Wow: one word to describe the latest album that has been released by hip-hop artist Post Malone. Titled “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” and released less than two years since his previous album, “Beerbongs and Bentleys,” his third studio album includes 17 songs that time out to 51 minutes, his shortest album of the three. The album’s singles include “Sunflower,” “Wow” and “Goodbyes,” all peaking at numbers one, two and three on the “Billboard Hot 100” respectively. While all of Malone’s songs bring their own unique flair to the album, I figured I would direct you to some of the songs that really make their presence known to put on your everyday playlist, and others that you might want to hit the skip button for, rather than the replay button.
The first of my favorites is “Die For Me,” which features Future and Halsey on the track. The song has a good beat that you can listen to while working out, walking to class or even doing homework in the library (I can confirm, great song to listen to while writing a paper). The featured artists do a superb job of adding new voices to the song. Halsey’s signature raspy voice mixed with Post Malone’s adds a great variation of the melody that is played multiple times throughout the song. Future does not disappoint with his verse, adding his own rhythm and, once again, closing out with the chorus. Overall, this song is the best that includes featured artists out of his entire discography. This would be the first song I would listen to when you check out the album.
Another favorite of mine is the title track “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” a more mellow and relaxed opening to the album, which has been the case for all three of his studio albums. Similar to “Sicko Mode” by Travis Scott, which features Drake, there are multiple times in the song that a new beat drops, which adds a new mood to the song. At the start of the song, there is just a guitar playing a quiet tune, and Malone’s voice is soft, reminding me of someone who is unsure of what they are saying, and is just hearing it for the first time. A new beat drops and he sounds more sure of himself, and with the final beat change, he sounds as confident as ever that “Hollywood’s Bleeding.” The song’s message is better than most of the other popular rappers making music today, with Malone talking about young people and their views on life in Hollywood. He does this song justice with this as the title track and it’s a great opening to the album.
The last song to close out my top three is “Sunflower,” featuring Swae Lee of Rae Sremmurd. Many of you might recognize this song as being featured in “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse” which honestly, is the only good part about the movie, but I digress. Lee is no stranger to working with Post Malone. Just on his last album “Beerbongs and Bentleys,” he paired with Malone on “Spoil My Night,” which is coincidentally my favorite song on the album, I highly recommend. Lee’s voice really shines in the song, with him opening up with the first verse and first go around of the chorus. A great sing-along song if I do say so, I would find myself driving home from school and singing the whole thing when it would come on the radio. I would recommend you try it some time.
While most of the songs on the album are fantastic and put me in a great mood, others make me hit the skip button almost immediately, and I wonder what went wrong.
“Take What You Want” confuses me, and while I want to like it, I just can’t. It features Travis Scott and Ozzy Osbourne. If you are asking yourself “Who’s Ozzy Osbourne?” then google him, and no, Post Malone did not make him famous. None of the voices sound well together in the song, or even on their own with their respective verses. I would avoid this song all together.
“I’m Gonna Be” is the second song that is not worth listening to. The sound is like any generic pop song and is not Malone’s best. The message is all about being your own person and not letting anyone stop you, which is extremely weak compared to other topics he has tackled.
If you are just getting into Post Malone and you do not know much about him or his music, I believe that this is a great start. If you stay away from the two songs I mentioned, the album is a great listen at anytime. Well, as Post Malone says, “I’m no good at goodbyes.”
Vanessa Rodriguez-Mclean is a first-year student majoring in media and culture with a minor in journalism. VR925245@wcupa.edu