Post Malone: 12 things you might not know about him
Post Malone arrives at the American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Nov. 24, 2019. Credit: Invision/AP/Jordan Strauss
Rapper Post Malone is the man of the moment. His third album, “Hollywood’s Bleeding” has accelerated his musical profile into the stratosphere, spawning seven hit singles and a headlining arena tour, which comes to NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Since becoming a household name, Malone, 24, has infused himself into pop culture with his unique blend of pop, trap, rock, folk and R&B.
Here are 12 things you might not know about him:
DORITOS DUDE
During the 2020 Grammy Awards, Malone’s Doritos commercial made its debut. In the clip, he’s known as “Post Limón” promoting the new Flamin’ Hot Limón Doritos using his hit song, “Wow.” He even gets a facial tattoo of a Doritos chip on his cheek in the clip.
“SPIDER-VERSE” CAMEO
Malone makes a voice cameo in 2018 animated film, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” as a Brooklyn bystander. Additionally, he provided a song to the film’s soundtrack, “Sunflower,” a collaboration with rapper Swae Lee, which reached the top of the Billboard charts.
DUETTING WITH OZZY
Despite his recent prognosis of Parkinson’s, heavy metal iconic singer Ozzy Osbourne, 71, collaborated with Malone on the track, “Take What You Want,” which reached No. 8 on the Billboard charts. The crossover rock-rap track, with a guitar solo by Andrew Watt, opened Malone up to a whole new audience.
PATRIOTIC POST
Much like LI native anti-war activist Ron Kovic, Malone was born on the Fourth of July - July 4, 1995 to be exact. He is a native of Syracuse, N.Y. but moved to Grapevine, Texas where his father worked as a manager of concessions for the Dallas Cowboys.
SUPER BOWL AD MAN
In a 2020 Super Bowl commercial for Bud Light seltzer, Malone is shown entering a convenience store to purchase beer when he’s surprised to see a display of Bud Light seltzer. The camera immediately goes inside his brain where there’s a team of people dressed in suits and inked with Malone’s tattoo patterns controlling his every thought and move. The two men at the helm battle over whether he should purchase the regular Bud Light or try the new Bud Light seltzer. This internal revolt causes Malone’s body to be tossed about making a massive mess in the store until a decision has been reached to purchase both beverages. Walking across the debris with six packs of regular Bud Light and Bud Light seltzer, Malone causally asks the clerk, “Got any pretzels?”
REAL NAME, RAP NAME
Malone’s real name is Austin Richard Post. In order to create his stage name, he moved his last name to his first and got “Malone” through a rap name generator online. He’s been using “Post Malone” as a moniker since his mid-teens.
BUDS WITH BIEBER
Malone and pop star Justin Bieber have been friends since the Biebs sang a guest vocal on the single, “Deja Vu” off Malone’s debut album, “Stoney,” in 2016. Malone even served as an opening act on Bieber’s “Purpose” World Tour the same year.
SUNGLASSES GUY
Arnette sunglasses has partnered with Malone to be its representative modeling and curating their eyewear in the relaunch of the brand.
BREAKING MJ’s RECORD
Malone made history in August 2018 when his 2016 album, “Stoney” spent 77 weeks in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top R&B and Hip-Hop Albums chart surpassing the record held by Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” which spent 76 weeks on that same chart in the Eighties.
MOVIE STAR TURN
Music aside, Malone is branching into acting in the upcoming Netflix film, “Spenser Confidential,” which comes out March 6. Actor Mark Wahlberg stars as an ex-felon and former police detective from Boston who returns home to investigate the murder of his former colleagues. Malone, billed as Austin Post, plays one of Wahlberg’s adversaries.
BEATING THE BEATLES
Malone broke The Beatles and J. Cole’s record for the most simultaneous songs in the top 20 on Billboard’s Hot 100. He had nine songs in the top 20 on the week of May 12, 2018, The Beatles and J. Cole’s held the previous record with six.
BIG GUN COLLECTOR
Malone has a large gun collection including a M14 rifle, a Walther PPK pistol, a .44 Desert Eagle hand cannon, a M1911 pistol, a Cobalt AR-15 rifle, a FN Five-Seven pistol, a Mossberg shotgun and a Glock 19 pistol. Although he doesn’t fire the weapons, Malone actively goes to battle virtually on Call of Duty.
POST MALONE
WHEN/WHERE 8 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 19, NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale
INFO $124-$533.50, 800-745-3000 ticketmaster.com
SO WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THOSE FACIAL TATTOOS?
In addition to his music, Post Malone is known for his visual presentation. Although he’s covered in tattoos, the most prominent ones are on his face. Not since boxer Mike Tyson has a celebrity drawn so much attention with facial tattoos.
On the top of his right eye are the words “Stay Away,” underneath his right eye is “Always” and “Tired” is underneath his left eye. That’s just a start. There’s also a smiley face, a Playboy bunny, a mini heart and a dagger on the right side of his face. Barbed wire lines his forehead, a pair of aces sits on the right side of his forehead and Japanese etching appears on the left side of his face.
However, tattoo artists these days are not so quick to do a facial tattoo.
“We get people all the time calling about face tattoos and we tell them we don’t do them,” says tattoo artist Lou Rubino, who grew up in Port Jefferson and currently owns Soho Ink in New York City and World Famous Tattoo Ink company. “For young kids to do this today is a job stopper. Employers don’t like to see facial tattoos.”
Po Zhang, a.k.a. “Popo,” owner of World Famous Tattoo Art Gallery in West Babylon, agrees.
“You can’t do a tattoo, just because you follow a celebrity,” says Zhang. “Maybe they want something in the moment because they smoked or drank too much. But, I can’t tell someone, ‘Yes,’ if their mind isn’t straight. It’s a big responsibility.”
However, an exception will be made for those experienced tattoo enthusiasts.
“If someone comes in covered in tattoos, we will take it into consideration,” says Rubino. “You don’t want to go right to the face, hands or neck. Those are the final spots we want to tattoo, not the first.”
The origin of facial tattoos stems from the west coast.
“It comes from California gangsta culture and started with a little teardrop or a small cross,” says Zhang. “But, it’s not an easy area to work with. The skin is different near the eye, it’s thin and the ink blows out. If you make a line, it comes out thicker than you originally created. This is why some of the lettering on celebrities’ faces is hard to make out.” -- DAVID J. CRIBLEZ
MALONE’S DISCOGRAPHY
Post Malone has been rather prolific releasing three records in three years. Here’s the breakdown:
“STONEY”
The debut album was released December 2016 and spawned six hit singles, “White Iverson,” “Too Young,” “Go Flex,” “Deja Vu,” “Congratulations” and “I Fall Apart.” The album has been certified triple platinum and features guest appearances from Justin Bieber, Kehlani and Quavo.
“BEERBONGS & BENTLEYS”
His sophomore effort hit the streets April 2018 debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart and clocked in 47.9 million streams on Spotify in the first 24 hours of its release. 21 Savage, Ty Dolla $ign, Nicki Minaj and G-Easy appear on the record, which was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2019 Grammys and won an American Music Award for Best Rap/Hip-Hop album. Five singles “Rockstar,” “Candy Paint,” “Psycho,” “Ball for Me” and “Better Now” have come from the album with “Rockstar” and “Psycho” both hitting No. 1 on the charts.
“HOLLYWOOD’S BLEEDING”
The third album dropped September 2019 and featured appearances by Ozzy Osbourne, DaBaby, Halsey, Meek Mill, Future and others. The album went straight to No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart in its first week and has currently gone three times platinum and counting. Seven singles have spun off the album, including “Goodbyes,” “Circles,” “Enemies,” “Allergic,” “Take What You Want,” “Wow.” and the No. 1 single, “Sunflower.”
-- DAVID J. CRIBLEZ
David J. Criblez is a reporter for Newsday's exploreLI, covering entertainment-related events from local music to stand-up comedy to festivals.
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