Hip hop stars going country is risky. It presupposes that fans will actually want to hear country, which is as divisive a cattle call as you’ll find.
Post Malone’s new album, F-1 Trillion, is a fairly straight shooter – no attempts are made to drag the genre over experimental frontiers.
The country man’s narrative vicissitudes are all here: speeding tickets, Dallas Cowboys’ losing streak, women more gone than the Tulsa Wind…
It is testament to his silver-tongued sincerity that he just about pulls it off: Pour Me A Drink (featuring Blake Shelton) and the early single I Had Some Help (with Morgan Wallen) are more than just honky-tonk foofaraw. They’re as catchy as they are traditional.
At 18 songs, an inevitable sag occurs at the beer-bellied midsection. But the project is salvaged by some choice collaborations. Post Malone’s rambling cowboy schtick rambles on, with just a little too much tumbleweed.