How Post Malone Blew Up

Image via Getty/Paras Griffin

When he was 17, Post released this satirical track under the alias "Leon DeChino" as a project for an art class. It doesn't resemble his current music much, but it's the earliest available instance of a music video from him.

Before he was making rap, Post was more focused on his guitar skills. This cover of Bob Dylan's 1963 track "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" proves he had real chops. In high school, Post played guitar in a band called Love in Colors.

The turning point for Post Malone was "White Iverson," a song he first dropped on SoundCloud. Artists like Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller publicly co-signed the track, which would peak at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video for the song has been viewed over 554 million times.

Then the record companies came calling. Post told Complex in 2015 that he had multiple offers on the table before he eventually signed with Republic. "I think I just knew automatically," he said about choosing the label, "so that's where I wanted to go."

The dreaded culture vulture label has been used to describe Post multiple times. It happened in 2015, after an old Vine video in which he used the n-word surfaced. He apologized for his use of it, saying it was unacceptable and wrong of him.

That didn't stop his momentum. Post Malone was one of the many featured artists on Kanye West's The Life of Pablo album—he, along with Ty Dolla Sign, lent his voice to "Fade." The song was eventually released as a single, and came with a saucy, Teyana Taylor-led video.

Post was introduced to a whole new audience after he landed a spot on Bieber's Purpose Tour. No doubt the most viral moment from their time together came from the April 2016 photo in which Post appeared to be choking Bieber. The pop star later made light of the photo with one that showed his own hand around Post's neck.

It took some time for Post Malone to drop his first disc. The project came with features from Bieber, Kehlani, and Quavo, and spawned another massive single for him in "Congratulations." That track went seven-times platinum and hit No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Post proved he had staying power after his first album by returning to radio in September of last year with this 21 Savage-assisted song. According to The Verge, it broke the Apple Music single-week streaming record at the time, with 25 million plays. The numbers were aided by placement on several top hip-hop playlists on the streaming platform.

The culture vulture criticism came back in November, after Post offered a rather simplistic take on lyricism in hip-hop to a Polish news outlet. "If you're looking for lyrics, if you're looking to cry, if you're looking to think about life, don't listen to hip-hop," he said. Post publicly apologized for the comments amid the outrage that followed.

One of his public detractors was Los Angeles rapper Earl Sweatshirt, who initially caught flak in 2016 when he said on Twitter that he wasn't feeling "White Iverson." Earl reminded his followers of that event after Post's comments on lyricism, questioning why people so fervently supported him.

Again, it didn't stop Post Malone. His last big song was "Psycho," which features "Fade" collaborator Ty Dolla Sign. The track debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped build the buzz for his second album, a project that's long been in the works.

Over a year after its title was announced, Post Malone's second studio album dropped last month. The project is 18 tracks long, and features YG, Nicki Minaj, Swae Lee, and others. It's already eligible for platinum status—if only Leon DeChino could see Post now.