For the past three years, there were two artists vying for my No. 1 on my Spotify wrapped, Morgan Wallen and Post Malone. Malone brought hip-hop, rap and rock to my playlists but Wallen brought country. Malone took the top spot from 2021-2022 while Wallen took the top spot last year.
Country was always my No. 1 genre when it came down to my Spotify wrapped, but so was Malone. In 2022 alone, I listened to 5,166 minutes of Malone’s music reaching the top 0.05% of listeners and was in the top 1% in 2021.
Never would I think that my favorite two artists would combine for a song together nevertheless a country song, until recently.
On March 20, Malone and Wallen shared snippets of a country song they were both working on. I heard this and thought ‘This must be an early April Fools joke.”
Oh how I was wrong, as I graced upon social media on May 2. On that day Malone and Wallen released the title of the track (“I Had Some Help (Feat. Morgan Wallen),” and the release date May 10.
“I Had Some Help (Feat. Morgan Wallen)” became the biggest song on the album eclipsing over 544 million streams on Spotify — as of Aug. 21 — and according to Luminate premiered with 76.4 million official U.S. streams after being released in May.
“I Had Some Help” is a perfect title of the song as the lyrics portrays how in a hypothetical relationship their ex wasn’t the reason for the breakup but the ex was wrong. “It ain’t like I can make this kind of mess all by myself / Don’t act like you ain’t help me pull that bottle off the shelf.” This lyric shows how Malone or Wallen couldn’t make the breakup happen by themselves but they refer to their ex having half of the blame about helping them pull a bottle off the shelf. This sense is shown throughout the song in many different ways.
OK this may just be a one time thing, Malone hasn’t gone toward country with any of his music before. Boy was I wrong again.
Malone dropped “Pour Me A Drink” featuring Blake Shelton on June 21, just three days after hinting at his upcoming country album, ‘F-1 Trillion’. With only two songs out, I found myself warming up to this new country side of Malone with an upcoming album coming. Then, on July 26, he announced the release of “Guy For That” featuring Luke Combs, rounding out the tracks we got to hear before the full album dropped.
I knew Malone could join the country world after seeing him join Wallen and HARDY — who also features on the album — on stage to cover “Pickup Man” and “John Deere Green,” by the late Joe Diffie at the 2023 CMA Awards.
Thursday, August 15, marked my most anticipated album release combining my top artist and my top genre when ‘F-1 Trillion’ dropped.
The 18-track collection features collaborations with 14 country artists on 15 songs. Following the initial release, Malone dropped an extended version titled “F-1 Trillion: Long Bed,” adding nine solo tracks.
Before listening to the album I wondered why country and what made him make the switch. “Right About You” answered my questions and then some singing about how his transition to the country genre was with help from his partner.
Malone expresses how he “wrote songs about sinnin’, evil women, pills, and cars / I wrote songs about drinkin’ ’til you walked in and raised the bar,” that person who walked in is his current partner. After listening I can tell from his voice the sense of gratitude without even knowing the backstory behind his change saying “Thank god I was right about you” which he repeats four times throughout the song and is also how he ends the song.
“Right About You” has an upbeat instrumental to go with his message he wants to deliver. If you like upbeat instrumental I want to introduce you to this next song.
If anyone is looking for a floor stoppin’, knee slapping country song look no further than “M-E-X-I-C-O (Feat. Billy Strings)” my personal favorite of the album. This song blends Malone’s pop forte with a classic country beat, creating a bluegrass anthem. With the mix of banjos, fiddles and a drum pattern gives the song the infectious tune making it one of the songs that is on replay. Whenever this song plays on my phone or in the car with my family, it instantly fills everybody with the urge to dance, making us all want to stomp the floor to the beat.
While “M-E-X-I-C-O (Feat. Billy Strings)” is a toe-tapping bluegrass track with a hint of pop that gets everyone on their feet, “I Had Some Help (Feat. Morgan Wallen)” takes a different approach, using the pop forte of Malone to display a deeper message that you may not realize.
Musical messages aren’t just for fast tempos — shown in the three songs above — but it can also be visible in lower tempos with “Yours” and “Losers (Feat. Jelly Roll).”
A standout track for me is “Yours,” one of Malone’s three solo contributions on the album’s original release. Malone performed “Yours” live on July 16th, 2024, at “A Night in Nashville” at Music Marathon Works in Tennessee, carrying a personal message.
“Yours,” is inspired by Malone’s two-year-old daughter about the bittersweet thought as a father of her future wedding day. Malone expresses the bond between them, showing that while she will always be his little girl, but “might be your better half” soon. This thought is captured in the line, “And she might be wearin’ white / But her first dress, it was pink,” showing how his daughter who once wore dresses for fun will grace a wedding dress in the future.
Jelly Roll makes an appearance on the tenth song of the album, “Losers.” This song starts with referencing “last callers, last chancers / 9-to-5ers, truckers, dancers” who may be shown as outsiders in society.
The last two lines of the chorus — sung by Malone and Jelly Roll respectively — “You might be lonely, but you’re never alone // You’re right here where you’re supposed to be / Right here with all the losers / The ones like you and the ones like me.” show how there is a sense of belonging and being in the right spot even if they don’t feel like it.
While this is only five songs out of the 27 on “F-1 Trillion: Long Bed,” the rest of the album include great tracks showing the diversity Malone has in his music.
Any fans of Malone should take a gander at the album to see his transition into country.
