Recently, artist Post Malone has been making another big come-up. Known for his striking facial tattoos and famous song, “Congratulations,” his new album showcases a more sincere and vulnerable side of himself.
His third studio album, titled “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” was released at the beginning of September. The album is a complete turn from Malone’s other music, and his subjectivity and vulnerability allowed it to skyrocket on the charts. The overall album takes his usual genre of hip-hop and adds some soulful pop, creating a beautiful and meaningful project for his fans to enjoy.
The album is comprised of 17 songs, featuring other well known artists such as Lil Baby, SZA, Halsey, Travis Scott and more. Malone uses features on his songs constructively and creates music that transcends not just one audience, but multiple.
The album’s opening song, “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” starts off almost like a soft ballad, then smoothly transitions to bass-filled bumps of rap, which is something I’ve never heard from Malone. This first song shows Malone’s more vulnerable side, then quickly changes tempo to the usual funk-filled Malone that we know. This is a recurring theme throughout the album.
“Circles” has a groovy guitar melody with pop undertones and seems to be a low yet upbeat cry for help from Malone. The strumming of the guitar combined with the sensual lyrics create a feeling of love, hinting at Post Malone’s past relationships.
Not only did Malone give us insight into his personal life, but this album has resulted in major successes in his musical career. His song “Sunflower” is featured in the movie “Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse” and has expanded his audience to a new demographic of listeners.
This album is completely seamless. I am always appreciative of artists that immerse themselves fully into their work, and Malone is an artist who does just that.
Overall, “Hollywood's Bleeding” is an intricate meditation on Malone’s censored side. He branched out of his comfort zone by combining multiple genres and different artists to create a lasting experience that appeals to all audiences, rather than one. Malone took a major risk by portraying himself in such a lucid way, but ultimately did an amazing job in doing so. This album has been a huge success for Malone, and hopefully will continue to grant him more success in his future.
Chance Allen ‘22 is a journalism student at Mercer who has been working for The Cluster under various roles for the past three years. Allen is a multi-hyphenate but works primarily with photo and writing. He has been working with NBC Entertainment for the entirety of this year and since becoming a journalism student he has received multiple honors and awards from the Georgia Collegiate Press Association as well as DASHBOARD. Allen spends his free time writing, creating, and being.
