me how to work Logic for a second to get the main idea. Then he heard it and he's like, 'We need to record it.' It was morning and, I don't know, it was a perfect culmination of everything.
Did you imagine it'd get so much attention? No way. It was the first song I ever put out really.
How did you meet 1st? When I was 18, I moved out to L.A. and I needed a place to record. My friend sent me Stevie B.'s studio, shouts to Stevie B. Then I met 1st through a group of people I made music with at the place. Then we moved into a house. All of us was living in this white house, me and 1st, making music.
Why L.A.? I don't know. I wasn't getting anywhere in Texas at all. I went to school for six months and wasn't feeling the vibe.
What did you go to school for? Just to get my parents off my ass for a little while. My parents wanted me to go to school but they supported me when I told them I was moving out to L.A. with my friends with nothing. My dad is my biggest fan, which is cool. My mom doesn't get it, my mom is crazy. I love you though.
Are you watching your mentions closely these days? I'm on Twitter pretty heavy. Some people say I look like a cheap RiFF RAFF. But they don't understand it. These are not RiFF RAFF braids, these are AI braids. But mostly people have been very supportive. I haven't seen that much negative shit.
What's your role in the rap ecosystem? The old country singers, they were badass, they were the American badass people. I'm an American badass. At 40 years old, I'm gonna be a country singer. That's down the line.
Lead Image: Elijah Dominique
Zara Golden Post Malone
Hip-Hop, Post Malone, Zara Golden