Post Malone’s highly anticipated second album ‘beerbongs and bentleys’ dropped on the 27th April and has since smashed streaming records for an opening week, as well as rocketing to the Billboard No.1 spot. After the success of his debut album ‘Stoney’ which was released in December 2016, fans were expecting the new album at midnight on December 1st 2017. However, instead they were greeted with a Tweet from Post Malone the next day telling them the album was delayed.
hey guys, i know a lot of you guys were expecting a project today, it won't be dropping for a little while. I'm sorry to let you down, but i need to make sure this album is perfect for you. I'm gonna keep working my ass off and make the best fucking album ever. i love ya. 💕🍻
— Beerbongs & Bentleys (@PostMalone) December 2, 2017
So, was it worth the wait?
It is still difficult to say even almost a month after its release. One thing that is certain is that the album is a grower, each time you listen to it you will have a new favourite. Post Malone fans will always have fond memories of, ‘Stoney’ so it may never be truly comparable with nostalgia clouding judgement. One interesting point of comparison is the number of featured artists on both albums with ‘Stoney’ having two less features than ‘beerbongs and bentleys.’ This could just be because Post Malone wanted more of his original content on his debut album, but some may say he has been influenced by Pop culture as he has featured artists such as Nicki Minaj and more chart friendly songs on his latest album.
A valid comparison between the two albums is that they both delve through genres. In ‘beerbongs and bentleys’ Post Malone moves from hip-hop to pop rock and discusses different subjects from heartbreak to taking shots.
With 18 tracks on the album, only a third of them have features and two of these songs were released beforehand, ‘Rockstar’ ft. 21 Savage and ‘Pyscho’ ft. Ty Dolla $ign. The other four featured songs further allowed him to delve into other genres by incorporating well known artists within those industries. ‘Same Bitches’ ft. G-Eazy and YG is a classic hip-hop track and is a fun collaboration between the three artists. ‘Ball For Me’ ft. Nicki Minaj is an attempt at a pop track but it fails to flow, with Post Malone’s signing verse and chorus not linking up with Minaj’s rap verse at all, giving a clunky feel to the song.
On the other hand, in ‘Same Bitches’ Post Malone raps his verse and sings the chorus and has ad-libs from G-Eazy and YG in the chorus before their verse meaning the song flows effortlessly. His stand-alone songs take up the majority of the album, so they had to be strong for ‘beerbongs and bentleys’ to be a success and they certainly delivered. They again delve into different genres and themes without the reliance on other artists as an introduction.
‘Better Now’, ‘92 Explorer’, ‘Sugar Wraith’ and ‘Paranoid’ are all excellent songs despite being very distinct from each other. Even the Interlude, ‘Jonestown’ is excellent and blends perfectly into the distinct sound of the album. However, tracks such as ‘Otherside’ and ‘Stay’ are rather forgettable and get lost in the excellence of the overall album.
Header image photo credits.
