Post Malone, pop’s premier sad-sack boozehound, has returned with F-1 Trillion, his first long-form foray into pure country music. If the blockbuster success of the album’s lead single—“I Had Some Help” with Morgan Wallen—is any indication, this album will be absolutely massive, uniting Malone’s already huge fanbase with fans who like their pop music with a side of pedal steel. At this point, Post Malone could use a win on his own terms: He just featured on recent albums by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, sure, but his solo career has been a little bit of a commercial downturn in recent years, with last year’s pop-rock flop Austin making only a scant commercial impact compared to the discography-defining Beerbongs & Bentleys and Hollywood’s Bleeding.As far as country pivots go, this one is pretty convincing: In addition to featuring many of country’s biggest stars, the credits list on F-1 Trillion includes Nashville mainstays like Ashley Gorley, Josh Thompson, Rhett Akins, and Chris Tompkins—and, for that little bit of extra shine, regular Post Malone collaborators Louis Bell and Charlie Handsome are along for the ride, too. It’s a rollicking, slightly exhausting affair. Here are six major takeaways.All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Post Malone: F-1 TrillionGoing CountryThere’s a gag in 30 Rock about how the fastest way to win the hearts and minds of mainstream America is to “go country.” It’s a gag about the craven, simplistic manner in which “coastal elites” think about the rest of the country but it also might be… kind of true? Although Post Malone has always suffused his melodic pop-rap with a country twang—and he does hail from Texas—he went whole hog on F-1 Trillion, riding around Nashville on a big rig to promote the record. Unlike, say, Beyoncé, the country firmament seems to have welcomed Malone with open arms: “I Had Some Help” has already been streamed over 500 million times on Spotify alone.He Had Some HelpF-1 Trillion might be Post Malone’s country music debutante ball, but its stacked guest list—only three of its 18 songs are sans collaborateurs—speaks to his status as one of pop music’s most successful artists. Music Row’s finest turned out for this record: Morgan Wallen, Blake Shelton and Luke Combs, started the hoedown on singles “I Had Some Help,” “Pour Me a Drink,” and “Guy for That,” respectively, but there is also room for upstarts like Jelly Roll and Hardy—he of the infernal new “Gin and Juice” cover—and stalwart superstars Dolly Parton and Tim McGraw. The credits list is so stacked, in fact, that it may be more worthwhile to point out the record’s most left-field collaboration: “M-E-X-I-C-O,” which features Billy Strings, the Michigan-born bluegrass star who’s become an IYKYK secret weapon for artists like Combs and Dierks Bentley. It’s a flourish that shows Malone’s new audience that he knows what he’s doing.
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